Andalusia's festive calendar is full of wine related events, most of which take place in September during the harvest season. The year's first festivals however are held in May, and include Cordoba's Montilla-Moriles Wine Tasting Festival and the Manzanilla Wine Fair in Sanlúcar (Cadiz), a hospitable social event on the banks of the Guadalquivir. After the Public Wine Tasting in Aguilar de la Frontera (July), the month of August brings a vast array of colourful celebrations such as Chipiona's Moscatel Festival in Cadiz, which combines wine tasting with flamenco, as well as the Grape Harvest Fair and Festival in Villanueva del Ariscal (Seville), and the Night of Wine in Cómpeta (Malaga), both of which have been declared Events of Tourist Interest. September is the most festive month and there are a number of activities which have been declared Events of Tourist Interest including Huelva's Royal Fair and the Grape Harvest Festivals of Condado (Palma del Condado) and Montilla (Cordoba), the latter featuring the Treading of the Grapes, the Flamenco Wine Tasting session, and the fiesta of wines and tapas. Other interesting events held during the month are the Autumn or Grape Harvest Festival in Jerez, the Wine Tasting Festival in Moriles (Cordoba), and the Grape Harvest Festivals held in Bollullos par del Condado (Huelva), and Mollina and Manilva (both in Malaga). The Mosto Festival (Atajate) and the Feria dedicated to Mosto and Cured Ham Products (Colmenar) are both held at the end of the year.
Many activities are organised in Andalusia depicting this see this fascinating universe, including visits to olive groves, the olive harvest conference, the processes of extraction, storage and packaging in Olive Mills, oil tastings, breakfasts in the mills, gastronomic sessions. You will learn to discern the fruity, sweet, bitter and spicy flavours, to appreciate the nuances, aroma, colour and properties that differentiate one variety from another, the most suitable techniques and how to get the best out of each of them.
The variety of festivals and celebrations in Andalusia is as wide as its geography, and its calendar is a veritable encyclopedia summarizing the arts and customs of its people. In the spring, planting and harvest festivals, in each patron saint festival, fair, harvest, festival and pilgrimage, the most elaborated crafts, gastronomy, music and religious beliefs are revealed.
Carnivals noisily kick off the series, subverting everyday roles with humor and irony. During Holy Week, the temples take out their most valuable treasures in procession to accompany the images of the Passion, going through an itinerary that is faithfully repeated every year. The Corpus festivity is the argument for a brilliant parade. The May Crosses spectacularly combine the religious and the profane.
The Fiesta de los Toros has a fundamental importance in Andalusia due to its great roots, and for three quarters of the year bullfights are held in its numerous squares, coinciding with local fairs, where people dance and sing to the sound of guitars. Flamenco is the most genuine expression of Andalusian folklore. The cante festivals in the summer period establish a calendar of performances for all tastes. The pilgrimages are pious and festive processions that have nature as a setting, a trace of the ancient fertility rites.