What are human towers?
Human Towers (also called Castells, which is the catalan word for Castles), is a tradition born in the early 1700s in South Catalonia, which is located in the North-West of Spain, where different groups (called Colles in Catalan) began to compete making different structures.
Human towers have 2 phases, the building of it (called carregada in Catalan), where castellers climb up until the last one reaches the top, and when the tower gets brought down safely (called descarregada).
A human tower has 3 main parts: the bulk or pinya at the lowest floors, the trunk or tronc which is the main structure and the crown or pom which are the three top levels.
In this case, we have 3 bulks, that have different names according to its floor. The ground level one is called pinya, the second floor one is called folre and the one on top is called manilles. Then we have the main structure, and the crown at the top.
The bulk or pinya
The bulk or pinya in Catalan, is a structure designed to hold the main structure. As the main structure may move, the bulk needs to prevent the trunk people from moving or shake to ensure the stability of the main structure.
As we keep adding additional floors to the main structure, additional bulks are necessary to hold the main structure. It is in this case where there may be bulks on top of other bulks.
As there are many roles in the bulks, literally any profile of person, no matter age, gender, complexity or strength can play a determinant role in the bulk. That is why human towers are such a popular tradition that frequently brings families all together.
The trunk or tronc
The trunk is the main structure of the tower and is populated by the most agile individuals of the group. There are many structures to be built, and are defined by the amount of people in each floor. Because of that, we can have structures from 1 person per floor until 9.
The crown or pom
The crown is the top of the tower, and it consists in 4 people (usually kids or very light people) that finish the structure. Once the kid that goes on top reaches it, the tower is officially crowned and the second phase starts.
Human towers are well known for being exciting, fun, very social and sometimes a quite demanding activity. Below you will see the biggest human tower ever made, achieved by Minyons de Terrassa on November 2015.
So, do you feel like joining? Just drop us a line at sydneyhumantowers@gmail.com sydneyhumantowers@gmail.com or complete the form below and get ready for a life changing experience! We’d love to meet you!