Alicante Tourist Information
Alicante Fiestas
This is the most important festival of Alicante. It has been officially declared as festival of International Tourist Interest. It is celebrated at the beginning of the summer solstice. The celebrations last for 4 days- from the 20th of June to the 24th. Huge paper or wooden effigies are set up to be burned on the 24th. There are several other programs like street parades, processions, offerings to saints, bull fights, musical performances, sports championships, firecracker contests, known as “mascletas”, etc. The streets come alive with crowds of revelers and temporary booths or “barracas” are constructed in various places where people dance, eat and enjoy themselves. The culmination of the festival is marked by the huge bonfires where all the effigies are set ablaze. A Multitude of fireworks are launched from the Santa Barbara Castle which is visible from the city. There is music and people dance around the bonfires.
The effigies of the festival are very colourful and artistically made. They can be satirical or humorous commenting on certain events or people. The festival is so popular that a museum has been created to showcase the origin, aspects of celebration, and details of the festival.
| San Juan bonfire : :
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The representation of the Last Supper is one of the finest in all of Spain; almost fifty statues, created by Salzillo and Bussi, can be seen in the processions that pass through the streets of the capital, Alicante, between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. Some of the more remarkable processions are the Veronica procession along the seafront via the Explanada de Espana on Good Friday; and the Santo Entierro (burial of Jesus) and Soledad processions, the latter with a spectacular throne in embossed silver
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:: Last Supper |
This is one of Alicante's most popular festivals, when around 200,000 people walk in pilgrimage from the centre of the city to the “Monasterio de Santa Faz” or Monastery of the Holy Face, participating in what is one of the largest pilgrimages in Spain, second only to the famous Rocio. It is celebrated on the second Thursday after the Holy Thursday. Starting out at 8 o'clock in the morning, the route to the Monastery is walked in about two and a half hours, a period that includes the traditional stop -the paraeta- for a breakfast of the traditional anise rolls with mistela wine. After the religious celebrations, and the visit to the monastery, people head to the many different stands selling all kinds of objects (the most typical purchase is an earthenware bell) and then go on picnics.
| Santa Faz Pilgrimage: :
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