The Fiestas and Festival of Spain – Time to Party!
Festivals and fiestas form an integral part of the social life and culture of Spain. In fact, Spaniards cannot live without fiestas and festivals. More than three thousand different festivals and fiestas are celebrated in Spain throughout the year. The people of Spain are inveterate fun seekers and revelers, and every town and village of the country has its own annual fair (feria as it is known in Spanish), which may last for a few days to a few weeks at a stretch.
These festivals and fiestas are usually held on the local saint’s day (patrona or patron saint), which are prominently marked in red on the Spanish calendars. During the event, an effigy of the saint is paraded around the town in a procession. A pilgrimage to the local shrine on horseback or horse drawn carts and wagons are a common feature during the village festivals, and in many cases there is no horse insurance taken for the horses participating in the festivals.
The first national festival of the year in Spain which is known as the “Martes de Carnaval” is held in February. This celebration can be best viewed and experienced in Tenerife or Cadiz where it is held in all pomp and glory. Then there is the Holy Week “Semana Santa”, which is a great tourist attraction mainly in the region of Andalusia and Seville. However, this week is held in most of the towns and cities of Spain. Huge religious processions with ornate floats depicting some popular scenes from the Passion are held, where men decked out in masks and ghostly costumes complete with pointed hats take part.
Amongst the other celebrations that are held with great gaiety are the “Corpus Christi” which is held either in May or early June, the feast day of the patron saint of Spain, “Santiago” which is held on 25th July and the “la Ascunion” or the Assumption of the Virgin held on the 15th of August. In addition there are also many other local festivals and fiestas held for safe return from the sea, harvests, deliverance from the Moors and other small occasions, all of which are held with great joy and rejoicing.
During most large festivals, flamenco, bullfights, circuses, plays, concerts, funfairs and a host of other events are held. The most famous event is the running of the bulls in Pamplona which is held during the “Fiesta de San Fermin”, where many people may get injured by the running bulls.
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