Popular Festivals

Will McCarthy takes the BBC audience inside Valencia’s world-famous tomato battle — from Buñol’s 1945 origins to Bollywood, Nino Bravo and Hollywood. There are some assignments where you arrive with a notebook. And then there are assignments where you arrive knowing that, before the day is over, you are probably going to be covered in […]

Every August, the quiet Mediterranean town of Benicàssim does something extraordinary. It becomes the reggae capital of Europe. For six days and nights, the Rototom Sunsplash festival transforms the Castellón coastline into a global gathering of music, culture, activism, and community that draws tens of thousands of people from more than one hundred countries. The […]

Every August, a quiet Valencian town undergoes one of the most extraordinary transformations anywhere in the world. For just a few hours, the streets of Buñol, around 40 kilometres west of Valencia, become a river of red as more than a hundred tonnes of ripe tomatoes are hurled through the air in what is undoubtedly […]

The historic city of Sagunto will once again become one of the great cultural meeting points of the Valencian summer when Sagunt a Escena 2026 returns for its 43rd edition from 1 to 23 August. Combining the magic of the ancient Roman Theatre with performances in public spaces across Sagunto and Puerto de Sagunto, this […]

Every summer, as the long Mediterranean evenings stretch across Valencia, the city brings the curtain down on its beloved Gran Fira de València (Feria de Julio) with one of Spain’s most spectacular and unique celebrations: the Battle of the Flowers (Batalla de Flores). It is an event where elegance meets exuberance, where centuries-old traditions blend […]

There’s a moment, somewhere between the third bonfire and midnight, when you stop feeling like a spectator at Valencia’s Noche de San Juan and start feeling like you’re actually part of something ancient. I spent the night on Cabanyal beach, and it completely lived up to everything I had read and heard about it before […]

Every June 23, Valencia trades its usual rhythm for something older than the city itself. On the night the ‘Noche de San Juan’ settles over the Mediterranean coast, tens of thousands of Valencianos head to the beach to mark the summer solstice with fire, water, and rituals that predate Christianity by thousands of years, with […]

On the night of the 23rd of June, droves of Valencianos and visitors flock to the beaches to celebrate the festival of San Juan and the summer solstice. My friends and I joined those throngs of people and had a night that we won’t soon forget. We headed to the beach around 8 pm, catching […]

The “Festa Grossa”: A Soulful Awakening Walking through the ancient streets of Valencia during this particular Corpus Christi, I felt as though I had stepped across the threshold of time. This was no ordinary year; the city was celebrating its 700th anniversary of this magnificent event. Known locally as the Festa Grossa, this is one […]

In Valencia’s historic city centre, some festivals don’t just happen, they change how the city is used. Streets that are normally part of everyday movement start to function differently, filling with gatherings, performances, and events that bring people into public space in ways that feel less routine and more collective. Corpus Christi is one of […]