Nerja Feria – Feria de la Virgen de las Angustias y San Miguel
Arcángel (2nd week in October)
One of the big celebrations of the festive calendar in Nerja, 4 or 5 days of eating, drinking, dancing and general enjoyment. It is still an event where it is considered quite important to ‘be seen’. There are firework displays, processions, concerts and all sorts of activities.
The Nerja Feria always includes October 10th and October 12th, the Fiesta del Virgen del Pilar, the patron saint of the Guardia Civil and both days are holidays in Nerja.
At 10:00am each morning, throughout feria week, rockets alert the entire neighbourhood (or province!!) as to the start of the day’s festivities which then go on until the early hours, at the very least!
The fairground attractions occupy the central part of the feria ground and then all around the sides you have ‘casitas’, large marquees, where various different organisations stage all sorts of activities, including the election of the ‘Feria Queen’. There’s traditional flamenco dancing and singing, music concerts featuring well-known stars and general knees-ups, something to suit everyone.
The vast majority of events are free of charge, but the music concerts attract a small entrance fee, usually around €10. Each casita has its own bar and all offer a variety of food. Feria is also a good excuse, if anyone ever needed one, to get dressed up, flamenco outfits abounding.
One thing about feria in Nerja is that it can almost certainly be guaranteed to rain at some point during the celebrations, regardless of the fact that it was probably hot and sunny before the event started and will be hot and sunny after it has finished. Feria and rain go hand in hand, similar to Wimbledon fortnight in the UK.
The weather, however, does not dampen the spirits and the party goes on, although sometimes, as happened in 2008, the actual feria procession has to be cancelled.
At one end of the feria ground is an area of bars where, at night, it becomes a seething mass of humanity as the music booms out and people dance away until the small hours. Not much happens there during the day, but at night it’s a totally different story.
During the daytime, from 12:00 to 20:30 each day, Plaza Tutti Frutti and calle Antonio Millón have now become the principal areas for music and entertainment.
There are several feria related events taking place in the run-up to the actual Feria:
On the last Saturday in September it is the procession of the patron saints of Nerja, San Miguel Arcángel and Nuestra Señora de las Angustias.
Following a Mass at 19:00 in the Iglesia El Salvador on the Balcón de Europa, the statue of San Miguel Arcángel sets off to the hermitage in Plaza de la Ermita to collect the statue of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias and then both statues return to the Iglesia El Salvador where they remain until October 10th.
On Thursday October 10th, following a solemn Mass at 19:00 in the Iglesia El Salvador on the Balcón de Europa, it is time for Nuestra Señora de las Angustias to return to her resting place in Plaza de la Ermita.
The Carrera Urbana Feria ‘Trofeo Juan Carlos Salcedo’ (street race) and the Trofeo de Marcha Villa de Nerja ’Memorial Tomás Santaolalla’ (popular walk) take place on the Sunday before the Feria.