Benalmadma Pueblo is one of the best towns to take part in a Corpus Christi festival on the Costa del Sol. Several of the streets in and around Plaza de España are decorated with a carpet of coloured petals and greenery ahead of a mid-day church procession.
Holy Week, Semana Santa, in Andalucia is an event that literally transforms towns and cities across this region. Processions of elaborately decorated floats with Jesus and Mary statues, groups of pointy-hood wearing Nazarenos (penitents), and shrill brass bands, walk slowly through the streets, from their parish church to the cathedral and back.
The poster for Malaga Fair 2024 is called Mi playa en Feria (My beach at the fair) and was designed by Eloisa Peñas Cárdenas from Jaén, who lives in Malaga. There were five finalists and the jury of experts chose Eloisa's creation. There were 105 entries from all over Spain. The finalists were chosen by a public vote on the Internet.
The summer feria in San Pedro de Alcantara, Marbella, it is traditionally held on the third week of October from a Monday or Tuesday to a Sunday to coincide with the Saint’s feast day.
Estepona Summer Feria takes place the first week in July from Tuesday to Sunday and gives everyone a week to enjoy dancing, drinking and eating. Both the day fair and the night fair take place at the 'Parque Ferial y Deportivo' located at the top of Avenida Juan Carlos I next to the A-7 coast road that by-passes Estepona.
Battle of the Flowers (Batalla de las Flores) isn't usually in May but end of April. The "battle'' consists of a procession of floats making its way along the city`s Paseo de la Victoria
The Feria started in 1846 as a livestock fair in the Prado de Sebastian, where horses were traded. Its aim was also to provide an uplifting distraction from the aftermath of the Napoleonic invasion and the hurricane of 1842, a category 2 storm which had destroyed homes in Seville.
The Wednesday of the Feria is a public holiday in Seville, so that day tends to be more crowded as locals can come during the day (as opposed to after work), and on Friday and Saturday many visitors come to Seville from other cities to experience the Feria.
All over Andalusia (and other parts of Spain), processions known as 'cabalgatas', travel through the streets of towns and villages usually on the evening of the 5th January. The processions are usually a mix of fantasy and biblical floats, not forgetting a float carrying each of the Three Kings.
The El Rocío pilgrimage is the most famous in the region, attracting nearly a million people from across Andalucia and the entire country, and beyond. Every Andalucian city, town and village has its own pilgrimages, for its patron saint, virgin or other much-loved local figure, but the El Rocio has cult status, and is the most important and most colourful.
Ronda is an ancient mountain town of scenic vistas, omantic plazas, and historic treasures. Once a year, Ronda also sees a return to tradition with its annual Feria Goyesca. A fairly recent festival, at least in Andalucian terms, it has become an event that has captured the imagination of Spain with its traditional dress, important bullfights and its ageless glamour.
In Andalucia, there's a party every day - whether it's to celebrate a harvest (mostly in the autumn - grapes, olives, chestnuts, mushrooms) - a saint's day, or the town's own annual feria, when every town and village puts on a show, with casetas, sherry and dancing. Over 3,000 fiestas are celebrated every year in Andalucia, including fairs, pilgrimages, carnivals, mock battles between Moors and Christians.
In most wine-growing districts of Andalucia and Spain, the vintage or grape harves begins on the feast of St Matthew (21st September). In Jerez it starts officially on 8th September, the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady. The first grapes may be picked a week or two early, especially if the weather has been very dry and sunny. The harvest lasts about a month.
Every town and village in Andalucia has its own feria or fair, and it would be possible, if one had superhuman powers of endurance, to spend the whole summer following them about the region. The summer annual feria originated in the middle ages, and was the principal means of interchange of local products within the kingdom.
Certain festivals seem to summarise life in Spain, with its love of having a good time in the company of friends and loved ones. The Night of San Juan is definitely one of these events. It is a celebration that is usually held on the beach with roaring bonfires, drink, food, and friends. It is a memorable, almost surreal scene and one that needs to be experienced.
Andalucia is famous for its pilgrimages or "romerías" - so called because pilgrims traditionally walked to Rome, and therefore became known as "romeros" - to popular shrines, around which fiestas are held.
This festival is more popular in the east of Andalucia in the mainly provinces of Granada and Almeria, It takes place on different many days through out the year depending on the locality.
The annual Malaga city fair in August is an exuberant week-long street party with plenty of flamenco and 'fino' (sherry). The fair commemorates the re-conquest of the city by Isabella and Ferdinand in 1487 and traditionally runs for a week from Saturday to Sunday (inclusive) over the third week in August.
The May Crosses Festival (Cruces de Mayo) is celebrated in many parts of the world, especially in Latin America and Spain. And in Spain, the festival holds special importance in many parts of Andalucia, but especially Córdoba, which has the most famous celebration.
The Jerez Horse Fair, known as the Feria del Caballo, is traditionally held during the first or second week in May. It is an exciting and lively event that brings the entire city to the González Hontoria fairground, which covers an area of 52,000 square meters, giving ample space for the finest horses of Jerez, as synonymous with the city as sherry and flamenco, to show off to the crowds.
