Holidays & Festivals
Spain
Holidays:
January 1 New Year's Day
January 1 Epiphany
February 28 Day of Andalucia
Early April Good Friday/Easter/Easter Monday
May 1 May Day/Labor Day
May 23 Corpus Christi
July 25 Day of Galicia
August 15 Feast of the Assumption
September 11 National Day in Catalonia
October 12 Spanish National Day
November 1 All Saint's Day
December 6 Day of the Constitution
December 8 Immaculate Conception
December 25 Christmas Day
FESTIVALS
Barcelona:
Festes de la Merce This is Barcelona's main annual festival which is celebrated on 24th September. There are plenty events taking place from 22nd including competitions to see which group of 'castellers' can form the highest human tower and processions involving wooden giants. There are lots of live music events, unbelievable firework displays and heavy consumption of Cava, the national drink of Catalonia.
Dia de Sant Jordi The 23rd April is a wonderful day to be in Barcelona when the Ramblas becomes a huge flower market and book stall. Men give women a rose reminiscent of St Valentines Day and women give men a book in tribute to Cervantes who died on this day in 1616 (Shakespeare died on the same day).
Festival de Sant Joan In the weeks leading up to June 23rd there is a rise in the number of fireworks being let off around the city then on 23rd it's pyromaniac heaven as everyone heads down to the beach to celebrate the start of summer with an explosion of fireworks and bonfires burning on the beaches and all night revelry.
Fiesta Major de Gracia This is a week long festival in the streets of the Gracia neighborhood where a full scale party takes place with lots of live music, fireworks and heavy drinking. It takes place around 15th August.
Zaragoza
Las Fiestas del Pilar A celebration to honor the down’s patroness, the “Virgin of the Pilar,” and the festivals include customs of the region with fireworks, music, food and parades. It always takes place around the 12th of October, beginning with the offering of flowers, that form an enormous mantle for the Virgin, and continues for nine days. Its origin is rooted in the belief that the Virgin Mary visited the region.
Fiestas de Primavera Held in May to celebrate the end of winter and the coming of spring, this is among several folk festivals that also feature regional music, food and costumes.
Zaragoza Ciudad Hip Hop Festival A fairly new but popular event that has been held the last few years each June, attracting hip hop artists from new and far.
San Sebastian
San Sebastian Day- January 20th marks the beginning of the Tamborradas, which are celebrated in recognition of San Sebastian Day. The Tamborradas consist of almost a hundred different marching bands that will alternate parading through the city playing the town's song for an entire 24 hours. The processions will take you back in time 200 years and you will feel the Basque’s passion for their ancient culture.
There will be parties throughout the night with scheduled events and a variety of activities. This tradition has grown more popular throughout the years and although it's origin is unclear, it is thought to have it's roots in the Carlist Wars era of the early 19th century. At the end of the 24 hour party, the festivities are brought to an end with the lowering of the flag at midnight as the marching bands, las Tamboreadas, play the city’s anthem while everyone sings along to the rhythm of the drums.
Tinkers Parade February; To announce the coming of Carnival, bands of Gypsies march through the streets, recalling the tinkers who used to come to the city from Hungary. The caldereros sing songs and beat on their frying pans.
Nursemaid's and Shepherd's Day-February; The day after the caldereros, it is the nursemaids' and shepherds' turn to parade through the streets at noon.
Carnival- February; The colors and the masks take the city. Politicians, famous people, monsters and characters of all kind will invade the streets. Moreover, there is the traditional parade in the city centre
Domingo de Piñata- March; People in Altza say goodbye to the carnival with a party where young people and the piñata are the main characters.
Book Fair- April; Booksellers and publishers from all over the province celebrate International Book Day. Stands brimming with the latest in literature are set up in two central locations in the city.
San Juan Night June 23rd-24th; With bonfires to mark the start of summer, the San Juan night coincides with the Summer solstice. This celebration takes place during the shortest night of the year.
Festival of Jazz- July; This is Spain's top Jazz Festival, which attracts performers from all around the globe. It attracts a lot of visitors including many people on their way home from the Pamplona bull running. Some top bands arrange rock concerts to coincide with the festival.
Theatre fair- July; The San Sebastian International Theatre Festival is justifiably earning an international reputation that should soon see it considered as important to the city as the jazz and film festivals
Semana Grande – August; Day of the Virgin This is San Sebastian's biggest annual festival with open air concerts, Basque sports events, fabulous daily fireworks and raucous partying.
International fireworks competition- August; The competition has been held at San Sebastian for many years and had some truly stupendous displays by the worlds best.
Fiesta del 31 de Agosto - Marking the fire of 1813, this festival is held on August 31 every year, in honor of people who survived a fire that destroyed much of the town of San Sebastian in 1813. It takes place at the Eglise Baroque Santa Maria, very close to where the fire broke out—the neighborhood comes together to mourn those who perished, and to celebrate the area's recovery from devastation.
