Within the framework of the Patron Saint Festivities of Inca, dedicated to Saints Abdón and Senén, the XXXV Encuentro de Bailes Regionales will take place today at 8.30 pm in the Plaza de España in Inca.
This year and due to the current circumstances the meeting will be led by the components of the Revetlers without any outside participation. In addition to the folklore, we will be able to enjoy a Mallorcan costume used until the beginning of the 20th century. It is characterised by not being as showy as the gala costume, but its simplicity and colourfulness give it a special charm.

Antonia Beltrán Prats knows like no one else this ancestral tradition that the Agrupación Folklórica Revetlers d’es Puig d’Inca (Revetlers d’es Puig d’Inca Folkloric Group) has been carrying out for 35 years as its coordinator with different responsibilities in the group. We have been lucky enough to talk to her and propose that we go back to 1986, to the founding of the Revetlers, going through the present, past and future of this great group.

How did the Revetlers d’es Puig de Inca begin?

The Agrupació Folklòrica Revetlers d’es Puig d’Inca was founded in September 1986. We were about 20 people with a common concern. To be the hallmark of Inca, combining tradition and modernity. Some of my colleagues had knowledge of music and dance. In this first stage we trained ourselves to unify content. Nowadays it is the children of these founders who have taken over the generational baton. So we will have an assured tradition.

What have been your most outstanding performances?

I couldn’t tell you a specific performance. What is important is the enthusiasm and the teamwork that is carried out. During this 35 year trajectory we have had the opportunity to perform on all the islands. We have also carried out cultural exchanges with other groups in Spain. On an international level, we have appeared in the English and German media, through our performances in different festivals and meetings held outside the Islands.

Tell us a curiosity about the Revetlers?

One of the curiosities was being able to be present representing Mallorca at Expo 92. We had the privilege of being one of the few national groups and the first Balearic group to perform at Disneyland Paris.
In 2015 we released our first CD. With 14 unpublished and representative themes of the city of Inca, we also have multiple collaborations in different recording projects.

What are the Revetlers like nowadays?

The group is chaired by Mateu Martorell Boned, and has about thirty members. We are organised as an association of families and we have a music and dance school.
We define ourselves as an association of amateurs who try to have fun, doing what they really like, the recovery, conservation and diffusion of Balearic folklore is our leitmotiv.

The Hermitage of Santa Magdalena, so dear to the Inqueros, is the one that gives them their name. The Hermitage is guarded by the images of the Knights Templar San Abdón and San Senén, patron saints of our town. This marvellous enclave allows us to observe the different villages of Raiguer and, on clear days, even Menorca. The Revetlers, for their part, make visible a tradition that connects us with those first inqueros who surely found in the local folklore the same source of illusion as they do today.