The main 2010 calendar of Fiesta Events in Calpe is as follows:

JANUARY 5th - The Three Kings
Procession through the streets followed by the distribution of presents to the children.

FEBRUARY 13th - Carnival
Games for children in Mariners Square. Dancing in the streets and fancy dress costumes in the old town. Chocolate drinks at daybreak.

FEBRUARY 20/21 - German Carnival
Organised and run by the German Carnival Committee, the festivities include parades, German and Spanish folk groups, music and beer festival.

FEBRUARY 27/28 - Andalusian Day

MARCH 16-19th - Las Fallas
The traditional Valencian festival of Saint Joseph the carpenter. Originally a contest amongst carpenters to create an effigy of the Saint, it has escalated to become one of the most spectacular fiestas of the calendar year, with municipal districts competing for the prize for the best papier mache monument. Each year the monuments get bigger and better with more and more money invested in creating incredible 50-100ft high Disney-type cartoon depictions of both current event and political characters together with fictional figures. Hundreds of thousands of Euros are spent each year in building these monuments which are all burnt in the final ceremonial act of the celebrations. Festivities include, processions with participants wearing elaborate traditional costumes, street entertainment, fireworks and live music. The largest fiesta of this kind is held in the city of Valencia, where up to 300 massive monuments block the busy streets of the capital and commercial life comes to a halt. Here a 150ft high statue of the Virgen Mary is built out of flowers brought by participants of a day long procession through the city streets. This is a fiesta you will never forget. Festivities in Calpe begin every day at 7.30am with fireworks and live music and include a giant paella cooked in Constitucion Square.

MARCH 28th - Palm Sunday

APRIL 1st-4th - Easter Holy Week

APRIL 24th / 25th - Half Year Moors & Christians

MAY 8th/9th - Cross of May
A cross covered in flowers is made and carried in a procession from the Town Hall to Torreo de la Peca where it is presented. Performances by folk groups from Andalucia dressed in traditional costume and the election of the carnival queen.

JUNE 23rd - Bonfires in honour of San Juan
To coincide with the summer solstice, and the eve of the feast of Saint John the Baptist, numerous celebrations are held on the beach. Festivities include children's entertainment, preparation of the bonfire, dinner on the beach, lighting of the bonfire and dancing to live music.

JUNE 24th-27th - Hogueras de San Juan
Celebrations in the urbanisation of La Cometa including a paella contest, children's entertainment & bull running.

JULY 8th-11th - Andalusian Fair

JULY 16th - Virgen del Carmen
The sailors celebrate with a festival in honour of their Patron Saint La Virgen del Carmen. Held in the fishermen's quarters of Calpe, events include Mass in honour of the Virgin, the town band marching through the streets, the offering of flowers to the Virgin, and a procession along the streets to a boat waiting in the harbour with an effigy of the Virgen placed aboard. The boat then takes the flowers out to sea where they are scattered in memory of those sailors lost. A firework display is then held at night.

AUGUST 4th-14th - Virgen de las Nieves
Each town has its Patron Saint and a fiesta is held in their honour which usually last one week. During this time the towns commercial activity virtually shuts down as celebrations go on practically 24 hours a day. Festivities begin at dawn with flutes and drums in the streets and include processions, bull-running, dancing in the streets, live music, sporting events and firework displays.

BULL-RUNNING
Large, generally aggressive bulls are let loose in designated streets to chase after those who think they are fast enough to jump out of their way, run behind the many wooden barricades or into the steel cages set up for their protection, before they get gored. Not for the faint hearted, and definitely best left to those with more experience as it is not as easy as it looks. The bulls are very fast and many people - usually foreigners - get hurt, and occasionally killed each year due to them tripping and falling before they manage to get to safety. These bulls have large horns, and will attack through fear. Hundreds of people attend the events, sitting upon makeshift platforms above the streets or standing within the steel cages. It can become rather noisy with everyone shouting and jeering at the bulls who naturally feel trapped and we all know how a cornered wild animal reacts to this kind of situation.

SEPTEMBER 9th-12th - Virgen del Rocio

SEPTEMBER 24th-26th - Virgen de la Merced

OCTOBER 3rd - Procession of San Francesc

OCTOBER 9th - Valencian Community Day

OCTOBER 7-17th - Oktoberfest - German Beer Festival
Folk music, beer and German gastronomy, dancing and fairground attractions.

OCTOBER 21st-24th - Moors & Christians
This fiesta is a theatrical performance with a grand 3 hour procession through the streets of Calpe, with participants dressed in elaborate and expensive costumes depicting both sides of the battle. The music played by the live orchestras is especially composed for the fiesta and is very dramatic. A separate parade is held for the children of Calpe. The landing on Arenal-Bol beach of the boats & subsequent battle is re-enacted using replicas of the weapons used.

NOVEMBER 1st - All Saints Day

NOVEMBER 6th - Dia de la Quintas

DECEMBER 6th - Constitution Day

DECEMBER 8th - Immaculate Conception's Day