La Castañada (in Catalan – Castanyada) is a festival that marks the end of summer and beginning of winter. It is celebrated traditionally on November 1st as the bellringers needed lots of food to keep them going as they rang the bells on All Saints Night for All Souls Day, and their families brought them roasted chestnuts as well as candied fruits.
Some links that explain the festival
LA CASTANYADA & All Saints Day Barcelona
The Catalan tradition of La Castanyada
Wikipedia – Castañada
The ‘image’ of the festival is La Castañera / Castanyera, an old lady dressed in peasant clothes and a headscarf, sitting behind a table, roasting chestnuts.
Here’s a story about her:
And here’s a poem in Catalan about La Castanyada:
If you have a Twinkl subscription, you can download various resources on the subject including vocabulary, a presentation , a story, a game and some colouring sheets. La Castañada on Twinkl
As part of the Erasmus+ project that I’m involved in with my school, we participated in a celebration of La castañada at our Spanish partner school. Here’s a video that shows this.(from 2:30-3:20)
