Eventos | Casa Rural Castalla

1 de September de 20265 de September de 2026Traditions, Events in Castalla

Les Festes de Vaca de Castalla 2027: your guide to the San Roque bull festival

Les Festes de Vaca de Castalla 2027 will fill the town, as they do every August, in honour of its patron saint, San Roque. The name means the cow festivals, and that is what they are: encierros (bull runs through the streets), sueltas de vaquillas y toro (young cows and a bull let loose in the streets), open-air dances and several days of streets full of people until the early hours. Along with the Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians), it is one of the two big dates in Castalla’s festival calendar, and since 2026 it has also carried the title of Fiesta de Interés Turístico Local de la Comunitat Valenciana, a regional designation for events of local tourist interest.

If you are travelling in for Les Festes de Vaca de Castalla 2027 — or thinking about it, with children in tow, and you are not quite sure what you would be walking into — this is what to expect: how the programme works, what there is to do if you would rather keep well away from a suelta, and the one real deadline worth watching, the grandstand seats.

San Roque, the saint behind the festival

Les Festes de Vaca are held in honour of San Roque, patron saint of Castalla, whose feast day falls on 16 August. They are organised by Castalla Town Council and the Comisión de Vaca, the festival’s own committee, with the participation of the La Paloma ganadería, the cattle ranch that supplies the animals. Which of them takes the lead as main organiser changes from one year to the next, but all three are always behind it.

Since 2026 the festival has also been declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Local de la Comunitat Valenciana.

As for how deeply it runs in the town, the Mayor of Castalla and councillor for festivals, Jesús López, pointed out in 2025 that it is a celebration “in which even more people take part than in the Moros y Cristianos”.

The bull events, set out plainly

The programme repeats itself, with variations, edition after edition:

A pasacalles (street parade) and the opening chupinazo (the rocket that fires the festival into life), with the town band, marching from Avenida República Argentina to the Town Hall.
Night-time encierros in the small hours, with young cows and a bull released along the course; there are afternoon releases too.
A morning encierro, followed by a release.
The closing event, with the last release of the festival.

The route of the encierros is not fixed: it changed in each of the last two documented editions, and the Town Council announces it as news every time, so check it in the programme for the year you come. To watch safely, the advice never changes: follow the instructions of the Town Council and the organisers. If you would rather watch sitting down and without surprises, the answer is a grandstand seat, and we come to that below.

The official tourism listing for the Comunitat Valenciana describes the festival as a succession of routes through the town’s historic streets, with releases by night and by day and any number of gatherings among the local peñas, the clubs the town organises itself into for the fiesta. Castalla also has its own permanent bull facilities inside the town: a fixed toril (bull pen) in the historic centre and a corral in Plaza Nuestra Señora de la Soledad.

If you are coming with children, or would rather not watch the animals

Les Festes de Vaca are not only bull runs. Running alongside them there is a whole programme for anyone who does not want to go anywhere near a release:

A children’s encierro with carretones, wheeled wooden bull frames pushed along by hand, at midday, from 12.00 to 13.00: the risk-free version of the bull run, made for the youngest.
Verbenas, open-air night dances, once the bull events are over.
The tardeo, an afternoon-into-evening street session with the bull peñas taking part; the meeting point has moved from one year to the next — Placeta El Carreter in 2025, the Town Hall square in 2026, in search of more room — so check it in each year’s programme.
Solemn mass and procession, in honour of the Virgin of the Assumption and San Roque; the day and time vary too — Friday in 2025, Sunday in 2026 — so look them up in the programme for the year you come.

In practice it is a festival running at two speeds: the bull side, very much out on the street, and the side of dances, tardeo and procession, which you can live from beginning to end without going near a single release.

