The Muixeranga, halftime festivities for the Levante-Villarreal matchup

Levante have announced that during the halftime break of the Levante-Villarreal match, the Muixeranga d’Algemesí will be performing.

The WHAT? I hear you say. All right, time for a bit of information about one of those uniquely Valencian traditions. The muixeranga is the name given to the performance of street dances (also applied to the performance itself and/or the music that accompanies it) but especially the formation of human pyramids or towers, much like the castellers of Catalonia.

Algemesí is a town of about 30,000 people south of Valencia, and there will be about 140 people of various ages from the town participating in building these human towers. I assume this is happening both because Levante is opening the season against another Valencian side, but also to promote Algemesi’s festival of Our Lady of Health, celebrated September 7 and 8, when the muixeranga is done in the town.

If you’d like to see a video of what making these towers looks like, here is one—there are others on youtube as well, including one of a performance at the Mestalla during halftime of a Valencia CF match.