The tongue-in-cheek Spanish festival where they all dress up as Brits
A TINY town in Spain has a very strange annual tradition – where they dress up as Brits and poke fun at the culture.
The festival, which started in 2014, takes place in the small town of Padrón in Galicia in Spain.
Event organisers Yeya Gilino and Antonio Pérez created the peculiar festival in a bid to update an outdated donkey race that was held in the town for over 50 years.
Gilino and Pérez, who both live in Padrón, wanted to add glamour and charm will continuing to celebrate the donkeys.
Inspired by the British horse race Ascot, and a Spanish word for donkey (Asno), the pair settled on Asnot.
According to the i newspaper, the first rendition of the festival started in 2014 when a local bar was turned into a betting house.
Pérez said: “Customers were invited to become elegant ladies and gentlemen.”
The festival was an immediate success, and has grown in size and offering in the years since.
In 2016, the duo hired actors to play members of the royal family as well as other historical figures.
Other features include English tribute acts like the Beatles and Freddie Mercury, wooden donkey displays, mural painting, and hobby horse races for kids.
There have been performances from historical impersonators such as Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II too.
After being postponed during the Coronavirus pandemic, the event was held over three days in July last year.
And the plans for this year’s event are already well underway too.
According to Gilino and Perez, prospective visitors to the festival can look forward to a festival that pokes fun at a culture they both admire.
Gilino said: “Those who go to Asnot become their character and get involved from the moment they design their hat to enjoying the concerts and activities at the festival.”
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