What we cannot tell you yet about Les Festes de Vaca de Castalla 2027

Castalla Town Council publishes the official programme for each edition at the end of July — 28 July in 2025, 29 July in 2026 — so as things stand the 2027 one does not exist yet. The only certainty is the pattern: the festival always turns on 16 August, the feast of San Roque, with bull runs, releases, dances and the procession spread over several days. Times, the route of the encierro, the exact spot for the tardeo and the line-up of peñas are confirmed each year with the new programme. One more caveat before you take anything as settled: even the length of the festival is stated differently depending on the source, somewhere between four and five days, so until the 2027 programme is out it is worth treating any exact date with caution.

Cadafals and grandstands: the one deadline you cannot miss

If you want to watch the bull events sitting down and in peace, what you want are the paid cadafals and tribunas, the wooden viewing platforms and grandstands put up along the course, which have been built to a steadily more professional standard in recent years. Here there really is a deadline: sales are squeezed into a short window, announced along with the programme — late July or the first days of August — and it changes from one year to the next, both in how long it lasts and in where it is handled.

We cannot give you dates or a point of sale for 2027, because they change with every edition. What we can tell you is that if a grandstand seat matters to you, you need to be watching from the moment the programme is published. The place to confirm dates, grandstands and the programme for the new edition is the Tourist Info office in Castalla (C/ Ancha, 03420 Castalla · +34 96 656 10 18 · turismo@castalla.org), along with the news section of castalla.org.

Stay right in the historic centre

To enjoy Les Festes de Vaca without one eye on the drive home, Casa Rural Castalla — Primavera d’hivern sits in the middle of the town’s historic centre. It is a whole house to yourselves, made for groups and families: a standard booking for up to ten guests, extendable to fifteen with extra beds, with a fully equipped kitchen, a relaxation area and La Tardor, a multi-purpose lounge for stretching out the evening before heading down to the dance. Gigabit Wi-Fi, air conditioning and free parking nearby round the stay off, and pets are welcome.

La Tardor lounge at Casa Rural Castalla, with its colourful armchairs, wood-burning stove and the house sign

Want to see inside the house before you book? Every corner of it is here: our photo gallery.

And if the Moros y Cristianos appeal more

Les Festes de Vaca share Castalla’s festival calendar with the town’s other great celebration, the Moros y Cristianos, the Moors and Christians parades. If you are torn between the two, or would like to plan for both, ask us and we will tell you what is on while you are here.

Ready to experience inland Alicante?

Book your stay at Casa Rural Castalla and take your time discovering places like Plascaves, Castalla Castle and the Sierra del Maigmó. Your inland Alicante getaway starts here.

Check availability

Get in touch

24 de August de 20266 de September de 2026Traditions, Events in Castalla

Moors and Christians of Castalla: a guide to the town’s biggest fiesta

At the end of August, Castalla lives its most important week of the year: the Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians), the biggest event in the town’s whole festive calendar. If you are coming from outside and putting your stay together, here are the essentials — when the fiesta falls, what the days are like and where to stay right in the old town. And if you belong to a capitanía (the company that holds the captaincy that year, together with its guests) and are already looking at the next edition, there is a section for you at the end.

In short: the Moors and Christians of Castalla take up five days at the end of August and the beginning of September. In the 2026 edition they ran from 31 August to 4 September, with the busiest days the 1st and the 4th. The dates for each year are set by the town council and confirmed in the municipal bando (the mayor’s official notice), usually published in the last week of August. Casa Rural Castalla is at Carrer Major 33, right in the historic centre of Castalla (inland Alicante): 241 m², 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms for up to 10 people (14-15 with extra beds), on the parade route itself.

Moors and Christians parade on Carrer Major in Castalla, with the church in the background.

When exactly are the Moors and Christians of Castalla?

The fiesta takes up five days straddling the end of August and the start of September, but the exact dates change every year and are not firm until the town council publishes the municipal bando, normally in the last week of August. In the 2026 edition they ran from 31 August to 4 September, with the busiest days the 1st and the 4th; those dates were checked against Turismo de Castalla, as opposed to another version doing the rounds (1–4 September) that fell a day short. We tell you this so you know where to look: do not take any date as good unless it comes from the bando or from Turismo de Castalla.

