Summer Ferias in Andalucia

Takes place two weeks after holy week. You will have the opportunity to see the typical flamenco dresses, which almost all women, never mind their age, wear… Innumerable casetas, provisional houses, are built on the terrain and decorated with colorful lamps. In the morning arrive the landowners on horses or in horse-coaches. In the afternoon starts a great party of Flamenco and sherry-wine in each caseta that will take all the nightlong. That is repeated day by day during an entire week.

Jerez holds its May Horse Fair on the first week in May each year, a spectacular equestrian event, the Jerez Horse show takes place in the Gonzalez Hontoria Park. Some of the world’s finest horses and riders compete in the endurance trials, coach driving, “pursuit and tumble” and dressage competitions with a stunning display of the finest horses of the region.

Spring Festivity. Celebrated in May this festivity is part of the big Andalusian fairs, the Spring Fair, a celebration that has a clear connection to the welcoming of the new fruits that germinate in the season that gives it its name.

Although authorized officially in 1791 by order of Carlos IV, already in that time it was considered immemorial.

A lively fair dedicated to the Manzanilla which is a special dry sherry wine produced in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. This intense fair which is organised by the town council and supported by the local wine producers last for several days about the third week in May.

Córdoba is living one of its grandest fiestas this month of May. In addition to the celebrations of the May Crosses and Patios, which have filled the city with color, the Feria or Fair takes place in honour of Our Lady of Health. From May 25 to June 2, thousands of locals and visitors will enjoy days full of happiness, dancing and good wine in the casetas or marquees installed in the Arenal fairground site. The casetas are a meeting place for friends and visitors in a city that is full of light and color at this time of the year. There are horse riders too, the typical Córdoba peroles or saucepans, the rociero choir competitions and the competitions between casetas. All this awaits us in Córdoba, a city of monuments that is celebrating one of its happiest weeks in its festive calendar.

Dancing and fun area guaranteed in the Cadíz town of Algeciras from 23 June to July 1, when the town celebrates its annual fair – a fiesta declared to be of national tourist interest. Carriages and horse riders will fill the streets on the way to the fairground situated in the María Cristina park. Here we can also enjoy horse riding competitions and the famous bullfights, as well as spectacular fireworks. Algeciras also conserves the tradition of a cattle market with a display of local breeds. Don’t forget – from Saturday until Sunday of next week you have the chance of enjoying one of the most colorful fiestas in Cádiz province.

In Conil de la Frontera, Cadiz. Spring Fair in El Colorado a local beauty spot surrounded by pinewoods on the Cadiz Malaga road at km. 17. This is an important gastronomic event filled with local produce and stalls offering samples for everyone to enjoy. One afternoon of the Fair is dedicated to the children and another to Senior Citizens and for the grand finales there is a cavalcade.

Feria de San Bernabe at Marbella. This colorful event is a riotous combination of flamenco music, parades of horsemen and women, of the typical dances of Andalusia, and of pop music for the young. Celebrations where the smell of orange blossom drenches the Plaza de los Naranjos, and citizens and visitors throng the Old Town’s streets, squares and bars from early morning. Strangers shake hands to show their friendship and respect, toast each other with a glass of wine, and continue celebrating far into the night.

One of the biggest fiestas is the annual Feria that takes place in July. The event lasts a whole week and consists of a day fair and a night fair. Both fairs give way to the rhythm of ‘Sevillianas’, rumbas and popular Spanish music. The whole of the town bursts into color and passion.

At midday the bars fill to capacity when all manner of Andalusian cuisine can be sampled including the well known paella which is traditionally eaten in the streets. The day fair continues until seven in the evening when everyone rests in preparation for the night fair.

The town is illuminated at night with thousands of light bulbs and the meeting points change from the bars to the outdoor pavilions and the fairground rides. A children’s paradise emerges from the darkness with rides of every description. The smell of candyfloss mingles with that of cooked octopus and music emits from every street. Estepona’s annual fair is repeated on the grand scale every year and never fails to attract thousands of visitors and satisfies each and every one of them.

In the Paseo de la Constitución it is celebrated the coronation, as well as the procession with floats, music and parade of giant masks and. In the day for senior citizens a traditional lunch is celebrated. Also you can count on good firework and bullfighting displays.

Annual feria week based on Virgen del Carmen. Town’s anniversary on the 20th.

