Magosto

Here's an explanation I picked up at school.

“Historia del Magosto.

Recibe este nombre la fiesta que se organiza en el mes de noviembre, especialmente el día de Todos los Santos y el de San Martín para asar y posteriormente comer las castañas.

Antiguamente era frecuente acompañar los magostos con vino nuevo. Normalmente las chicas aportaban las castañas y los chicos el vino. También se comía el pan de trigo y otros alimentos de la época. Terminaba el magosto con juegos y bailes. El juego más común era el de tiznarse la cara unos a otros.*

Los magostos están vinculados al día de difuntos porque existía la creencia de que por cada castaña comida se liberaba un alma de purgatorio.

Los zonchos eran collares o rosarios de castañas cocidas con la monda y atravesadas con un hilo, esta es una costumbre que hoy en día todavía se mantiene.

Actualmente se realizan los magostos en casi todos los lugares de Galicia, pues se intenta recuperar la costumbre, aunque sólo se dé importancia al hecho de comer las castañas y hacer la fiesta.”

“History of Magosto.

This is the name of the festival that is organized in the month of November, especially All Saints’ Day and Saint Martin’s day, to roast and to afterwards eat chestnuts. [Editorial comment: I swear that the original Spanish is pretty awkward, this isn’t solely the fault of my translation.]

Formerly it was common to drink new wine at Magosto. Normally the girls would bring the chestnuts and boys would bring the wine. People also ate wheat bread and other foods of that time. Magosto ended with games and dances. The most common game was to mark other people’s faces with charred sticks.

Magosto celebrations were linked to the day of the dead because there existed the belief that for every chestnut you ate, a soul would be freed from purgatory. [Man, this seems like a really easy way to free souls from purgatory. Just saying. They would have put that Tetzel guy out of business.]

Zonchos were necklaces or rosaries made from chestnuts cooked in their skins and run through with a string, which is a custom that is continued today.

Currently magosto is celebrated in almost all parts of Galicia, as people are trying to recover the custom, although they only give importance to the act of eating chestnuts and having a party.”

*I remember learning the noun "tizón" at one point and thinking "how strange. They have one single noun that refers to a charred stick? Is this really a necessary word?" Now they've taken it one step further and we have the verb "tiznar" which means "to mark with a charred stick."

Above: Magosto foods. Incl: Chocolate-covered chestnuts, chestnut truffles, apple cake.

¡Asando las castañas! / Roasting the chestnuts!

Con la cara tiznada / Marked up with charcoal

Castañas, noces e viño
Fan as delicias do San Martiño

Chesnuts, walnuts and wine
Are what makes Saint Martin's day so fine

Polo San Martiño
faise o magosto
con castañas asadas
e viño ou mosto

For Saint Martin's
you celebrate Magosto
with roasted chestnuts
and wine or grape juice

Nos soutos enteiros
vellos castiñeiros
de froitos cargados
e soños dourados

Whole forests
of old chestnut trees
filled with nuts
and golden dreams

Xa sopra o vento
¡chegou o momento!
Cun amplo sorriso
regaña o ourizo
Ven Santos chuvioso
Con moitos magostos
¡As ricas castañas
quentiñas asadas!

Not sure if I can translate this one properly... Some relevant information: the spiky covering of a chestnut is called "ourizo" (Castilian: erizo) which means "hedgehog." Also it is a common trope to think of the ourizo as smiling (sorriso=sonrisa=smile) because of the way it splits open in a curved shape. I'm not quite sure what the verb "regañar" (to scold) is doing in there. I'm guessing that the word Santos is doing synecdoche duty for "o día dos Santos", or else the adjective "chuvioso" would be plural (right..?) Anway, here goes...

Now the wind is blowing
The moment's arrived!
The chestnut-shell scolds
with a great big smile!
Rainy Saints' day is coming
with many magostos!
Tasty chestnuts,
piping hot and roasted!