Everybody know that Spain has the best folkloric festivals in the world. Usually festivals are celebrated in spring or summer. Mainly, they honor a saint or a religious meaningful date. The fact that they began being religious does not exclude dancing, music and partying. Let’s take a look to the best Spanish festival:
©Revolution_Ferg
La Tomatina or Tomato Festival
Where: Buñol
When: August
La Tomatina is a festival celebrated in Buñol, a small town in the Valencia region, each year on the last Wednesday of August. The fun begins the night before La Tomatina, when the locals start cooking paellas on camps fire in the street. Wine, music and dancing complete the party. Then in the morning the trucks full of tomatoes park in the main square of Buñol and people star to throwing tomatoes to each other. People ended up complete cover with tomato juice, almost like meat balls, isn’t fun?
©keith ellwood
Las Fallas
Where: Valencia
When: third week of March
Las Fallas is quite a celebration in Valencia. The word “falla” not only refers to the party itself, but mean “float” like in a parade. The fallas are kind of a float made every year using paper, cardboard and other flammable elements that honor a celebrity or an event. After the being shown for a week all of the, except the winner, are burned. Besides the float, Las Fallas (the festival) are well known for its fireworks show done every day.
©David Sim
Feria de Abril
Where: Sevilla
When: a week after Easter
If you like Flamenco and Bullfighting you definitely have to come to Sevilla to enjoy the Feria de Abril. This fair last for a week. The festival stars on Monday midnight with “El Alumbrado” or turning on of the lights that decorate the entrance gate to the fair. The fairground is a vast area on the far bank of the Guadalquivir River are totally covered in rows of casetas (small tent where people meet, have dinner and dance. Every day locals dress up like “flamenco” or “sevillanas” and take their carriages through the fair grounds and towards La Maestranza (Sevilla’s bullring). After the bullfight they come back to “las casetas” to drink, eat and dance until dawn.
©Ricardo Samaniego
San Juan or Saint John’s Night
Where: Barcelona
When: June 23th.
Even though San Juan is celebrated in almost every town along the Mediterranean Coast, the most famous festival is celebrated in Barcelona, especially in Barceloneta beach. During the night the locals get together in the beaches around a bonfire to eat and drink together. After midnight the beach turns into a huge party with music, cocktails and dancing. Tradition says you have to jump three times over a bonfire to have a good year.
©Jesus Solana
Holy week or Semana Santa
Where: almost in every town and city of Spain
When: March or April
Since Spain is a catholic country, Holy Week or Easter is a big celebration in almost every town and city, including Madrid. The festival mainly comprises several religious processions in which beautiful carvings are removed from the church and carried across the city to bless the citizens and the city itself. The most popular procession are those with the most impressive carving and best dressed carries. The picture with the carving carriers dress like Ku Klux Klan members has traveled around the world.
