Jávea celebrates all year round, from fire and processions in winter to bulls, living chess and fireworks in summer. This overview puts the festivals in calendar order, says honestly which months are quiet, and also answers the question of whether Jávea has Fallas.
Which festivals does Jávea have through the year?
Jávea celebrates all year round, but the peaks come in June, in July and in the harbour festival that runs from late August to 8 September. Winter brings Sant Antoni, Sant Sebastià and Carnival, spring has the Setmana Santa, and December has Santa Llúcia and New Year. October and November are quiet.
17 January: Sant Antoni, with the blessing of animals and the Cremà del Pi.
Around 20 January: Sant Sebastià, the patron saint of Xàbia, with a week of festivities around it.
February, sometimes early March: Carnival, with one parade for children and one for adults.
Around Easter: the Setmana Santa, with processions and the crafts fair in the historic centre.
2 and 3 May: Jesús Nazareno, with the Creus de Maig and the procession to the ermita del Calvario.
Mid to late June: the Fogueres de Sant Joan, with the cremà on the night of 23 to 24 June.
Last weekend of June: the Romería del Rocío of the Casa de Andalucía.
Early July: the Festival Internacional, three days of international food and music.
16 July: Mare de Déu del Carme, with a maritime procession.
Third week of July: the Moros i Cristians in the harbour district.
Last Saturday of July: the Ajedrez Viviente, the living chess game.
Around 31 July to early August: the neighbourhood festival of Virgen de los Ángeles in La Plana.
Late August to 8 September: Loreto, the harbour festival.
Second Sunday of September: the small romería of Mare de Déu del Pòpul.
13 December: Santa Llúcia, with a procession to the ermita.
Late December and early January: the campanadas, the San Silvestre Perrestre, the New Year's Day dip and, on 5 January, the Cabalgata de Reis.
Does Jávea have Fallas?
No. Fallas are not part of the festival calendar in Xàbia. Jávea's own fire festival is the Fogueres de Sant Joan in June, dreamed up by young locals in 1949 on the model of the Valencian Fallas. The nearest Fallas are in Dénia, where the cremà takes place on 19 March.
The council's official annual calendar lists the Hogueras de San Juan in June and no Fallas. The first edition of the Fogueres was held in June 1950. As with the Fallas, the festival ends with a cremà, when the foguera goes up in flames.
If you are nearby in March and still want to see Fallas, head for Dénia. The main days there fall between 17 and 19 March, and the cremà is on 19 March. Come in June and Jávea gives you a fire festival of its own, as described below.
Which festivals are held in January and February?
In January and February Jávea celebrates Sant Antoni on 17 January, with the blessing of animals and the Cremà del Pi, and around 20 January Sant Sebastià, the patron saint of Xàbia. February, sometimes early March, brings Carnival, with one parade for children and one for adults.
Sant Antoni falls on 17 January. Besides the blessing of animals and the Cremà del Pi, nuts and mistela are part of the festivities.
The main day of Sant Sebastià is 20 January, with a week of festivities around it. There is a Mass in San Bartolomé and a procession past the niches in the old centre, accompanied by dulzaina and tabalet. There are also activities for children, a pasacalle and a suelta de vaquillas.
Carnival moves with the Easter calendar, so February is the rule of thumb and some years it falls in early March. In the afternoon the parade for children and families makes its way through the centre, while the adults' parade follows late in the evening. The council organises the festival together with the Comissió de Fogueres.
What is on in spring: the Setmana Santa and Jesús Nazareno?
Spring revolves around Easter and around 2 and 3 May. The Setmana Santa brings processions through the historic centre, with the Santo Entierro on Good Friday and the Encuentro on Holy Saturday after the Easter Vigil. Jesús Nazareno follows, with the Creus de Maig on 2 May and the procession to the ermita del Calvario on 3 May.
The Setmana Santa begins on Palm Sunday, with the blessing of palms and a procession at the parish of Nuestra Señora de Loreto. On Good Friday the Procesión Santo Entierro sets off from the Plaça de l'Església and winds through the historic centre. The Procesión del Santo Encuentro takes place on Holy Saturday, after the Easter Vigil in San Bartolomé, and so not on Easter Sunday.
Every Setmana Santa the Fira d'Artesania Popular also comes to the historic centre, a crafts fair running from Good Friday to Easter Monday inclusive. Because the whole festival moves with Easter, the dates change from year to year.
Jesús Nazareno centres on a statue kept in the ermita del Calvario. On the third Sunday of Lent it is carried in procession to San Bartolomé, and on 3 May it is carried back, with fireworks. On 2 May people traditionally stroll through the streets of the historic centre to look at the Cruces de Mayo, the colourfully decorated crosses.
What are the Fogueres de Sant Joan in June?
The Fogueres de Sant Joan are Jávea's fire festival, running from about mid June to 24 June inclusive. There is a plantà of the foguera, a flower offering, bulls in the streets, a mascletà and a children's foguera. The great cremà takes place on the night of 23 to 24 June on the Plaça de la Constitució.
The programme opens with the plantà: the main foguera is set up on the Plaça de la Constitució and the children's foguera at the Portal del Clot. There is an ofrenda de flores a Sant Joan on the Plaça de l'Església, and a proclamation of the Corte de Honor, the Damas and the Reina.