For the full hour-by-hour programme — parades, the Entrà (the grand entrance parade), the floral offering, each comparsa‘s own events (a comparsa is one of the festival companies that parade, each with its own costume and band) — the reference is the Turismo de Castalla website, which publishes the official detail. Further down you have the day-by-day programme and, above all, how to arrive by car with the town closed to traffic.

Two related dates also circulate, but with less certainty, and are worth treating with caution:

The Exaltación Festera and the Pregón (the gala evening and the opening address that launch the festive season), given as 29 August, have no official confirmation: they depend on the festive calendar, which can move.
The Danses de Castalla, which some sources place between 18 and 20 September, are not officially confirmed either — although the second-to-last weekend of September 2026 does indeed fall on the 19th and 20th.

If you are coming specifically for these two, check them first with the official source.

What the five days are like: the programme of the 2026 edition

The order of events repeats from one year to the next, so this programme gives you an idea of what each day is like, even though the times and dates change. A warning first, because we would rather you knew where every detail comes from: it corresponds to the 2026 edition and comes from laFRESCA, the local radio station, published on 31 August 2026. The town council does not put the programme on its website, so we cannot treat it as official. For the current year, confirm the time of the event you are interested in before setting off; and if you are staying with us, we will tell you in person.

Monday 31 August — 21:00 Entrance of the Official Music Bands. 01:00 Orquesta Montecarlo, in the municipal park.
Tuesday 1 September — 12:00 Angelus prayer, the mayor’s address and mascletà (a midday sequence of rhythmic firecrackers, more felt than heard). 12:00 L’Arranc of the Official Music Bands. 17:00 Entrada of Moors and Christians. 22:00 Procession of the Baixada, bringing the Virgin down. 23:30 Open-air disco.
Wednesday 2 — 08:00 Bell-ringing and Diana (the early-morning parade). 09:00 Missa de Comparses (Mass of the companies). 11:00 High Mass. 12:00 Parade with Alardo de Arcabucería (harquebus volleys fired along the route) and Ballada de Banderes (the flag-waving display). 17:00 Guerrilla (mock skirmish) and L’Ambaixada del Moro (the Moorish embassy). 21:00 Procession of the Passeig. 23:30 Open-air disco.
Thursday 3 — 08:00 Bell-ringing and Diana. 09:00 Missa de Comparses. 11:00 High Mass. 12:30 Children’s parade and Ballada de Banderes. 19:00 Ofrena de Flors (floral offering). 00:00 Orquesta Syberia.
Friday 4 — 08:00 Diana. 09:00 Missa de Comparses. 11:00 High Mass. 12:00 Parade with Alardo and Volta de Capitans (the captains’ round). 17:00 Guerrilla and L’Ambaixada del Cristià (the Christian embassy). 21:00 Procession of the Pujada, taking the Virgin back up, and Canto del Adiós (the farewell hymn).

One clarification about that edition, because we have seen another version doing the rounds: some placed a firework display on Saturday the 5th. The municipal bando set the end of the fiesta on 4 September, once the procession was over. It is a good example of why it pays to go to the official source.

Arriving by car: the town is closed to traffic

This is the first thing you need to know if you are driving, and it is what almost nobody tells you. The arrangement is essentially the same every year, although the specific times are set by each edition’s notice. What follows comes from the Castalla town council bando signed by the mayor on 26 August 2026, so check the notice for the year you are coming:

There is a circuit closed to traffic, with parking prohibited, from 12:00 on 31 August until the end of the procession on 4 September.
The access points into the closed area open every day from 04:00 to 11:00. Outside that window you cannot drive in.
The exception that matters to you: the C/ Major – Plaça de l’Església access, heading towards C/ Portal d’Onil, stays open twenty-four hours. That is precisely our street: we are at Carrer Major 33.

The five entry and exit points of the circuit are these:

Av. República Argentina, junction with Av. de Onil.
Av. de la Constitució, junction with C/ Azorín.
C/ San Francisco, junction with C/ Senieta l’Auelet.
C/ Biar, junction with C/ San Luis.
C/ Major – Plaça de l’Església, towards C/ Portal d’Onil. Open 24 hours.

