Feria del Carmen de La Carihuela
Five days of street fair around the Virgen del Carmen feast in the seaside La Carihuela district, with new artistic lighting, music and stalls. A free, lively neighbourhood fiesta that wraps around the famous 16 July sea procession.
La Carihuela's old fishing quarter throws this one for its patron, the Virgin of the sea, and it keeps the easy, neighbourly feel that bigger ferias lose. The streets go up under decorated arches, some on a nautical theme. Two municipal marquees run from the 15th to the 18th, opening late around 10pm, with the Orquesta Rompeolas in the traditional tent and younger bands rotating through the other.
The heart of it is the 16th. At 7pm the Virgin is carried from the church through the streets behind two bands, down to the front for a seaside mass, then floated out on the water and brought back in around quarter past ten. The funfair runs alongside, with a quiet hour each evening for children who need the calm. Free to wander, and worth timing your night around the procession.