Ferias & Fiestas

Andalusia enjoys many ferias and fiestas each year and below you can read about some of the most popular. To keep up to date with what is happening along the coast refer to local papers and posters in the towns. Below is a listing of holidays universally celebrated across Andalusia. Keep in mind that each town also has two additional local holidays.

Bull Runs

The Running of the Bulls in the San Fermín festival in Pamplona was made famous in the Anglo-Saxon world with Hemmingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises. Nowadays San Fermin attracts many tourists who choose to run with the bulls. Running with the bulls is dangerous and the town hall offers multi-lingual brochures with tips on how to survive the experience. Tip#1 watch it from the sidelines!

At noon on July 6th a fireworks display kicks off the festivities which last an entire week ending at midnight on July 14th. On July 7th, thousands of people accompany the effigy of Saint Fermin along the streets of Pamplona. There are dancers and street entertainers and giant carnival figures.

The main event the "encierro," the Running of the Bulls, is what draws the crowds. The encierro involves running in front of bulls down 825 metres (0.51 mile) of cobbled streets in old town Pamplona.

Each morning the events start at 20:00. The competitors, mostly men, are clad in white, with a red handkerchief tied about their necks, and a red sash tied around their waist. The runners gather together and sing an ode to San Fermin asking for his blessing before making the mad dash. After the run, the participants hit the bars..... It's fun, it's invigorating but please remember it's also highly dangerous. www.sanfermin.com

Carnival In Cádiz

Cádiz is a small city located on the coast which becomes a raucous and rowdy playground during its annual carnival celebration. In the 17th century Spanish galleons sailed the seas and brought home influences from far and abroad. Lively music came from the Americas, an imported blend of African and Creole rhythms, sambas and rustic Colombian tunes. Inspired by the carnivals held in Venice and Genoa and given rhythm by this new music, the locals in Cádiz decided to give it a try Andalusian style.

Said to be the third largest Carnival celebration in the world (after Rio de Janeiro and Trinidad) an international crowd flocks to the city to partake in the ten day mayhem leading up to Shrove Tuesday. The streets are decorated and jammed with pedestrians and street vendors. There are stages set up in all the squares to watch musical acts, comedians and children's performances and at the cathedral's square hugely popular Spanish bands perform live concerts. Don't forget your earplugs, "la Toronda" (the Thunder), a massive, eardrum-shattering chaos of firecrackers takes place daily in the Plaza San Juan de Dios.

Carnival in 2008 begins on January 31st and runs til February 10th. If you can't book a hotel don't worry, everyone sleeps on the benches and in the parks.

Tomatina

The Tomatina is Spain's # 2 most famous festival. It takes place annually on the last Wednesday in August in Buñol, a small town in Valencia. This year the Tomatina is celebrated on August 29th. At 11:00 a bell rings and the battle begins. There are a few rules and regulations - an etiquette to this tomato smashing. The participants must mush the tomato in their hand before hurling it at their "enemy" and only over ripe tomatoes are to be hurled. Tens of thousands of local and international participants come and take part in this harmless food battle. In one hour over one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets. At noon a rocket blast signals the end of yet another Tomatina!

www.tomatina.es

Seville Fair

The Seville Spring Fair dates back to 1847 and is a huge social occasion. Originally an animal fair, now the Feria de Abril is a chance for the Andalusian Society to show its noblesse. One goes there dressed to the max, to see and be seen. The fair is held two weeks after the Easter Holy Week and officially begins at midnight on Tuesday, running six days and ends on the following Sunday.

The daily festivities begin as horse drawn carriages and elegantly dressed equestrians make their way to the bullring, la Real Maestranza. Covering the far bank of the Guadalquivir River is a sea of casetas, individual decorated marquee tents erected especially for the fair. The casetas belong to the prominent families of Seville, groups of friends, clubs, trade associations or political parties. The festivities begin in the streets and carry on til sunrise in the casetas. There are some public casetas, but the trick to the fair, is to get yourself invited to a caseta where you will have the real experience!

Ferias In The Summer Months

Throughout summer in Andalusia a feria or fair will be held in just about every town and village. The first one commences in April, two weeks after Easter in Seville and the last one takes place in San Pedro de Alcántara in mid-October.

During the day there are amusements in the streets for children as traffic is stopped during the period of the fair. In the evening the town's public fairground comes alive with rides and bars. Everyone is welcome and each town may have different agendas, with anything from Flamenco to concerts. Most ferias finish on the Sunday evening before the local holiday, specifically used for a day of recovery.

Popular ferias are: Marbella (early June), Estepona (early July), Ojén (early October), Torremolinos (late September), Fuengirola (early October) and San Pedro de Alcántara (late October.)

Estepona

The festival of San Isidro on the 15th of May celebrates the patron saint of farmers and a procession is led through the streets and fields of the town.

Málaga

The city holds an annual fair and the feria attracts up to an amazing six million visitors between the second Saturday and the third Sunday of August. It takes place in the city centre during the mornings (all traffic is banned and it becomes a pedestrian zone) and moves on to the exhibition site where the party continues until the early hours of the morning.

Another interesting and more intimate fiesta is called los Verdiales, a dance event typical of Málaga which is celebrated on December 28th. The Teatro Cervantes hosts various dance events, opera, Spanish Cinema Festival, Jazz Festival and many other cultural events. World Dance, an electronic music festival attracting large numbers of young people, takes place in the summer, as does the festival of ethnic music.

Torremolinos

On the 16th July each year, many fishing villages along the coast pay special homage to the Virgin del Carmen. The town of Torremolinos celebrates by floating an effigy of the virgin through the town and around the bay. The celebration is particularly important because it is believed that the virgin blesses and protects the fishermen of the sea. Hundreds of people accompany the Virgin of Carmen on her traditional way from Carihuela to the sea in July.

The Feria de Torremolinos takes place at the end of September and is known as the Feria de San Miguel. The hub of activity in the daytime is the town centre and at night the hotspot shifts to the exhibition site. It is preceded by the colourful pilgrimage of San Miguel that attracts approximately 100,000 people every year.

Fiesta De Los Reyes

Spanish children are given their Christmas presents during this fiesta on the 6th of January, traditionally the 12th day of Christmas when the three Kings arrived in Jerusalem to give Jesus his gifts. Processions are usually held in towns with sweets thrown out to the children (watch out, the boiled sweets can really hurt!)

Noche De San Juan

Traditionally held on the 24th June, close to the summer solstice, again this fiesta is celebrated in fishing villages on the coast, such as Sabinillas and Estepona. Bonfires and fireworks are lit on the beaches and at midnight everyone ventures into the sea for a paddle, which is believed to bring good luck.

Semana Santa Easter Week

Holy Week (Easter Week) is one of the most beautiful celebrations in the whole of Europe, dating back to the 15th Century and is celebrated in every town in Spain. The biggest Easter celebration in Andalusia is in Seville, where elaborate thrones, often gilded and adorned with hundreds of fresh flowers, carry religious figurines through the streets. Singers from adjacent balconies serenade the life size carved religious sculptures as the tale of the Easter passion unfolds. Each year more than 60,000 people visit the processions and experience the festivities.

National Holidays

2007

2008