Rugby Festivals

At Trust Rugby International we believe that an important part of what we can offer people with disabilities is the opportunity to enjoy enriching experiences. There is no doubt that travelling and meeting like-minded people is one of the activities that people enjoy the most and that is why we have created the festival as a social and sporting meeting point for people with disabilities.

It is a Festival and not a tournament because the emphasis is on fun and not on competition. It is more of a social event than a sporting one, the important thing is human relations and that participants from here and elsewhere can feel part of a larger community.

The Festival has already established itself as a national and international benchmark. Our festival concept is a model for others like the Hernani Festival. We organise activities such as surf lessons, dance classes and street celebrations. The important thing is to be able to share experiences with other people and enjoy the sport together. In the 2021 edition, due to the sanitary situation, foreign teams were not able to participate as in previous years, but we had our friends from Hernani Rugby Club, Quijotes Rugby Club, Castelldefels Rugby Club, Abelles de Valencia, El Clan de Cullera and the Fundación Escuela de Solidaridad of Granada. The Festival was held at the Juan Palomares Corella rugby field in the Cullera Municipal Sports Centre for the rugby activities, the Marenyet beach for the water activities and the “Centre Municipal d’Esports” facilities for the reception and dinner.

Cullera consolidated its position as a clear reference for inclusive rugby worldwide. “Cullera is a city that promotes inclusion and that’s why it’s an honour to host this pioneering festival for another year, which is already a benchmark for sport and social integration,” said Cullera’s mayor, Jordi Mayor. On 9 and 10 September the town hosted this international event promoted by Trust Rugby International in collaboration with the town council and also with the participation of the Espurna Association and volunteers from the Cullera Rugby Club. The Festival had an extensive programme of activities with a more social than sporting character, since its main purpose is that all participants can feel part of a larger community. Thus, the morning of the festival was dedicated to different sports activities on the beach organised by Posidonia Surf School and Surf Inclusión. In the afternoon it was time for the rugby matches that were played on the ‘Juan Palomares Corella’  rugby pitch of La Partideta.

This fifth edition of the TRI Unified Rugby festival had the participation of five teams from different parts of Spain: Les Abelles from  València, Hernani CRE de Hernani, Getxo Rugby de Getxo, Club de Rugby Atlético Portuense from Puerto de Santa María, URA Clan Almería and Clan TRI-Espurna from Cullera; as well as the Scottish delegation ‘The Grampian Clan’ and a group of volunteers from Fundación Escuela de Solidaridad of Granada. The programme of activities includes the second International Inclusive Paella-cooking contest on Saturday night, an event that has been reinstated in the festival programme. It is worth highlighting the collaboration in this event of the Club de Producto Artesanos del Arroz and the Asociación Empresarial de Hostelería de Cullera.