El Verger Regional Trade Fair (Fira de Comerç Comarcal)

For a weekend each spring, the businesses of the Marina Alta set up shop in the middle of El Verger and let you wander between them. It's less a tourist event than a local one, which is rather the point: shopkeepers, bar owners and tradespeople from the surrounding villages all under one open sky, happy to chat through what they make and sell. Things start on the Friday with the food zone firing up, then the whole town centre fills out across Saturday and Sunday.

Expect market stalls, a gastronomy corner worth grazing your way around, live music to keep the streets busy and bits and pieces laid on for kids. Entry costs nothing, so it's an easy hour or two if you're staying nearby. Dates shift slightly year to year, but it's usually late March.