Festes del Poble de Bellreguard (Town Festival)

For ten days each September, this small Safor town hands its streets over to celebration. Bands of dolçaina pipes and tabalet drums lead processions through the neighbourhoods, and after dark the fireworks "castles" go up once the religious parades have passed. The thing to watch for is the Ball de la Forca, dancers in old Valencian farming dress stepping around a wooden fork. It's the only stick dance of its kind in the region, so you won't see it anywhere else.

The Moors and Christians draw in a big chunk of the town, with dozens of costumed groups marching. Between the set pieces there are street dinners, early-morning wake-up calls, and sports contests, with different days set aside for retirees, women and young folk. Most of it spills across the plaça del Tirant and the lanes around it, and it's free to wander into.