Els Amics del Drac

With the arrival of democracy, the street was reclaimed as a festive space and at the same time a series of changes occurred in the functioning of the dances at the Festa Major of Vilafranca. Most groups began to perform free of charge.

Regarding the Drac, in 1979, one of the administrators proposed to a group of young people to join the Drac as a renewal of the colla and without pay, as other dances began to do from that year. That Festa Major, the colla of carriers was formed by the old dancers and the new group, with a flabiolaire as musician.

That same year, on 23rd September, the Drac de Vilafranca participated in the Mostra de Bèsties Fantàstiques held during the Mercè festivities in Barcelona, together with eight other dragons and three colles de diables. This show was the basis of the Correfoc that has been celebrated since 1981 in Barcelona.

In the first week of December 1979, the "Amics del Drac" were formed, a collective of carriers of the Drac de Vilafranca responsible for working around this figure and ensuring its proper use.

One of the first actions of the "Amics del Drac" came in 1982, when the exhibition "El Drac" could be seen at the Festa Major in the chapel of Sant Joan, between 28 August and 5 September.

Later, in 1984, the "Amics del Drac" together with the administrators of the Festa Major organised the show "Bestiari fantàstic i popular de Catalunya" at the Capella de Sant Joan, from 25 August to 2 September.

In the revival of the festival during the late 1970s and early 1980s, in 1981 the offering of the dances inside Santa Maria at the Mass on 30 August began. During this act, representatives of all the dances enter the church, and each year a different one performs in front of the altar. The drac did so in 1994, although it naturally danced the Fire Dance without rockets, to the sound of the flabiol.

In 1996, the Agrupació del Bestiari Festiu i Popular de Catalunya was established, an association of which the "Amics del Drac" of Vilafranca are founding members.