the online guide to the costa de la luz, andalucia, spain

festivals

31st January - 10th February: Cádiz Carnival
It may last 10 days, but Carnival is all year in the making – every year. Groups begin their rehearsals in September, but before then preparations and themes will have been settled on after long debate among the various Carnival groups.
There are free food and drink festivals in the streets in January, then two weeks of musical competition for singing groups at the Gran Teatro Falla ahead of the event itself, which starts 40 days before Easter.

The first Saturday of Carnival (which this year runs from 31st January-10th February) is the wildest celebration, when the city is stuffed full of revellers in outrageous costume. The next two days offer a bit of lunchtime recovery and the Sunday afternoon sees the grand parade, a colourful spectacle as floats accompanied by thousands of Carnival-goers thread through the city.

The week progresses from there, culminating in more parades during the second weekend, more craziness and a spectacular closing ceremony on the Sunday.
Mind you, the die-hards relive it all again the following weekend when the ‘jartibles’ – those who can’t get enough – are out in force again

Details from the city’s tourist office (Mon-Fri 9am-7pm; Sat-Sun 10.30am-1.30pm; Avenida Ramón de Carranza; 0034 956 203 191; e-mail: otcadiz@andalucia.org)

February 22nd - March 8th: Jerez Flamenco Festival
The world’s top flamenco festival takes place on our doorstep in Jerez de la Frontera from  February 22nd to March 8th. This annual event includes a varied programme of dance, singing and debates, plus the ever popular flamenco dance classes which attract people from 37 countries.

The festival kicks off with a gala show, ¡Viva Jerez!, at the Teatro Villamarta, starring dancers María del Mar Moreno (featured in laluz 13, p18) and Mercedes Ruiz, together with singer Fernando Terremoto. Other highlights of the festival include Eva Yerbabuena with Santo y Seña (Teatro Villamarta, March 1st), Manuela Carrasco in Romalí, Danza de los Gitanos (Teatro Villamarta, March 2nd) and Isabel Bayón with La Puerta Abierta (Teatro Villamarta, February 25th).

There’s also live flamenco at the peñas of Jerez throughout the two weeks and events at Sala Compañia and Bodega Los Apóstoles in the Palacio de Villavicencio.

For more details, see www.flamenco-world.com or contact the Jerez tourist office on 956 341 711, email turismojerez@aytojerez.es