Malaga holds its annual feria, with dancing, music, promenades of horsemen and bullfights during the second week in August. Events during the day take place around the historic centre of the city, whilst the more frivolous activities at night take place out of the centre. Numerous buses travel to and from the fair from the centre of Malaga.

The fair and celebrations of Saint Agustín is the oldest and most traditional in Andalusia. It has been celebrated from 1710 by concession of King Felipe V, with attractions of fairground, extraordinary lighting system, dances, performances, ‘Caseta municipal’ (bars with dancing), bullfighting diaplays and most important fair of cattle in the mornings.

The month of August is a good time to enjoy the numerous fiestas which are celebrated in Andalucía. One of them is the Almería Feria, which from this Friday and until the 26th will play host to thousands of visitors eager to spend a few days full of fun and dancing, and when they can also get to know the many attractions of this coastal city. During the day the centre of Almería transforms into a place where there is no space for boredom – only for a party. 

Music, dance and of course the fabulous parade of horses through the main avenue of the city which fills to the brim with visitors. At night the attractions of the fairground and good musical shows including one from the Almería guitarist Tomatito. So now you know – get down to Almería for some fun.

Every September, just when the weather begins to chill and the streets become nearly void of tourists, the people of Tarifa breathe life into the town by celebrating one of the most popular festivals of the year: Las fiestas Patronales de la Virgen de la Luz (the festival of the Patron Saint, the Virgin of the Light).

For an entire week, Tarifeños host a carnival complete with rides and raffles, march in parades on horseback, and delight in sweet treats sold all across town.

In the first fortnight of September the fair of Mijas town is celebrated in honor of Our Lady the Virgin of the Rock – the Patron Saint of Mijas – with an ample program of culture, sport, musical and festive activities.

The celebrations start with a great procession of giants and masks and that crosses the main streets of Mijas, accompanied by bands and the queens of the fairs of Mijas, Las Lagunas and La Cala and their respective ladies of honor, and it finishes with a childrens celebration in the town hall.

On the day of the Patron Saint of Mijas (8th September) and after the traditional floral offering to the Virgin, a procession of the image of the Virgin of the Rock is made from the parochial temple to its sanctuary, accompanied by the authorities, religious brotherhoods, associations and a large public crowd.

At the arrival of the Patron Saint at its sanctuary, there is a firework display, and another one to mark the end of the Feria.

The feria of San Miguel is one of most important of the province. According to tradition it has been going since the 29th September of 1233 when Patron Saint King Fernando III conquered the city. It is also a celebration of the transition from summer to autumn, the end of the harvest and the beginning of the agricultural year. During the celebrations bullfights are held, a prestigious season of theater, numerous concerts and other cultural spectacles and activities.

The festival of San Miguel Arcángel takes place during the last week in September, coinciding with the celebration of the Santo Patrón on September 29th. The annual Feria takes place in the town centre, and moves to the El Pozuelo Feria grounds at night. The Festival of San Miguel begins a week before a Romería that is considered to be one of the most important in Andalucía. More than 200,000 people gather together every year in the Los Manantiales pine woods to dance, sing and have a good time on the Día de San Miguel.

Fuengirola’s Feria and Fiesta del Rosario is held from the 6th to the 12th of October and features displays by horses as well as bullfights, flamenco dancing and other popular Spanish cultural activities.

The San Lucas Feria in Jaén is the last of the fiestas to be held in the Spanish provincial capitals. This party also closes the bullfighting year in Andalucía, a closure starring some of the most famous of the current matadors. Residents and visitors to Jaén can also enjoy musical performances and other competitions, among them the National Show Jumping Championship. This has seen, since 1942, the participation of a large number of well known jockeys and his held in the La Alameda Horse riding club. 

From October 14-21 a total of 102 casetas or marquees will be set up in the La Vestida feria ground, and unite thousands of people eager to enjoy a few days of fun.

San Pedro de Alcántara holds its annual town feria on the 19th of October. Local superstition holds that rain always falls on San Pedro’s feria and this seems true, since most of the staff of marbellalife have received a soaking at this event! Although not one of the largest on the Coast, this town makes up for its lack of size by the sheer enthusiasm and alcoholic capacity of its residents. With an extensive fair, as well as dancing and beautifully decorated streets, this small town has a big heart when fiesta time comes around.