If you need the circuit opened for an emergency, the notice says to contact the Local Police on 965 561 076, or to go to the police post.

Two more points from the same document: on the day of the Entrada there is no street market (in 2026 that fell on Tuesday 1 September), and the patronal fiesta is held in honour of the Mare de Déu de la Soledat (Our Lady of Solitude).

Where to stay in Castalla during the Moors and Christians?

Casa Rural Castalla is right in the historic centre of the town: an exclusive-use property, the whole house for your group, with nobody else sharing it. It is 241 m² with 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, for up to 10 people (14-15 with extra beds), a fully equipped kitchen and La Tardor, the multi-purpose lounge that works as reception and meeting point. It is the perfect base for the Moors and Christians of Castalla without leaving the centre of the town.

Being in the historic centre on these days means being where everything happens — parades, music, festive atmosphere — on foot, without depending on the car or looking for a parking space in the week when the town is at its fullest.

What else to do on those days

If you have hours to spare between events, Castalla offers more than the fiesta. We have already written about Castalla Castle and about the ten stops of the old town — two pieces that widen what there is to do here. For food, the town has a local restaurant scene worth a stop. One caveat: confirm opening times and availability directly with each place, because during the fiesta they usually differ from a normal day.

If you are already thinking about the next edition: capitanías

There is a consultation under way among Castalla’s comparsas to move the Entrà to the weekend, although the final decision rests with the town council and is not settled yet. It is one more reason not to take any year’s calendar for granted until the bando comes out.

Casa Rural Castalla hosts capitanías and their circle on an exclusive-use basis during these dates, and also during Sant Jaume (25 July), the other strong window in Castalla’s festive calendar. We are considering a package combining both dates, with early scouting for the following year’s capitanías. If you are interested, get in touch well in advance.

Ready to experience inland Alicante?

Book your stay at Casa Rural Castalla and take your time discovering places like Plascaves, Castalla Castle and the Sierra del Maigmó. Your inland Alicante getaway starts here.

Check availability

Get in touch

Frequently asked questions about the Moors and Christians of Castalla

Five days between the end of August and the beginning of September, with the exact dates set each year by the town council and confirmed in the municipal bando, which usually comes out in the last week of August. In 2026 they ran from 31 August to 4 September, with the busiest days the 1st and the 4th.

In the historic centre of Castalla (Alicante), in the l’Alcoià district, about 30 minutes by car from the city of Alicante. The full hour-by-hour programme is published by Turismo de Castalla.

Yes: as it is the most important week of the year in Castalla, availability in the historic centre shrinks quickly as the dates approach. If you are coming as a group or you form part of a capitanía, the sooner you confirm, the easier it will be to find an exclusive-use property like ours.

Not if you stay in the historic centre: Casa Rural Castalla is at Carrer Major 33, right in the old quarter, so you can move on foot between parades and street life, without depending on the car or looking for parking in the week when the town is at its fullest.

Yes. The house is let whole and exclusively to a single group: 241 m², 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, for up to 10 people (14-15 with extra beds). We host capitanías both at the Moors and Christians and at Sant Jaume (25 July).

19 de January de 20255 de September de 2026Events in Castalla, Events 2025

Encuentros Gastronómicos de Castalla: the town’s annual food week

Every spring, Castalla becomes the food capital of this corner of inland Alicante with the Encuentros Gastronómicos de Castalla, the town’s gastronomic gatherings: a week-long food festival held in its restaurants. It is an invitation to a week of eating well, where tradition and modern cooking come together in dishes that showcase the best of the local kitchen.

Organised by Castalla Town Council and SEHUNICA, the local hospitality association, the festival is a good excuse to explore the culture and the cooking of the area, with set menus that pair native ingredients with more inventive ideas.

Here is everything you need to know about it, and how to make the trip even easier with a stay at Casa Rural Castalla.

