Festivals in San Roque

Festivals in San Roque

By Dee McMath

If visiting San Roque village or one of the other villages in the area, bear in mind the following dates (dates change slightly each year to take in weekends where possible):

February: Carnival time.

Easter Week - when the streets of San Roque a filled with the scent of orange blossom, jasmine and incense and the whole village is involved in organizing and taking part in the processions and celebrations of Semana Santa (Easter).  

In the historic centre of the San Roque, every year, on Good Friday evening a special Easter week procession takes place. It is unique in Andalucia. The procession is called the Magna includes 14 tronos  (floats) instead of the normal two or three.  Several of the floats date from the 15th to 17th centuries, some brought by the founders of the San Roque fleeing from Gibraltar.  The procession also includes a  Roman squadron.   The Procesión, whose full name is “Magna del Santo Entierro” (Magna Procession of the Holy Burial)  is unique in Andalucia. 

May: The Romería of San Roque, when the image of San Roque is taken on procession by the villagers and then brought back again to the Ermita de San Roque.

The Royal Feria of San Roque takes place around the 6th to 10th of August each year. Opens with the crowning of the Queen of the Fair, followed by cavalcades, processions, children's events, Bullfights, etc., ending with the Sunday known as Domingo Rociero and then finally on the Monday a bull is let loose to run the streets of the village until it reaches the bullring

Read about Summer Fairs in Andalucia.

San Roque municipality includes mamy villages and districts of which many have their own summer fair. Here of the traditional dates below: