Plaza Rodrigo wins Sagunto's Playbacks lip-sync contest before 3,000-plus fans
The Falla Plaza Rodrigo took first prize at Sagunto's adult Playbacks lip-sync contest, organised by the FJFS Fallas federation, beating La Marina and Els Vents before more than 3,000 spectators at the René Marigil pavilion.
More than 3,000 people filled the car park at the René Marigil pavilion on Saturday night for the adult Playbacks contest, a lip-sync and choreography competition organised every year by the Federación Junta Fallera de Sagunto (FJFS, the city's Fallas association). It is one of the most popular dates on Sagunto's festival calendar. The falla (neighbourhood Fallas group) Plaza Rodrigo took the overall win, taking first prize for Best Playback ahead of La Marina, in second place, and Els Vents, in third.
In these contests, each falla group prepares its own lip-sync performance, complete with choreography and costumes, after months of rehearsals. Saturday's full car park shows that the René Marigil venue remains, year after year, one of the biggest draws on the Morvedre district's festival calendar.
The contest, which raises the technical and artistic level of the participating groups every year, brought in one change this time: for the first time, six Best Playback prizes were awarded instead of the usual three. Behind the top three came Plaza del Sol in fourth place, Luis Cendoya in fifth, and El Romano in sixth. The judging panel was made up of Alba Escot, Susana Molina, Rubén Martínez and Gemma María Alfonso, four people connected to the Playbacks scene across the Valencian Community.
Plaza Rodrigo was, by far, the star of the night. Besides the overall first prize, it also won Best Costume, Best Set Design, Best Performance, the Ingenuity and Originality award, and the Entertainment and Charm award — a near-total sweep of the individual categories. In Costume, La Marina placed second and El Romano third. In Set Design, El Romano took second and Luis Cendoya third. In Performance, Els Vents placed second and La Marina third.
The only category that escaped Plaza Rodrigo's dominance was Best Choreography, won by Els Vents, with El Romano second and Plaza Rodrigo itself third. In Ingenuity and Originality, La Marina again reached the podium in second place, with Els Vents third; in Entertainment and Charm, Els Vents placed second again and La Marina third.
The venue itself has a story behind its name. The René Marigil pavilion is named after professional cyclist René Marigil (1928-2009), who moved to Sagunto at the age of 16 and lived in the city until his final days. That personal connection explains why the sports venue carries his name and hosts some of the town's best-attended festival events each year, including this Playbacks contest.
The festival weekend did not end with the adult gala. On Sunday, also at the René Marigil pavilion, the children's Playbacks contest took place, with the youngest members of the participating groups putting on an afternoon focused on family fun. No detailed results from this second event have been released, but organisers highlighted strong turnout and a friendly atmosphere among the attending groups.
For the falla groups, the Playbacks contest works as a measure of months of rehearsals, choreography and costume-making, and usually marks the symbolic start of the season of events leading up to the March Fallas festival. The packed car park at René Marigil confirms that the format remains one of the town's biggest festival draws, on a par with other well-attended dates on Sagunto's Fallas calendar.
The contest's appeal lies precisely in watching each falla group — made up mostly of volunteer neighbours rather than professional companies — turn the pavilion car park into a full stage for one night, complete with props, lighting and synchronised choreography prepared over months of work. For much of the audience, that contrast between modest resources and the final result is the main reason not to miss the event year after year.
According to elperiodicodeaqui.com, with additional background from Wikipedia on the pavilion's name.