Patron Saint Festivities of San Sebastián
The town's main winter fiesta in honour of its patron San Sebastián, running mid-January with folklore galas, the Hautacuperche folklore festival, a traditional romeria pilgrimage, open-air dances with live orchestras and the solemn procession on 20 January. The 2026 edition has finished; the next edition returns in January 2027.
Each January the little capital of La Gomera throws a proper party for San Sebastián, with the easy, unhurried feel of a town celebrating mostly for itself. The high point is the romeria, a pilgrimage that sets off through the streets to the Plaza de Las Américas, with people in traditional Canarian dress and a parranda playing as everyone arrives. It's billed as the first of the Canary Islands' pilgrimage season.
Evenings belong to the bands. The long-running Hautacuperche folklore festival fills the Auditorio Insular with the old songs and dances, while live orchestras keep the open-air baile de magos going late. Around all this sit quieter rituals: the novena, the Mass and the procession on 20 January, the day the saint is carried through town. The 2026 edition has wrapped up; it returns in January 2027, and it's free.