On several days bulls and cows are led through the streets, the entrada de toros y vacas and the suelta. After Mass on 24 June comes the mascletà on the Plaça de la Constitució, and the same day the children's foguera at the Portal del Clot goes up in flames. The festival is organised by the quintos, the penyes santjoaneres and the Comissió de Fogueres.
On the last weekend of June the Casa de Andalucía also holds its Romería del Rocío, an Andalusian pilgrimage that falls on that weekend every year.
Which festivals are held in July?
July is packed: the Festival Internacional in early July, the maritime procession of Mare de Déu del Carme on 16 July, the Moros i Cristians with the landing at La Grava in the third week, the Ajedrez Viviente on the last Saturday and, around 31 July, the neighbourhood festival of Virgen de los Ángeles in La Plana.
The Festival Internacional lasts three days, Thursday to Saturday, with international food and music. Next come the Moros i Cristians, in the third week of July, set in the harbour district of Duanes de la Mar.
The festival opens in the evening with the Desembarco of the Moorish army at La Grava. The embassy and the surrender of the castle follow on the Paseo Jaime I. The next evening there is a battle with arcabucería at La Grava and the castle is retaken. The festival ends with a gala parade, the Desfile de Gala of both bandos on the Paseo Jaime I, with fireworks.
The Ajedrez Viviente is a living chess game played on the last Saturday of July, also at the Duanes de la Mar. The pieces are schoolchildren aged 6 to 14. Since 2002 the event has been a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional.
Virgen de los Ángeles in the La Plana district is a small neighbourhood festival around 31 July, which runs until 2 or 3 August.
What is Loreto, the harbour festival of late August?
Loreto is Jávea's harbour festival, from late August to 8 September inclusive. There are processions through the streets of the harbour district, the bull spectacle bous a la mar in the first days of the festival and, on the main day, 8 September, a fireworks display over the water. The Pòpul romería follows after.
The bous a la mar belong to the start of the festival, in the first few days. The two processions are the Santíssim Crist de la Mar on 7 September and the Mare de Déu de Loreto on 8 September. Both wind through the streets of the harbour district, not across the water. What happens on the water is the fireworks.
The waterborne fireworks, a castillo acuático in Spanish, go off on the main day, 8 September, shortly after midnight. If you are considering September in Jávea, Loreto is a festival worth planning your trip around.
On the second Sunday of September the small romería of Mare de Déu del Pòpul follows.
Are there festivals in October and November?
Hardly any. On Xàbia's official festival calendar there is not a single traditional festival between the Pòpul romería in September and Santa Llúcia on 13 December. October and November are the quiet months. There is the BubotaFest, a young initiative held on a Saturday in late October, outside the official calendar.
The BubotaFest is the Valencian counterpart to Halloween, organised by the Comissió de Fogueres on the Plaça de la Constitució. The name refers to the bubota, a classic Valencian ghost figure from folk tales. It is a one day event that returns every year, but the council does not list it in the annual calendar, so check the date and the programme each year.
A second moment in October is the presentation of the Premis 9 d'Octubre Vila de Xàbia. This is an institutional awards ceremony and not a large public festival.
If you visit in these months, you are choosing peace and quiet. The Christmas activities begin in early December.
What is on in December and around New Year?
December opens with Christmas activities and Santa Llúcia on 13 December, a procession to the ermita. Around New Year there are the campanadas at San Bartolomé, the San Silvestre Perrestre in late December and the New Year's Day dip at 1pm on 1 January at the Arenal. The Cabalgata de Reis on 5 January closes the season.
Santa Llúcia has an eve with flowers, buñuelos and mistela. On the day itself the village processes to the ermita, and after Mass there is a chocolatada. The Christmas activities, which start in early December, are spread across the harbour, the old centre and the Arenal.
New Year's Eve is celebrated twice on the Plaça de l'Església by San Bartolomé: with a family version of the campanadas at noon, with mandarin segments instead of grapes, and with the traditional chimes around midnight. In the event of rain the midday version may be cancelled.
The San Silvestre Perrestre is a young end of year run in which dogs take part too. Start and finish are at the Placeta del Convent, and it is organised by Club Esportiu Llebeig Xàbia. The date falls in late December, but not always on 31 December.
The New Year's Day dip is on 1 January at 1pm at the Arenal, a charity dip with a different cause each year. It is a private initiative and not a council event. The Cabalgata de Reis is on 5 January: according to local media the Three Kings arrive in the harbour by fishing boat and then parade through the village.
Where can you find the programme, and are the dates reliable?
The council publishes a separate programme for each festival, usually shortly before the date. An overview of the whole year is in the annual calendar on xabia.org, and the council's agenda on ajxabia.com shows what is on right now. Dates for festivals that move with Easter, such as Carnival and the Setmana Santa, differ from year to year.
So use this overview as a calendar of the season, not a timetable. Fixed anchors such as the third week of July or the last Saturday of July do not change, but times and programmes do. Check the council programme shortly before you travel, especially if you want to plan your dates around a festival.
Anyone visiting around New Year can combine Santa Llúcia, the campanadas, the New Year's Day dip and the Cabalgata de Reis, and in mid January Sant Antoni follows.