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August 10 to 20 Fiestas de la Vendimia in Jumilla
The August fiestas in Jumilla revolve around the grape harvest and the renowned folk festival
Jumilla celebrates its annual fiestas in August, combining the celebrations of the feast day of the Virgen de la Asunción (the patron of the town) with the grape picking fiestas (the Fiesta de la Venidmia, which is being held for the 50th time this year), a folk music and dance festival and the Moors and Christians celebrations, although unfortunately this year the Moors and Christians events are not being held..
There are a variety of events and processions, including a traditional parade celebrating the process of wine-making, a children’s parade and the Cabalgata del Vino. This latter is the best-known and most popular, and during the parade thousands of litres of wine are flung out into the crowd and poured over the assembled revellers, a small percentage of it ending up inside the attendees and the remainder all over their clothes. Wear white, and don´t be afraid to get wet (and red)!
There are other events relating to the celebration of wine fiestas including a wine “Miniferia”, in which the Bodegas display and promote their products and visitors purchase a glass which enables them to sample the various offerings in the booths, and a red wine fountain flows throughout the main days of the fiestas.
Additional activities include a grape treading competition and a grape pip spitting competition as well as the elements to keep the peñas (fiesta groups) happy, which include a fairground. Meanwhile, the folk festival (held this year on August 12 to 14) has become one of the most important of its kind in Spain over the course of its 40-year-old history.
The Mini Feria del Vino is located in the Jardín del Rey Don Pedro, while the wine fountain and the starting point for several of the activities are in the Plaza de la Glorieta and the main hostelry area and encampments of the local peñas are on Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola.
Some of the performances and musical events are in the Arzobispo Lozano secondary school (click for map).
The program of events during the 2023 Fiesta de la Vendimia, the 50th holding of the event, is as follows (although this schedule is complemented by those for the folk festival):
Thursday August 10
21.30: Gran Fiesta de Exaltación del Vino, a celebration of wine in the gardens of the Salones Pio XII de Santa Ana del Monte. Admission by invitiation only.
Friday August 11
20.00: The Peñas proceed from their Federation HQ to the Jardín del Rey Don Pedro.
20.15: The traditional raising of the flags for the 42nd annual Jumilla Folk Music Festival at the Town Hall.
21.00: Inauguration of the wine fountain in the Jardín del Rey Don Pedro I.
21.00: Inauguration of the official D.O.P. JUMILLA stand.
22.00: The fairground opens in Paseo Poeta D. Lorenzo Guardiola.
22.45: Youth bands concert in the Jardín de la Glorieta. Admission free of charge.
Saturday August 12, the Miniferia del Vino opens at 12.00 midday on Paseo Poeta D. Lorenzo Guardiola.
19.00: Fiesta de la Vendimia football tournament at the Campo de Fútbol Uva Monastrell.
19.00: Official reception for the groups taking part in the Folk Festival at the Town Hall of Jumilla.
21.15:The participating groups parade through the streets (Plaza de la Constitución, Cánovas del Castillo, Plaza de la Glorieta).
22.00: Official opening ceremony of the Folk Festival and first performances in the Jardín de la Glorieta.
23.00: Ana Mena live in concert at the local football stadium. Click here for further information.
Sunday August 13
11.00: The floats taking part in the children’s parade go on display in the Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola.
12.00: Traditional Spanish dances in the Jardín de la Glorieta.
13.30: Convivencia con el Folklore, a convivial lunch (with music, of course) in La Estacada, La Alquería and La Fuente del Pino.
19.30: Sones de España, a live show in the auditorium of the Conservatorio de Música Julián Santos.
19.30: The children’s parade begins in Calle Trabajo. Route: Cánovas del Castillo, Avenida de la Asunción, Avenida Levante, Mercado de Abastos.
23.00: Velada Folk and Milladoiro in concert in the Jardín de la Glorieta. Admission free of charge.
Monday August 14
9.30: Fiesta de la Vendimia open paddle tennis tournament at the Centro Deportivo Olympia Multisport.
10.00: Tractor driving competition, shill in reversing with trailers at the car park of the Recinto Ferial.
11.00: Water party for children at the Arzobispo Lozano secondary school. Admission free of charge.
13.00: Monsatrell grape competition in the Jardín del Rey Don Pedro.
18.00: Grape treading competition in Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola.
18.30: National grape pip spitting competition in Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola. this is always a fun event and attracts a lot of attention, as competitors attempt to spit a grape pip as far as possible.
22.00: Closing performances and ceremony of the Folk Festival in the Jardín de la Glorieta.
23.00: Fórmula V in concert in in the grounds of the Arzobispo Lozano secondary school. Admission free of charge.
Tuesday August 15
12.00: Holy Mass in honour of Our Lady of the Assumption (La Virgen de la Asunción), the patron of Jumilla, on her Feast Day.
17.30: “La Uva Caliente” competition on Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola.
20.45: Procession in honour of La Virgen de la Asunción, starting at the Iglesia Mayor de Santiago.
23.00: DePol in concert in the grounds of the Arzobispo Lozano secondary school. Admission free of charge.
Wednesday August 16
8.00: Procession of San Roque.
18.30: Official reception for the invited guest fiesta groups at the Town Hall of Jumilla.
