Both in the parade of Their Majesties the Kings of the East in Vilanova i la Geltrú and in Vilafranca del Penedès there will be a quiet area designed for children with autism spectrum disorders or those with high sensitivity to noise or light. The rides will tour the capitals of Garraf and Alt Penedès that, for the first time, will have a space to enjoy the ride, in comfort and safety; and where people with different sensory sensitivities are invited so they can settle in to follow the show.
The first deputy mayor and Councilor for Culture of the Vilanova i la Geltrú City Council, Teresa Llorens, has expressed the municipal will to move forward to "make it easier for all people with different sensory sensitivities to fully enjoy the festival", although no one had In Vilafranca del Penedès they already carried out a positive pilot test at their last festival at the request of the entity Autisme amb Futur, according to Lidia Romeu, Culture Technician at the City Council.
The quiet section in Vilanova will be a marked space, without barriers, where the floats will go slower and the music will be softer; and where children who need it will be able to give their letter to the Three Wise Men in a more leisurely manner. The area chosen to locate this special section is the end of Escolapis street and Tetuán. A tent will also be installed there to be able to manage possible crises and restore calm privately, with health and municipal personnel.
It will be in the first section of the Vilafranca route, on Avenida de Catalunya from the Auditori Municipal to the roundabout with Avenida del Pla del Diable, where the quiet area will be enabled. Here the royal procession will reduce the volume of the music on the different floats to facilitate monitoring of the activity by these groups with disorders.
There will also be two people from the City Council's Culture Service providing information to families who need to use this space. It will not be the only novelty of the Vilafranca parade. This year Fosca, the Arcadia coal company, launches a locomotive to bring coal “to all the people who have not behaved well or have made mistakes and need to reflect to do better next year.”
It also incorporates its own music for the coal locomotive, to which one of the new dance groups added to the procession will dance. And another of the notable novelties this year is that the parade incorporates five dance groups, which are added to the oriental dance group that was already part of the procession accompanying the float of the Royal Page Raimon. This has been possible thanks to the selfless collaboration of the Assumpta Trens dance schools, AMPA Montagut Dance, CAS dance school, Cascavells dance school and Golden Dance LAB. About seventy dancers will be in charge of bringing movement to the procession of the parade.
