From the Festa Major in August to the thirtieth anniversary of Cortes Apertas, the two twinning events brought citizens, associations and young people together. With European Union support and the assistance of Focus Europe ETS, an established collaboration gains new experiences and a shared symbol: the giant Lussugliu.

Traditional Sardinian dress, the art of Catalan giants and a dance that brings together different repertoires. In the figure of Lussugliu, the giant created through collaboration between Oliena and Oliana, we can see the meaning of the process developed by the two communities: celebrating their roots while opening them up to encounters with others.

The two exchange events took place between August and September 2026: first, the Sardinian delegation attended the Festa Major in Oliana, followed by the welcome extended to the Catalan community in Oliena from 11 to 13 September, on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of Cortes Apertas. These two stages brought together institutional engagement, popular culture and citizen participation.

The initiative is part of “BCG – su Ballu Cantau e els Gegants: voices and steps in celebration”, funded under the European CERV – Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme through the Town Twinning call. The Municipality of Oliena leads the project, implemented with the Ajuntament d’Oliana and with the support of Focus Europe ETS.

The first stage in Catalonia: Oliena’s traditions meet the Festa Major

In early August, Oliana welcomed the Sardinian delegation as part of its town festival. Alongside institutional representatives, participants included Tenore Antoni Mereu and Oliena’s Battos Moros and Su Gologone folk groups, bringing the Sardinian community’s songs, dances and traditional dress to Catalonia.

The reception at the Town Hall and the signing of the Book of Honour accompanied participation in the official Festa Major procession. The meeting thus combined formal occasions with opportunities to take part directly in the life of the host community through its celebrations and cultural expressions.

One of the central events was the 34th Trobada Gegantera, during which the giant dedicated to Oliena was presented. This moment gave visible form to the collaboration: more than reciprocal visits, it involved creating a work intended to connect the two communities over time.

Lussugliu: a symbol created together

Known as Lussugliu in Sardinian reports and Lussorio in Catalan accounts, the giant was made by master craftsman Toni Mujal in his workshop in Cardona. Approximately 3.6 metres tall, he wears the traditional male dress of Oliena. His creation involved skills and contributions from both areas.

The collaboration also covered clothing and dance. Fabrics from Sardinia were used to make the outfit in Catalonia, while the Associació de Geganters i Grallers d’Oliana developed choreography combining steps from Sardinian dances with movements from the gegants tradition. The music proposed by Oliena thus became the starting point for a new shared repertoire.

The involvement of young people was particularly significant. Some young people from Oliena travelled to the Catalan community to learn how to carry and animate the giant, working with members of the local colla. It was an experience of mutual learning in which traditions were passed on through practice, collaboration and the acquisition of new skills.

This is where twinning takes on concrete value: knowledge is shared, learnt and reinterpreted, without losing its connection to the community from which it comes.

In Oliena, twinning meets thirty years of Cortes Apertas

The second stage brought the Catalan delegation to Sardinia on the weekend devoted to Cortes Apertas. The setting was particularly significant: it was in Oliena, in 1996, that the event opening the courtyards of homes to a route through local products, art and hospitality began, later giving rise to the Autunno in Barbagia circuit.

In the thirtieth-anniversary programme, the welcome to friends from Oliana in piazza Aldo Moro centred on the presentation of Lussugliu and the BCG project, bringing the Catalan sardana alongside Sardinian dances. The relationship between the two communities thus became part of the festival’s public narrative, together with the area’s artistic and craft traditions.

The schedule also included percussion and sardana workshops, parades by the Geganters i Grallers d’Oliana together with local folk groups and tenores, and opportunities to meet within presentations of Oliena’s traditions. These initiatives formed part of an edition that also highlighted the support of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia for the exchange process.

With 58 cortes spread throughout the town, the event offered a setting for encounters among residents, craftspeople, producers and visitors across the community. Reports of the events highlighted the presence of the Catalan community and the dialogue between music, dances and popular traditions. Lussugliu is intended to remain in Oliena, entrusting the town’s young people with the task of continuing to animate him.

The European value of the initiative and Focus Europe’s contribution

BCG was created to strengthen an existing relationship through intangible cultural heritage, intercultural dialogue and civic participation. Traditions thus become tools for involving citizens in European collaboration, rather than remaining only things to display during a visit.

Focus Europe ETS supported the development of the project, assisting the Municipality of Oliena in accessing the opportunities offered by the CERV programme. This project development support forms part of the association’s work to promote cooperation among European local authorities.

Alongside the organisation of exchanges, managed by the administrations and local organisations, our technical support continues with activity documentation, reporting, management of the European portal and dissemination of results.

The significance of this experience extends beyond the schedule of the two events. Learning a dance, collaborating on an outfit, hosting a delegation and sharing a space within one’s community are concrete ways of building trust. A sense of belonging to Europe also takes shape through these actions, in which getting to know others does not require giving up one’s own identity.

Two events, a collaboration looking ahead

The twinning, formalised in 2018, found a further opportunity to develop through the 2026 initiatives. The reciprocal visits and the work around the giant show how the relationship between Oliena and Oliana involves not only the administrations, but also associations, craftspeople and younger generations.

The aim is to give continuity to what has been built, maintaining contacts and turning the experience of the two meetings into new opportunities for collaboration.

For Focus Europe, the value of this process lies precisely in the possibility of supporting communities beyond an individual event: ensuring that a European project leaves relationships, knowledge and opportunities to develop.

In Oliena and Oliana, the voices and steps of the festival became a way to get to know one another better. Their joint work is now a shared asset to develop.