I’m going to be in Galicia the second week of September and wonder if anyone knows of any places to go to see/hear Galician piping there.
I wish I was going with you… Been listening to Galician stuff quite a lot lately, with more on the way. Next year I hope Father Christmas will bring me a gaita, if I’ve been a good boy.
I’d be interested in hearing where one can hear piping in Galician, too - I’d like to go there to get the gaita if F.C. is kind and I’m a good boy…
Just a hunch, but you may want to investigate the old cathedral town of Santiago de Compostela.
Thanks. My girlfriend and I do plan to go there, as the guidebooks suggest that it is a good locale for live music.
(I used to live in Chicago [Hyde Park] and miss it a lot!)
Hi friends,
Agost is the best month to come to Galicia to find celtic music, because all our towns are celebrating summer parties (“festa rachada”) and you can find a lot of folk festivals everywhere. But in september probably you’ll find galician music and pipers (“gaiteiros”) and maybe some galician bands’ performances too.
As Pat said, Santiago de Compostela is the town to begin (Galicia’s capital). Its easy to find pipers, harpers, hurdy, fiddlers, etc playing in the street.
Our finnest galician pub is A Casa das Crechas, near to the cathedral, where you could find some galician musicians too, sessions, and “Estrella Galicia” our beer. Ask to tourist information office (near to cathedral too) to visit Galicia.
Check the web and take a look to:
http://www.santiagodecompostela.org/english.php?lg=ing
http://www.santiagoturismo.com/enlace.asp?lateral=agenda/lateral_agenda.asp&contenido=agenda/contenido_agenda.asp&idioma=i&nombreID=&id=
http://www.galiciaenfiestas.com/septiembre.htm
Benvidos (welcome)! 
I was going to walk the 900 mile pilgrimage to the bones of St James to get the Certificate of Completion but I found out that you still get the Cert by only starting a half mile away. I didn’t want to cheat, though, on the distance, so I found a cruise ship/helicopter/limousine package that leaves from Monaco. I will leg it myself for that last half mile; the driver can then be shopping for that nice wall frame that I’ll be needing.
Thank you very much, Galego Man! Looking forward to visiting.
Hey, Jim! Be sure to wear a scallop shell around your neck (on a leather boot lace) hanging down over your heart, after your trip to Santiago de Campostella! That’s the real old Certification of the Pilgrimage. If you were going to Jerusalem. you’d bring back a palm frond. Of course there were shops all along the way, that sold these items. It’s the thought that counts…get two scallops for the proto castanetts (rubbing the ridges together to acccompany those gaiteros there). Os Galegos (without the double “L”) call them, “Conchas de Peregrino”.
Of course! But this is a spanish term. We call the scallops “Vieiras” or “cunchas de peregrín”.
In galician traditional music this shells (“cunchas”) are used like a special kind of “bones” (we use bones too, that we call in galician language “terrañolas”) being a tipical percussion instrument. But first we cook it and eat the meat 
The native peoples of the Andean Mt.s and similar South American indigenous people use shells (either on a stick/ maraca, or bracelet, or a hand held string ) as rhytm accompaniment, or lead to their traditional music.
Sure! …But in Galicia we wear trousers 
(sometimes)