The celebration of the "quintos" has lasted in the towns of our region, although many young people do not do the military service nor spend months outside their homes in distant places. But the memory of the old celebration (that was simultaneously a goodbye of all the town) follows effective and it is celebrated of a peculiar way in Bolea .
First thing that calls your attention is that the "quintos"are not 18 years old, but 20, and their families collaborate with them economically and also of active form in the preparation of the acts.
This celebration comes making " from always ", according to words of Fina Juncosa, a person of Bolea. The acts begin in the morning of Good Friday. First of all, the "quintos" of the year are going to look for the mallet that is the trunk of a very tall black poplar. They have to find a mallet of greater length than the one of the previous year. When the tree has been cut young people stopped to have lunch abundantly so that the forces hold during the three holidays. In many cases, the parents of the futures "quintos" have already the tree prepared so that when their sons are 20 years old and celebrate this party he has the best chosen and clean black poplar.
If they did not find an appropriate black poplar they asked for some neighbor allowed them to cut a tree of their property or requested aid to the City council.
After the lunch they return to the town and they go to the " Punta el Moro ", a high place where they will plant it with the help of his parents and the "quintos" of the previous and later year. This act requires more of ability than of force, reason why he is advisable that greater and experienced people help them. A year the mallet fell on a young person and it broke his legs and the tree without " being planted " remained there.
When the mallet is planted, a job that can take several hours, all "quintos" are going to have a meal to the hermitage of Saint Quitery. The menu always is the same one: small boiler (meat of lamb with potatoes). It is prepared by the parents of the "quintos" and other voluntary people.
In the evening and in the nucleous of Bolea, they remove the saints in the procession and a step is carried by the "quintos"every year.
At night the open-air dance is the last act of the day. Everybody can attend if they previously pay an entrance.
Easter Saturday begins with the preparation of a great cake on the part of the girls. They usually do it in the evening and they spent enough time to make it because it must be original and always different from the previous year. Sometimes they have designed a sweet Collegiate Church and others they have been the Mallos of Riglos or the flag of Aragón. This cake is reserved to be eaten on the following day. The night falls and the open-air dance is open to all again.
Sunday is the great day of the celebration and perhaps the most symbolic day. All "quintos" go to the church accompanied by their families and they wore for the first time a "suit". Actually this detail does not seem important but some years ago it meant " the putting of length " of the young people and in many cases the suit they wore for the first time was the first they bought in their life. It opened them the doors of the adult age. Their parents wore for the first time clothes too. This celebration supposes a good holiday for the families, in addition to an important economic effort.
In the church, the "quintos" offered flowers to saints and they were the protagonists of the celebration. Whentha mass finished, they were going to have a meal by families (the parents invite to their relatives and friends) and they usually join 40 or 50 people by house. This event is reason of joy for all and it looks like the celebration of a communion.
At 5 o´clok in the afternoon the round started. It was formed by a group of "jota" and a band of street musicians that sang and played the guitar and the bandurria. A donkey is rent (before it was not necessary because there were a lot of them in houses). The animal threw of a wagon that had been adorned previously and took in its interior the great cake that would be distributed between houses. The rest of the cake would be distributed at night in the second session of the ope-air dance.
The round is passing by the houses of the "quintos" crossing the town and it gathers money that the neighbors give them. People who sings dedicates to each "quinto" one or two "jotas" that have been written specially for them according to their tastes, likings, character, etc
The round usually finished late but they still were going to attend the last open-air dance. It is necessary to remember that this celebration formerly finished in Monday and we imagin the "quintos" needed one week, at least, to recover themselves.
