Amongst all the festivities that are celebrated in Antequera, perhaps the most popular are the fairs, being Antequera one of the few municipalities that has 2, one of them known as the Agricultural and Cattle Farming Fair and the other the Fair of August, where there are typical dances, street festivals, music and a rich gastronomy that we’ll be able to enjoy if we decide to visit Antequera during the fair.
This fair was declared as National Tourist Interest and has its origins in the year 1748, being one of the oldest in the Spanish territory that coincides during a few days with the fair of Malaga, which is why it’s a good opportunity to enjoy both fairs. This celebration is divided into two, the night fair and the day fair, during the mornings the people go to the bars in the old quarter where one can eat and drink with loud music in the background; at nights the fairground becomes the protagonist and is where we’ll find several huts and typical fair rides with mobile sale stands.
In the fair we’ll find music concerts, horse exhibitions, activities for the kids and finally the explosion of the fireworks to end the fair during the last night of the Antequera fair.
This well-known celebration of costumes is also celebrated in Antequera, with a costume contest for adults.
A national celebration of tourist interest, where the people of Antequera which follow an old Christian tradition where heavy religious figures are carried on shoulder throughout the streets of the town.
On the 20th April a ton of beans is divided into rations of bean casserole and bean omelette and given to everyone who shows up in the Villanueva de la Concepción area of Antequera. It is also possible to buy other typical products of the area.
This pilgrimage is an ancient christian tradition where the neighbours of the town in old days went to the countryside to collect plants which had supposed medical properties, this is a tradition which was lost at the start of the 20th century. On the 11th April the neighbourhood pilgramage is celebrated with music, games and prizes for the participants of the different events.
During this fair which is celebrated in the ‘Plaza de Castilla’ area we will find crafts of Antequera and from other parts of the world, where it is possible to purchase handmade items aswell as art pieces amongst other things.
This fair is held between 1st and 3rd June in the fairground of Parque Norte and has different events like the Malaga goat auction, horse championships, aswell as Antequera tourism activities and exhibition of agriculture machinery.
Popular flamenco event which is held at the begining of August.
On 16th September Antequera remembers the day it was conquered centuries ago.
In the Paseo Real area of Antequera we will find between 20th and 25th October a seafood fair which specialises in the promotion of Galician products. In this fair Galician folklore comes together with bagpipes along with the traditional ‘queimada’ which apparently scares evil spirits.
In the Plaza San Francisco a market is held on 27th November from 10:30am to 4:00pm with all diferent types of cheeses and deserts from diverse Malaga goat dairies.
Festival of tourist interest where participants decorate a religious painting in a hermitage which was built at the end of the 14th century.