20.00: The Fiestas groups parade through the town from Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola to the Jardín de la Glorieta. This sounds mundane but is a charming event as the invited guests and the Jumilla peñas are all wearing folk costumes, carrying their offerings of grapes and led by their standard bearers. Route: Paseo Poeta D. Lorenzo Guardiola, Avenida Reyes Católicos, Calle Dr. Fleming, Calle de San Antón, Calle San Roque, Calle Canovas del Castillo, Plaza de la Glorieta.
21.00: Offering of the first grapes of the harvest in the Plaza de la Glorieta. The groups line-up and each is called to the stage where they tip their grapes into a huge vat, basketful by basketful. Once all of the offerings have been made, homage is paid to the Niño de la Uva with folk dancing and the grapes are ceremoniously trodden.
23.00: Brothers in Band, Dire Straits tribute act in the grounds of the Arzobispo Lozano secondary school. Admission free of charge.
Thursday August 17
11.00: The floats taking part in the main traditional parade go on display in Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola.
20.00: The participants in the main traditional parade gather in Calle Trabajo.
20.15: Sangría competition at the start of the parade.
20.30: The traditional parade sets off. Route: Calle Trabajo, Plaza del Rollo, Calle Cánovas del Castillo, Calle San Roque, Calle de los Milanos, Calle Barón del Solar, Avenida Levante, Mercado de Abastos.
23.00: Los Inhumanos in concert in the grounds of the Arzobispo Lozano secondary school. Admission free of charge.
Friday August 18
8.00: Gachamigas contest at the Recinto Ferial.
10.00: National hoe-throwing competition at the Recinto Ferial.
18.30: Know Your Wines competition in the Jardín del Rey Don Pedro I.
20.00: Children's circus show in the Jardín de la Glorieta. Admission free of charge.
22.00: Prizes are awarded at the HQ of the Peña La Alborga.
Saturday August 19
18.30: The GRAN CABALGATA DEL VINO begins after participants gather at 18.00 in Avenida Reyes Católicos. Route: Avenida Reyes Católicos, Avenida de Murcia, Cánovas del Castillo, Valencia, Avenida Levante, Avenida e Murcia.
Sunday August 20
20.00: The figure of Nuestra Señora La Virgen de la Asunción is taken back from the parish church of Santiago to the church of San Agustín in a procession.
22.00: Nino Bravo tribute show in the Jardín de la Glorieta. Admission free of charge.
As a postscript to the fiestas:
September 1 and 2
Wine Fest at the Polideportivo Municipal La Hoya: click here for further information.
Sunday October 1
8.00: Romería del Niñico de las Uvas. The figure of the Niñico de las Uvas is taken back to his sanctuary in the monastery of Santa Ana del Monte in this popular “romería”.
10.30: A late breakfast is enjoyed by all at Santa Ana la Vieja.
12.00: Mass in honour of El Niñico de las Uvas at the monastery of Santa Ana del Monte.
14.00: “Matavendimia” lunch to say goodbye to the fiestas for another year at Santa Ana la Vieja.
For more local events, news and visiting information go to the home page of Jumilla Today.
staff.inc.ali
Address
Plaza del Rollo, 1 30520 JUMILLA Tel: 968 780237 / 663 300779
Oficina de Turismo Jumilla
The tourist office in the centre of Jumilla is easily found by driving straight into the centre of the town along the Avenida de Murcia and following the signposts. The tourist office is alongside the Parque de Don Albano Martínez Molina, where there are a number of parking spaces.
Jumilla, in the north of the Region of Murcia, has become internationally famous over recent decades due to the quality of the wines produced in the municipality, and wine tourism has begun to attract visitors from other parts of Spain and the rest of Europe.
The tourist office is happy to provide a range of maps and leaflets showing the different bodegas which can be visited within the municipality. Some of these form part of the Rutas del Vino de Jumilla, the Jumilla wine route, and can either be visited as a guided tour or sell their produce directly to the public.(see feed below for more details)
However, the town and the surrounding countryside have plenty of other attractions for visitors, and the popularity of Jumilla wines is leading more and more people to discover other facets of the tenth largest municipality in Spain.
These include the spectacular countryside and birdlife in the Sierra del Carche, the historic remains which range from cave paintings and a Roman mausoleum to the castle, the Iglesia de Santiago, the Town Hall and the Teatro Vico, and the gastronomy: rich stews are accompanied not only by the wines of the area but also by Jumilla pears, which also enjoy Denomination of Origin status.
Tourism in Jumilla is not as seasonal as it is in the coastal areas of the Region of Murcia, but the town is at its liveliest during the fiestas in Holy Week and the August Fair, which incorporates the grape harvest celebrations and the Moors and Christians parades.
The Altiplano of the Region of Murcia, which consists of the municipalities of Jumilla and Yecla, is only just over an hour by car from the Mar Menor, Cartagena, Mazarrón, Torrevieja and Alicante, and anyone wishing to visit real inland Spain and world-class wineries is advised to include Jumilla in their schedule.
Opening hours
Summer
Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 2pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am to 2pm
Monday closed
Winter
Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 2pm and 5pm to 7pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am to 2pm
Monday closed
Click for full information about visiting the Jumilla municipality and its wine bodegas: Jumilla section
