Fiesta de la batalla de PONTE CALDELAS

Since August 2009 , during the events of the bicentennial of the War of Independence is celebrated in the Festa da Battle of Ponte Caldelas, in order to commemorate the historic event happened on July 7, 1809 when a group of farmers and commanded by Francisco Oubiña fidalgos , lord of Pazo do Coto de Forzáns will set face a brigade of light infantry and cavalry commanded by General Ney, upriver looking for a way through the Verdugo river to attack from the rear to the Spanish troops they were defending Ponte Sampaio against the armies of Napoleon.

The heroic action of those peasants with no military training and support of the mythical " Canons of pau " and the ambush luck behind the thick existing fog that day put paid to the plans of the French strategist and allowed the Spanish resistance in Ponte Sampaio not he was surprised by the rear.

Since 2009 the City Council of Ponte Caldelas in collaboration with municipal associations recreate that important ephemeris through the simulation of a battle in which about 200 people wearing vintage clothes imitating the alarms Ponte Caldelas and uniformed with showy part costumes of Napoleon's army .

Simultaneously an extensive program of activities , developed the weekend before the Festival of Sorrows ( third weekend in August ) among which the Feira Antiga do Camiño two Arrieiros , become a must for residents and visitors during this summer fill the streets and the Alameda de Ponte Caldelas

In this dramatized recreation involved residents of different parts of the municipality, especially in the parish of Forzáns , which staged each year with a different and original screenplay , the fight that kept the Galician people against Napoleon's troops to gain their independence oppression represented at that time the French army.

Citizen participation at this event is increasing the public with dressing vintage clothes and performing " xantares popular " on the banks of the river Verdugo offering the town a quaint and colorful aspect that makes it back in time to the nineteenth century.