The best funk festival in Spain takes place each year over two or three days in late July or early August. Two top bands perform each evening and the DJs play until dawn. First started in 2008, there is a large camping area in this beautiful rural location.

Marbella / Design and Art is an international (mainly interior) design fair in Marbella which combined with the Marbella /Art fair and Marbella / Design Fair. Marbella / Design was first held in 2018 and takes place in the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos over eleven days in early November.

The XV edition of the festival will take place as always in the Cantera de Nagüeles in Marbella, with 49 nights of concerts taking place between 19 June and 29 August 2026.

In Spain, the equivalent of All Fools' Day is “Día de los Santos Inocentes”, which takes place in the middle of the long Christmas season (Spanish Navidad runs all the way through to 6 January, the Epiphany). On 28 December it’s your turn to play your favourite jokes on friends and family!

This page contains information on the main endurance running and cycling events held each year in Andalucia, including the Malaga and Seville Marathons, important triathlons, Iron Man challenges and other established events.

Possibly you thought the Christmas season was over on New Year’s Eve, but in Spain this is just the mid-point of all the celebrating. In this country, the tradition is to have a rather late dinner with your family – just one more rich, elaborate dinner, of course, complete with all the pastries, dried fruits and nuts and mountains of turrón that finish every meal at this time of year.

As one of Spain's major ports during the 16th century, Cadiz copied the carnival of Venice, a city with which it had much trade, and since then it has become the liveliest and most dazzling carnival town in mainland Spain, famous for its amusing and creative characters and satirical song groups.

Religious icons are hugely popular in Andalucia; they are normally handcrafted from wood and porcelain and spend 99.9 per cent of the year in glass-covered alcoves at the local church. Most are dusted down and placed on flower-decked thrones at Easter-time when they are lovingly and solemnly borne through the streets. The Virgen del Carmen, however, has her own special day.

Every year the beaches of Sanlucar de Barrameda in the province of Cádiz come alive with the pounding of hooves as the famous horse races take over the coast. Traditionally, the races take place the second and fourth weeks of August from Friday to Sunday. The schedule also depends on the tide times so they might come foward a week.

Certain festivals seem to summarise life in Spain, with its love of having a good time in the company of friends and loved ones. The Night of San Juan is definitely one of these events. It is a celebration that is usually held on the beach with roaring bonfires, drink, food, and friends. It is a memorable, almost surreal scene and one that needs to be experienced.

There is quite a debate across Spain regarding whether Santa Claus is displacing the traditional Three Kings at Christmastime in Spain. The truth is that Santa Claus is becoming more and more common, but even families that sign up with “Papa Noel” usually keep their accounts open with the Kings.

On 1 November, Tosantos (a contraction of todos los santos, or "all the saints") is celebrated throughout Andalucia, particularly in the villages of Cadiz and Malaga. It is traditional to visit the cemetery and place flowers or light candles on the graves of departed loved ones.

December 28th, right smack in the middle of the Spanish Christmas season, we have the annual Verdiales competitions taking place right outside Málaga City. The festival will bring together competing “pandas” as they are known. These are groups that practice one of three different forms of Verdiales singing accompanied by their traditional folk dance and unforgettable costumes.

The Starlite Gala is held annually (since 2010) on the first Saturday in August in Marbella at the spectacular open air auditorium and lounge of the Starlite Festival at Cantera de Nagüeles (Nagïeles Quarry on the lower slopes of Sierra Blanca mountain)  The first two editions took place at Villa Padierna Hotel, Estepona whilst permissions to use the quarry were obtained. 

Horizonte Proyecto Hombre is a Marbella-based charity that helps those who are dependent on drugs through rehabilitation and action towards the prevention of drug dependency. The Anniversary Gala Dinner is held every year on a Friday night in April, around the third of the month. The event is held at the Fuerte Hotel in Marbella and is attended by around 250 people each year, many of them older and more traditional Spanish residents.

The Global Gift Gala is a "Night of Philanthropy and Entertainment". A charity fundraising gala, it is held in cities all over the world, including Istanbul, Marbella, London, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi   and Paris, to raise money for women's and children's charities worldwide.

The annual Niños de Mariposa (Butterfly Children) Gala is organised in Marbella by DEBRA, the global charity which raises funds to provide respite for the families of EB (Epidermolysis Bullosa) sufferers, and for research into cures, medication and treatments. The gala held at Aloha Golf Resort.

The Butterfly Children Gala (Gala Piel de Mariposa) is one of Marbella’s most enduring summer charity events, held annually in support of DEBRA Piel de Mariposa. Founded in Marbella in 1993, DEBRA Spain is the national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting individuals and families affected by Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB)—a rare, painful genetic condition that leaves skin as fragile as a butterfly's wing.