By the time May comes around, the springtime in Jávea is bursting with colour and joie-de-vivre, in part due to the Festival of the Sea, a major cultural, tourist, commercial and sporting event in which the region's businesses present their latest creations for the new season.
On the last weekend in June, the beautiful town of Jávea holds its International Festival, a mix of culture, gastronomy, music and world class dance, with stalls representing 22 countries where visitors can sample typical products from different regions. The afternoons are filled with regional dance from each country as well as exhibitions and activities for all ages.
Benidorm's amazing aquatic festival opens its doors in July, offering over 12 hours of uninterrupted music and fun, with sensational light and sound effects continuing through the night, refreshing the long hot summer days. The fun starts at the Neptuno Aquatic Festival.
In mid-July, Alicante overflows with avant garde jazz at its Fijazz Festival, where both home grown musicians and musicians from all over the world gather together in the Alicante Regional Council Auditorium to offer their best compositions.
The quintessential party of the town of Dénia, which has now been adopted by other nearby towns in the Valencia region. The fact is that the bullfighting tradition and the Mediterranean Sea make the perfect match in the summertime.
There are not many festivals in Spain which are organised by the townspeople themselves, without big money sponsors, and fewer still as colourful and spectacular as this one.
Around either the 14th of July (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) or the 29th of June, Saint Peter's Day - the date of the celebration changes each year to coincide with the day of the Virgin or that of the Apostle - the traditional Alicante-style seafaring festivities are held in honour of Saint Peter (San Pere) and the Mother of God (Mare de Déu del Carme).
One of the summer's most eagerly anticipated festivals is held in Benidorm in the last week of July. It brings together some of the most renowned, modern groups on the national and international stage: Placebo, Massive Attack, Love of Lesbian, Two Door Cinema Club and Fangoria are some of the acts to have graced the festival's stages.
Around 25 July Benimarco ( a rural area encompassing the towns of Benissa and Teulada-Moraira) holds a week of festivals in honour of its patron saint, Sant Jaume (St James).
How would you like to experience a naval battle and a Moorish landing on the beach? Well, make a note in your diary of the Villajoyosa Moors and Christians Festival, declared a festival of International Tourist Interest, with over 250 years of history behind it.
Those who visit the peaceful town of Moraira in the month of August can enjoy live Jazz music while they follow a route that the local Department of Tourism has set up through the town's streets and its nooks and crannies, with the intention of livening up the warm summer evenings.
The Festival of the Virgen del Carmen (the Virgin of Mount Carmel) is celebrated in almost every seaside town across Alicante province on 16 July or the nearest weekend.
Are you visiting Calpe at the end of July or the beginning of August? Well, you're in luck! Why not join in the town's festivities in honour of its patron saint, it will make your stay an unforgettable one.
In mid-August, the town of Teulada-Moraira holds a medieval market, which is very popular and well attended.
Coinciding with World Tourism Day on the 27th of September, Benidorm will be holding its "Tapas Week", a successful event that in previous years has attracted numerous participants. Thanks to this promotion and during the seven days of its duration, anyone can try the best morsels on offer in lots of restaurants for only 2€.
On 6 and 22 July Moraira puts on its best party to celebrate its patron saint in honour of the Virgen de los Desamparados (Our Lady of the Unprotected) and the Virgen del Carmen (the Virgin of Mount Carmel): street parties, processions, concerts, floral offerings or mascletás (firecrackers) fill the much loved celebration with colour and fun.
In mid-August, Elche celebrates its well-known patron saint festival and, at the same time a mystery that has reached the four corners of the world: the Misteri d’Elx.
The fourth weekend in September, is when Altea celebrates its festivities in honour of the Most Holy Christ of the Sanctuary (el "Sagrario" in Spanish), alongside the Moors and Christians festivities in honour of Saint Blas, the Town's Patron Saint. These festivities have been held since 1979 and include proclamations, missions, reveilles and parades.
One of Calpe most emblematic and entertaining festivities takes place over eleven days in October: the Oktoberfest. In actual fact, the Calpe Oktoberfest holds the distinction of being the largest and also the first such event ever to be held in our country. Back in 1988, a group of German residents in Calpe got together.
At the beginning of October, just at the start of the autumn, Moraira takes on a distinctly German feel as it celebrates its very own Oktoberfest. Nowadays, this extremely popular and traditional German festival is being celebrated in more and more Spanish cities and towns. Set up in the public car park in Moraira, more than 5000 litres of German beer, typical food and live music pay homage to one of the world's most popular festivals.
The month of October is when Calpe holds an event that people have been looking forward to all year: bands of music, the raising of standards in the Castle, the offering, the disembarkation or the great Parade are the highlights of the traditional Moors and Christians festivities in honour of the "Santísimo Cristo del Sudor" (the Most Holy Christ of Sweat).
How would you like to experience a naval battle and a Moorish landing on the beach? Well, make a note in your diary of the Villajoyosa Moors and Christians Festival, declared a festival of International Tourist Interest, with over 250 years of history behind it.
A week of festivities, gala parades, conquests and reconquests bring the streets of Moraira to fever pitch, coinciding as they do with the start of the tourist season and the celebration of one of this Alicante town's most deeply rooted festivals: the Moors and Christians Festival.
There are not many festivals in Spain which are organised by the townspeople themselves, without big money sponsors, and fewer still as colourful and spectacular as this one.
