Local Festivals - Basque, Catalonia
 

Hi! I'm wondering if anyone has found a website that gives access to local festivals in Catalonia or the Basque region. Or better yet, has the inside scoop!

We live in Montana and spend much of our summers cruising around to fun little local events - think music, dancing, food vendors, etc - usually tied to something strange (i.e., the Sweet Pea festival, the Testicle Festival, etc). Will be in Spain at the end of June and again from July 9th-13th. For our honeymoon, we'd really like to do much of the same, only immersed in a different culture!

Any website tips would be much appreciated. For some reason I haven't had much luck.

There are a number of festivals in the Basque country, the Rioja and Navarra during your dates. If you happen t be in or around Haro (La Rioja) at the end of June, the 29th to be specific, you could find yourself in the "Battle of Wine" (www.haro.org/ingles/turismo1.htm).

For more excitement, all you have to do is move a little further down the road to Laguardia for the Festival of San Juan and San Pedro, which are from 23rd to the 29th of June.

Día de la bruja (the day of the witch), Zugarramurdi (Navarra) is on the 19th of June.

Lekuz leku Festival takes place in Bilbao from the 23rd to the 25th of June.

Fiestas de Setoain, San Juan Bautista (Navarra), 24 June.

The jazz festival in Getxo is from the 1st to the 5th of July, followed by the jazz festival in Vitoria-Gastiez (the capital of the Basque country) from the 10th to the 17th.

The Roman Festival of Andelos (Navarra) is from the 1st to the 3rd of July.

On the 6th of July, the Fiesta de San Fermín begins its 9-day celebration.

The Festival de Teatro Clásico de Olite doesn't begin until the 15th of July, so you'll miss it.

The running of the bulls is July 6 - 14 in Pamplona:
http://www.bullrunpamplona.com/

Robert - terrific info, thank you!

jamikins - we are going to hit up the running of the bulls actually! Even though it's more touristy than we normally prefer, we just couldn't resist it! Thanks for your help!

Anyone have other websites than centralize this info or any other tips?

The Sanfermines in Pamplona is something completely of its own. Even though there are lots of tourists (mostly Spanish), they don't overshadow the traditions and deep roots of the festival. People rather try to be as "Pamplones" as they can, and there are tons of things going with the festival apart from the running with the bulls.

At its best, I've never experienced such spontaneous convivencia anywhere in the world as in Pamplona during the Sanfermines. But get prepared for some serious partying, and all of a sudden you just want out...

Here from the opening in 2009. Not a very touristy event, watch the start of it all from 1 min: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwV-WCtrjDw

... and it's so sad when San Fermín is over. Here the traditional ending ceremony when everybody sings "Pobre de mi"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5jt1...eature=related

The fiesta typically pulls in around 1,000,000 visitors during its 9 day run, the largest numbers arriving for the opening days, the 6th and 7th, and over the weekend. The vast majority are from Navarra and the Basque country (País Vasco and Pays Basque), followed by Castilla y León, Catalunya, the Community of Madrid and Aragon. The French Basque usually start arriving on the 11th. Less than 2% are foreign visitors, and just about everyone dresses in white and red.

Dropping in on the fiesta in Pamplona is possible, but can be expensive if you need a room, even for one night. The city has less than 4000 hotel rooms, some are never available, others are booked months in advance, but there are always a few rooms if you know where to look and want to pay the price.

Thanks! Got us even more excited about Pamplona! We've got our room booked there, that was no problem, but we've got a few days on either end of that trip to explore. Anyone know of any other festivals in that region?

... there's what you can call a year around food festival in San Sebastián on the coast close to Pamplona. Go from bar to bar for the world famous pintxos in the Parte vieja/Old town of food-crazy San Sebastián. The food capital of Spain if not all of Europe.
http://www.todopintxos.com/home/home.php?lang=en

You will never forget this route: http://www.todopintxos.com/ruta/ruta...cha_rutas&id=5
(if you throw in the prawn skewers at Goiz-Argi, you're in heaven: http://www.todopintxos.com/bares/bar...7&do=vista_bar

The world's most famous chef Ferran Adrià suggests that San Sebastián is the best place to eat in the world "in terms of what you can get at any place you happen to walk into".

See the Guardian article "Is San Sebastián the best place to eat in Europe?". http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...rink.shopping2