International Film festival- September; The San Sebastian's Film Festival has been attracting well known personalities from the film world since its inauguration in 1952. The city is packed out over this period so book hotel rooms well in advance.
Horror and Fantasy Film Festival- October; The San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Film Festival saw the light 18 years ago on initiative by the San Sebastian Municipal Board of Culture. It was an immediate hit with the audience, whose active participation paved the way for things to come. Born with the goal of attracting youngsters to the movies, the event now encompasses spectators of all ages. But this is not just your standard film festival, it’s also an enormous horror and fantasy knees-up, packed with street shows, fanzine meetings, performances, music, comic encounters and exhibitions, to name but a few. In addition to these sections, the Festival also organizes retrospectives including the production of various publications. On the one hand, a highly ambitious book on the larger of the retrospectives with national and international signatures, and on the other, a special issue of the fanzine 2000 Maníacos.
Feria de Santo Tomás- December 21st; If you’re lucky enough to be in San Sebastian on December 21st, be sure to visit the agricultural fair in the Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square). All the local produce is displayed on farmers' stalls and you can try a tasty local sausage called txistorra with a decent glass of wine. Buy a raffle ticket or two and you might win the huge pig (the real star of the fair)! The original agricultural theme of the fair has given way to a youthful theme, as the fair has more recently become a great excuse for students to dress up in old-fashioned costumes and celebrate the beginning of their Christmas break from school.
Oviedo
Carnaval The ultimate costume party of the year that takes place every Spring, usually in March or April.
La Ascension Each spring, in the month of May, Asturians celebrate la Fiesta de La Ascension. During this festival the Asturians celebrate agricultural life with artisan displays, cattle competitions, bullfights and an open-air market of food and crafts typical of Asturias. If you happen to be in Oviedo during La Ascension, be sure to check out the market in Old Town and try some comida casera (home-made food) at the booths that line the tiny streets. There is everything from fresh honey and rice pudding (arroz con leche) to stuffed homemade corn tortillas and artisan's bread. With the traditional food, people walking around in traditional Asturian dress, pony rides and hay covered cobblestone you'll feel like you've stepped straight into the past.
Las Fiestas de San Mateo This is the most typical Asturian festival and it is celebrated the final week of September. The 19th of September is the Day of America, on which there is a huge parade. The 21st of September, the day of San Mateo, is the largest day of the fiesta.
El Desarme This celebration, celebrated once a year on October 19th and consists of nothing more than eating a particular menu of the day. On this day almost all of the restaurants throughout the city serve the same menu, the first plate being a stew of garbanzo beans with spinach and cod, and the second plate tripe. Let it be known that the meal is not for the weak of stomach.
Santiago de Compostela
Apostle St. James Festival- July 25th; Each year, thousands of pilgrims walk along El Camino de Santiago (the Way of Saint James), which has been proclaimed a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The most devout will travel the entire 650-mile (1000-kilometer) route over the course of about a month, wearing traditional pilgrim cloaks and carrying crooked pilgrim’s staffs topped by a clam shell. Then, on July 25, the Plaza del Obradioro and surrounding streets fill up as pilgrims pay homage to the remains of St. James. Dances, parties and fireworks in the city usually last for an entire week around the feast day.
Semana Santa- Holy Week; Semana Santa, is very much celebrated in Santiago, as elsewhere in Spain. The city throws a large fiesta of parades and fireworks. Also of significance is the Feria del Ganado , which honors Galicia’s Celtic roots with performances of Celtic music and dance. There are also major feasts of traditional Galician cuisine, which heavily features fish, shellfish and crustaceans. Regional specialties include quiexo de tetilla (a type of cheese), meat or fish empanadas, octopus dishes and ribeiro wine. King crab and the local soup, caldo galego, are also popular at this time.
Feria del Ganado- May lasts for 10 days. Apart of performances by folkloristic groups it is also a culinary festival, and you have a great opportunity to try all the specialties of the regional kitchen.
Madrid:
Carnival a carnival with parades and costume parties culminating on Ash Wednesday with the traditional burial of the Sardine, marks the beginning of Lent.
Fiestas del 2 de Mayo During this festival of the Community of Madrid, celebrations include a wide variety of concerts, open-air dancing and sporting events. Bullfights are also held.
Fiestas de San Isidro May 15th marks the start of the celebrations surrounding the month-long Fiestas de San Isidro honoring the patron saint of Madrid and are the most lively popular festivities in Madrid. Tradition demands that one attends the Romería (pilgrimage) to the saint's meadow to drink from the miraculous water at the fountain of the hermitage. Traditional Castizo dress is worn, and the typical barquillos (rolled wafers), buñuelos (fritters) and rosquillas (doughnuts) are for sale. This time of year also ushers in the famous Feria Taurina or bullfighting fair which also carries the name of the patron saint of Madrid and lasts from the middle of May to the middle of June at the Plaza Monumental Las Ventas bullring. Concerts, open-air dances and outdoor celebrations are also held during this period.
