CORREOS, the organiser of this Exhibition-Fair, wants this to be a major international philately event

THE PHILATELY FAIR "MIRAR ELS SEGELLS" OPENS ITS DOORS IN BARCELONA UNTIL 12 OCTOBER

• A great glass marquee measuring 1,000 sq. m has been set up in Passeig Lluís Companys, close to the Arc de Triomf, to house a philately fair, an exhibition about postal history in Catalonia with items from the Postal Museum, and 28 philately stands.
• A variety of entertainment events are also being offered: a demonstration of "castellers" (human towers) and performances with "gegants" (giants), "sardanas" and other traditional Catalan dances.

Barcelona, 9 October 2008.- The First Philately Fair "MIRAR ELS SEGELLS" ("LOOKING AT STAMPS") opened today in Barcelona and will continue until 12 October. CORREOS wants this Fair to become a major national and international event, placing the Catalan capital firmly on the annual world-wide philately calendar. Promoted by the public postal company, this trade fair and exhibition merges all the separate annual fairs previously organised by the philatelic associations and ANFIL into one large-scale event.

The opening ceremony was held today at noon and was presided over by CORREOS Philately Director José Luis Fernández Reyero, regional government of Catalonia representative Joan Rangel i Tarrés, and Barcelona City Council Commissioner for Public Relations Katy Carreras-Moysi.

A TRANSPARENT MARQUEE IN THE CITY CENTRE

CORREOS, as promoter and organiser, aims to bring philately and the postal services closer to all the residents of Barcelona and visitors to the city. To do this, the Barcelona 2008 Philately Fair is being held in the heart of the city, in Passeig Lluís Companys, from the Arc de Triomf to Ciudadela. A huge 1,000 sq. m marquee has been set up to hold not only the complete philatelic display, with 16 glass cabinets, but also a journey through two hundred years of the postal service, with items from the Postal Museum, ranging from an 18th century post box, PO boxes, hieroglyphic letters and other resources and tools used for postal communication. The modern era is represented by PDAs, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (a CORREOS programme which, like Google Earth, aids postal delivery planning) and Hispasat. The Fair also houses 28 stands for philately traders and CORREOS own stand. All these exhibits are visible from outside the marquee, as it has been built using transparent materials and glass, enabling it to blend into its urban surroundings and attract the attention of passers-by.

MORE THAN JUST STAMPS

Over the four days of the Philately Fair, a wide range of philately-related activities are planned both inside the marquee and in the surrounding area.

• Three stamps will be presented to the public inside the marquee Auditorium: the Castellers stamp (today, 9 October, at 7:00 pm), part of the "Traditional Games and Sports" series (the subject of a book published by CORREOS showing the complete collection) and two other stamps from the Fungi and Mushrooming series (tomorrow, 10 October, at 12:00 noon).
• Two personalised stamps commemorating the Fair and Exhibition will also be issued while the Barcelona 2008 Fair is open.
• On Friday, 10 October, at 8:00 pm, the Barcelona Castellers will be performing near the entrance of the Philately Fair.
• On Saturday, 11 October, at 12:00 noon, the "Violetes del Bosc" Sardana Group will give a display of sardana dancing, accompanied by the Cobla Sabadell. In the afternoon, from 6:00 pm, there will be a "Gegants i Capgrossos" ("giants and bigheads") event beside the Arc de Triomf.
• On Sunday, 12 October, at 12:00 noon, the L’Esbart de San Martí group from Barcelona will be performing an anthology of Catalan, Valencian and Mallorquin folk and traditional dances.

SCHOOL VISITS

CORREOS has invited school groups to visit this philately show. Today, Thursday, and tomorrow, over the course of the morning and the afternoon, a number of groups totalling more than 400 children will have the opportunity to find out about the history of the postal service and see the stamps for themselves.

These young visitors, and everyone who comes to this ephemeral, transparent marquee (which is equipped with the latest in air conditioning, security and comfort vital for these types of shows) can watch how stamps are designed and printed, see the first stamps issued in Spain, the Catalan and Spanish personalities who have appeared on stamps, great architectural monuments and works of art that have had their own stamps. There is also a collection of stamps featuring athletes and sports events, to promote sporting values, and the stamp series on civic values whose mission is to contribute to raising awareness of these values in Spanish society and promote solidarity in the fight to eradicate gender violence (the 016 telephone stamp), racism or xenophobia. Other stamp series on display were issued to encourage blood and organ donation, health and safety at work, and accident prevention in the workplace and on the roads.

Young people, children and all visitors to "MIRAR ELS SEGELLS" will be able to take away a souvenir gift of their visit to the glass marquee in the form of a "fictional stamp" featuring their own design, which they can make in the "Tu sello" ("your stamp") area at the CORREOS stand.

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