△ Día de los Reyes (5 Jan). The Three Kings throw sweets to children.
Fiesta de San Anton (16–17 Jan). To celebrate the patron saint of animals, many Andalucían towns host bonfires, fireworks and feasts.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
△ Los Carnavales (Feb/Mar). Every town erupts in colourful celebrations. Cádiz’s offering is the best.
Festival de Música Antigua (Feb/Mar). Seville hosts three weeks of classical music in various venues throughout the city.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
△ Jerez Annual Flamenco Festival (Feb/Mar). Jerez de la Frontera feels the duende.
Semana Santa (Mar/Apr). Solemn processions by hooded devotees are held throughout the region. Head to Seville to experience it.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
△ Feria de Abril (2 weeks after Easter). Seville’s exuberant Andalucían fiesta features over 1,000 tents buoyed up on free-flowing sherry, fairground rides and crowds dancing sevillanas (a genre of folk music and dance that is unique to the city). Hands down, this is the most elaborate festival in the region’s calendar.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
△ Festival de los Patios (second week in May). Neighbours in Córdoba get competitive as they deck their patios in colourful flowers.
Romería del Rocío (late May/early Jun). Pilgrims from all over Andalucía make for El Rocío in ox-drawn wagons.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
Festival Internacional de Música y Danza (mid-Jun–early Jul). Classical music and ballet are staged at the Alhambra and the Generalife.
△ Noche de San Juan (23 Jun). Street parties, fireworks and bonfires are found everywhere to celebrate John the Baptist. In Cádiz, elaborate Juanillos (effigies) are burned.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
Guitar Festival (early Jul). Córdoba celebrates the stringed instrument in performances ranging from classical to flamenco.
△ Blues Festival (mid-Jul). International artists convene in Cazorla for the biggest blues festival in Spain.
Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen (15 Jul). The Virgin is honoured in coastal villages.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
△ Fiestas Colombinas (3 Aug). Watersport competitions, concerts and other activities are held in homage to Christopher Columbus and the other navigators who set sail from Huelva.
Fiestas de la Exaltación del Río Guadalquivir (third week in Aug). As the sun sets on the Atlantic, horses race along the beach at Sanlúcar de Barrameda, accompanied by music and festivities.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
△ Fiesta de la Vendimia de Jeréz (first 2 weeks of Sep). Jerez de la Frontera’s harvest is celebrated with grape stomping, wine tasting and other activities.
Bienal de Arte Flamenco (Sep/Oct, even years only). Top flamenco artists fight it out with their footwork in Seville.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
△ Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro (last 2 weeks of Oct). This performing arts festival brings together Spanish and Latin American theatre companies in Cádiz.
Fería de San Lucas (mid-Oct). Jaén’s annual fair is a week-long celebration of regional dancing, food, drink and sport.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
Festival Internacional de Jazz (early Nov). Granada and Seville host the best musicians.
△ Jornadas Micologicas (mid-Nov). Forage and cook setas (wild mushrooms) in Aracena, Huelva and Constantina.
National Flamenco Competition (mid-Nov). Córdoba hosts music and dance contests.
DISCOVER A Year in Seville and Andalucía
Nochebuena (24 Dec). The family gathers for a feast on Christmas Eve, before heading to Midnight Mass.
△ Fiesta de los Verdiales (28 Dec). Musical groups called pandas, dressed in colourful costumes and lavish headdresses, compete in performances of verdiales – a type of folk music – in Málaga.