What the Encuentros Gastronómicos are all about

During this food week, the best-known restaurants in Castalla serve menus created specially for the occasion. From the celebrated gazpachos de Castalla — nothing whatsoever to do with the chilled Andalusian soup of the same name, but a substantial stew of rabbit and snails scented with pebrella, a local wild herb, and served on sheets of unleavened flatbread — to traditional rice dishes and pairings with local wines, every plate celebrates the culinary identity of the area.

Six of the town’s restaurants take part, reaffirming their commitment to the traditional and the contemporary cooking of the area alike. Some also work with zero-kilometre produce and recipes handed down through the generations, which is where the character of this food really comes from.

The participating restaurants include:

Hotel Don José: made for a long, unhurried evening.
Restaurante La Vizcaya: specialists in the classic local recipes.
Restaurante Cassana: traditional Mediterranean cooking, with a special menu for the occasion.
Casa Paqui: family cooking with decades of history behind it.
Restaurante Nou Trinquet: dishes that blend the classic with the inventive.
Asador Izaskun: currently open only for private events, weddings and celebrations, with no service to the general public.

The Encuentros are usually held over two consecutive weekends, Thursday to Saturday, which spreads out the crowds and makes life easier for the restaurants taking part.

Each restaurant puts on its own experience, taking the traditional flavours of Castalla and giving them a twist for the occasion. There are also pairings with local wines, and the chance to meet the chefs behind the menus.

The Mayor of Castalla has underlined how much the initiative does for the town and its food culture, inviting locals and visitors alike to discover the best of the local kitchen. The Encuentros Gastronómicos are a chance to taste the range of what is cooked here, and another step in establishing Castalla as a food destination in inland Alicante.

Each restaurant hosts one day of the programme, with menus meant to please even the most demanding palate. Places are limited, so booking your table in advance is essential.

Gazpacho de Castalla, the local stew served during the Encuentros Gastronómicos food festival

Make a weekend of it: stay at Casa Rural Castalla

To get the most out of the Encuentros Gastronómicos de Castalla, we suggest staying at Casa Rural Castalla, right in the historic centre. The house brings together the old and the comfortable in a way that suits groups and families looking for somewhere genuine to come back to after dinner.

Why stay at Casa Rural Castalla:

An unbeatable location: a few minutes on foot from the participating restaurants.
Room for everyone: up to 10 guests (14-15 with extra beds), ideal for groups.
The area on your doorstep: close to Castalla Castle and to the walking routes, so there is more to the weekend than the table.

The team at Casa Rural Castalla can also help you arrange accompanied walks, at no extra cost and always subject to the guide’s availability, along with other activities in the area.

Beyond the food: what else to do in Castalla

There is more to fill a weekend here than the menus. Castalla offers a good spread of cultural and outdoor plans: climb up to the imposing Castalla Castle, follow one of the walking routes, or simply let the old streets do the work.

Looking for something more tailored? Casa Rural Castalla can point you in the right direction so you make the most of your stay.

Book now and enjoy the Encuentros Gastronómicos de Castalla

Do not let this one pass you by. Reserve your table at the participating restaurants and stay at Casa Rural Castalla, the perfect base for exploring this pocket of inland Alicante.

The house stands out for its careful design, mixing modern and traditional touches into something genuinely welcoming. The generous shared spaces work equally well for getting everyone together and for doing nothing at all, while details such as the rustic decoration and the handmade furniture make it a memorable place to stay in the heart of Castalla.

Come to Castalla and see why its food, its landscape and its hospitality make it worth the journey.

The town is about a 30-minute drive from Alicante and its airport, and 35 minutes from the beach: get in touch to check dates and give yourself a few days in the Foia de Castalla, the wide inland basin the town looks out over.

Ready to experience inland Alicante?

Book your stay at Casa Rural Castalla and take your time discovering places like Plascaves, Castalla Castle and the Sierra del Maigmó. Your inland Alicante getaway starts here.

Check availability

Get in touch