Spain — Events
Rocket Festival
The three-day alternative festival of music, performance and visual arts was inspired by festivals like Glastonbury in the UK and attracts thousands of people from Spain, the UK and the rest of Europe. The festival is more than just a music event, however, and festival-goers can expect to indulge in an inspiring fusion of performances spanning the theatrical to live art from some of the world’s most renowned graffiti artists, as well as themed bars, fire dancers, a kid’s space, daredevil extreme sports and an outdoor circus stage featuring trapeze artists and tightrope jugglers.
Spanish F1 Grand Prix
The fifth race of the Formula One season, the crowds gather to watch the thrills, spills and speed that accompany a spectacle of this nature. Formula One is the king of motor sports and attracts the best drivers from around the world.
Primavera Sound Festival
Primavera is one of Spain’s biggest music festivals and sees some of the world’s principal pop and rock stars grace the summer stages for a fiesta of fun and music in the glorious sunshine.
Barcelona Summer Festival
The Barcelona Summer Festival, popularly known as the Grec Festival, is the cultural highlight on the summer calendar, and one of the most important arts festivals in the world. Every summer the city is filled with some of the finest national and international theater, dance and music performances aimed at promoting different types of contemporary music and performance arts, as well as classical and ancient music and traditional acts. It is famed for its creativity and attracts a wide variety of visitors and locals alike. For more information email bcnfestival@mail.bcn.es
St John's Eve (Sant Joan)
Midsummer in Barcelona is celebrated with a big bang as fireworks color the sky in a festive prelude to the national holiday of the Feast of John the Baptist. Ancient traditions observed the summer solstice as the most important event of the solar year and fire was celebrated as the symbol of abundance, purity and fertility. So too today, the solstice festivities have fire as their central focus.
Summer In The City
A fantastic cultural accompaniment to a summer holiday in Madrid, the Veranos de la Villa Festival (Summer in the City Festival) offers daily shows encompassing theater, puppetry, film, dance and art, taking place at various indoor and outdoor venues across the city with some performances costing very little or nothing. Check out some flamenco and jazz, watch live music in Retiro Park on Sundays or attend traditional bullfights at Plaza de Ventas.
San Fermin (Running of the Bulls)
The annual festival honoring Saint Fermin is most famous for its Running of the Bulls, which takes place every morning throughout the celebrations. Ernest Hemmingway brought the festival to world attention with his novel The Sun Also Rises, and millions of brave visitors have since ventured to join in the all-day-and-night merriment.
European Balloon Festival
Thousands of spectators gather to watch as the sky is filled with a wonderfully colorful display of hot air balloons from around the world. Market stalls are set up to complete the festive atmosphere of one of the biggest ballooning events in Europe. For more information phone +34 (0)93 804 2202 or email jm@ultramagic.com
La Tomatina
Billed as ‘the world’s craziest festival’ and ‘the world’s biggest tomato fight’, visitors should be prepared to be soaked in tomato juice when this quirky Valencia festival gets going. Almost 10,000 visitors descend annually on this tiny little village just 25 miles (40km) outside of Valencia to throw tomatoes at one another in the world’s biggest food fight.
Santa Tecla Festival
At the Santa Tecla festival visitors to Tarragona can choose from any number of entertainment options ranging from rock and jazz concerts, plays, theater to traditional Spanish dance demonstrations. But the most spectacular and popular event to watch at the Santa Tecla Festival is the castellers competing to build the highest human pyramids. Tarragona’s human castles at the Santa Tecla Festival are not to be missed! Teams, known as ‘colles’, compete to build the highest and most intricate human pyramid. The festival started in the 18th century and has been taking place ever since.
