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.
Around the second or third week of June, the proclamation by the Councillor for Festivities signals the start of the celebrations, in which choral music and the presentation of standards on the Castle esplanade are a further sign that the festivities are under way.
Parades, the traditional offering of flowers to Christ the Most Holy, which last year was transferred to the Castle's Hermitage, the firing of harquebuses and the spectacular night-time battle that represents the Moors landing on l'Ampolla beach... These are all part and parcel of the festivities - let's not forget the taking of the castle - that will take place in the coming days on the streets of Moraira and for sure no self-respecting tourist or local resident will not want to miss the smallest detail of such an emblematic celebration.
A second representation takes place the following day in the same setting, this one during the daytime, involving the Christian reconquest. On the beach, everybody makes themselves comfortable on the sand to watch the battle in which the Christian forces took back their lands.
To round the event off, a colourful and highly attractive gala parade brings Moraira's Moors and Christians festivities to a fabulous close until the following year.If you want to watch it, it's advisable to go early to find a good spot, as this event is very popular and nobody wants to miss it. Kids will be surprised by the different marching drills of the “filàs”, the horses that are adorned for battle, and the gaily decorated floats that spit fire and much more.
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).
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.
The old town centre of Altea is the setting for the Handicrafts Fair that is held every year in the square in front of the Church in this little Alicante town.
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).
