Festivals and Events throughout the year in Tomelloso

Today I come to you with a new blog entry about interesting things to see or do in Spain, where I'll also include recipes, advice and recommendations.

This time I'm going to talk about the different festivals, events and activities that are held in Tomelloso the town I lived in for one year. Tomelloso is an average town, with approximately 40 thousand inhabitants, but it's the largest of all the towns in this area. This implies that a lot of people from other smaller towns come here to go shopping or go partying, especially in the summer.

Although it's big, this doesn't stop it from being a town where you can practically get everywhere to on foot. Although there are enough this to do, there's nothing you'll see that could compare with cities like Córdoba or Madrid, which is why I recommend coming here when there's one of the events that I'm going to talk about now happening.

In Spain they always say that there's nothing else like the small town festivals, and I completely agree. They create a great atmosphere, there are things to do during the day and night, and they are very fun.

These festivals differ depending on where they are held across the country, but in this entry I'm only going to talk about those in my town,

1. Romería

This is my favourite festival of them all throughout the whole year, and it's very different to the romerías in other cities.

The origin of the romería and its reason of existence (which continues even nowadays) is the carrying of the Virginal Patron Saint of the town from the centre to a sanctuary that you can find a few kilometres away and there, they pray to a shrine, sing songs and celebrate. But this tradition has evolved a lot over the years and they have developed many other activities too.

This romería lasts for 3 days, from the Friday to the Sunday, although over the upcoming days...

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a lot of people also come to see the Pinilla (the shrine that I've already mentioned) to eat "hornazo" which is an empanada with egg, in San Marcos. The "hornazo" is a sweet bread roll which is plaited in a round shape with an egg in the middle. These are shared between families and friends.

In Pinilla, they set up food, tapas and souvenir stalls or marquees of different groups, etc. On the Friday, only the bars are there, where you can eat tapas or smaller portions, and drink buckets of bottled beer, wine, fizzy drinks... These stalls are big and have different genres of music playing, depending on which ones you go to. Generally, they play flamenco, pop music or reggaetón. The prices also vary from one thing to another but they're usually cheap. There aren't many vegan options beyond chips so I would recommend bringing something to eat with you in your bag. The food they serve there tends to be paella, chorizos, sausages, fillets, sandwiches, tapas...

There are other activities during the day such as concerts or food and free wine.

On Saturday they will have already set up the marquees of different clubs or groups of friends, and they tend to eat there and start the party from the afternoon onwards. To be able to be in these marquees you have to pay to do so for the whole weekend, and it includes food and drink. The festival continues throughout the night and they prepare everything for the next day.

The Sunday is the most special day as they prepare many floats: tractors that carry trailers filled with people and wine, covered in pine branches. Around 8 in the morning, all the young people, and those not so young, travel towards Pinilla, both on these floats and walking. They set up the marquees together and start the party after a shower that you'll much appreciate, as you'll end up absolutely covered in wine and mud.

After eating, around 5 or 6 in the evening, the people on the floats return to the town, and everyone else watches as if it were a parade. A lot of work goes into these very original floats... there's even a prize for the best one.

2. Feria

As I've previously mentioned, the ferias are very important for all towns across Spain and a lot of people who live in the cities come to the towns for this week (they usually last for a week or 9 days).

During the week of the feria and the festivals, which is in this case during the last week of August, there are multiple events and activities. These range from foam or Grand Prix parties (gymkhanas) for children and teenagers, to concerts of any kind. In the last few years a lot of people have come such as La Raíz, Carlos Sadness, a Coldplay tribute act... these concerts tend to be free or very cheap, for example the maximum would be €10.

On one of these days there's a wine festival, where you pay €5 to get in and you can try red, rosé and white wine of various kinds until you're completely debilitated. This is celebrated in some gardens whilst a band plays music, and there's a great atmosphere.

The first day of the feria is that of the fireworks at midnight, and there are years where the display is spectacular.

Throughout these festivals, there are girls or boys who are presented as the Dames of the feria, who go to all the events as representatives.

The last day is that of the Gala dinner. People dress very elegantly and go and eat in the restaurants that are already in the town before starting the party.

In the feria venue, there are many attractions such the pirate ship, flicflac, spinny rides, the traditional ghost train... Also, there is an area for food with stalls for churros, drinks, pizzas, kebabs, chips, ice creams, candyfloss, waffles, nuts, etc. A lot of people go there to have dinner, and it's a great success in the morning when people finish partying.

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On the other hand, there are stalls where you can buy backpacks, bags, sports gear, blankets, cutlery, traditional products... Also there are recreational activities such as bingo, tombola, raffles and games of chance or aim. It's a very complete festival.

For the party, there's a huge terrace where people gather to drink and later they go to the bar tents. There are various stalls where they serve drinks in one of the venues where there's also a dancefloor and different DJs every day.

3. The gachas and migas contest

They tend to celebrate this contest at the same time as the romería. Numerous people or groups of friends prepare great quantities of these traditional dishes that they later share with everyone, and the person who makes the best, wins!

4. New Year

Over Christmas there are many events for all tastes and ages such as the Chiquinavidad with many games for the children. Especially on New Years Eve they ring the bells in the plaza, and loads of people come to eat the grapes there with people from the town. It's tradition in Spain to eat 12 green grapes during the last 12 seconds of the year before starting the New Year.

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5. The bonfires

This festival is in February and consists of making huge bonfires at night and eating and drinking with family and friends around them. There are also marquees that groups of friends do and you can go inside if you pay for them in advance.

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