L'Alfàs del Pi has a large foreign resident population and a cultural programme to match, and its jazz festival has been running since the early nineties — the longest-standing in this part of the Costa Blanca. The 33rd edition takes three very different acts and spaces them across the month rather than cramming them into a weekend.
What to expect. Aretha y los Franklin open in the Casa de Cultura auditorium on Saturday 5 September; Ximo Tébar Band closes it on Saturday 19. In between, on Sunday 13, the jazz moves outdoors for a free family day in the Parque de los Eucaliptos. Music needs no translation, so the language barrier is nil.
Practical bit. L'Alfàs sits between Altea and Benidorm, ten minutes from either, with the Albir seafront and its lighthouse walk below it. September evenings here are the best of the year. A hire car makes Altea's old town, Guadalest and the Sierra Helada trails all short hops.
