Orgiva

Orgiva, and the neighbouring town of Lanjaron, offer different events, ferias, carnivals, fiestas, concerts, exhibitions, arts and crafts throughout the year. We have information on things to do and see during your walking holiday or self-catering stay in the annex.

The event of longest duration in Orgiva is the Feria, a five day fair round the last weekend in September. Originally a travelling animal fair, the feria still features a horse sale where you can inspect the livestock and watch the gypsy horse-traders bargaining and dealing. Afterwards you may partake of the free giant paella or another day watch the competition to make migas, a type of cous-cous, on open fires under the eucalyptus trees with plenty of accompanying beer and jollification. In the evenings there are dances, bands, concerts and a funfair, with everyone taking the air and dressed in their best.

The most important religious fiesta is El Dia del Senor, the Day of the Lord, which is a moveable feast, always the Friday two weeks before Good Friday. On the previous day the statue of Our Lord of the Expiration is taken down from the wall behind the altar in the impressive Orgiva church to the sound of very loud fireworks. At six o'clock on Friday the large carved Crucifixion and the following velvet robed Virgin are carried out of the church with a massive explosion of firecrackers and rockets. The parade lasts most of the night with wonderful displays of fireworks and rather noisy brass bands.

A similar fiesta, on a rather smaller scale, is San Sebastian the patron saint of Orgiva on January 20th. Normally housed in the ancient Hermitage, a pretty octagonal chapel just across a field from the house, the Saint is paraded round the town with excellent fireworks.

At mid-summer, on the day of John the Baptist, Lanjaron holds a festival which involves a considerable amount of water and plenty of Serrano ham. The following week they have a Carnival with amusing floats and inventively dressed paraders.

During Semana Santa, the week leading up to Easter, Orgiva holds a large exposicion of Alpujarra products, useful, decorative or edible. The first Saturday of the month during summer there is an Arts and Crafts market and there are regular art exhibitions in the centre of the town. On the first Sunday of the month there is a small second-hand market in Las Barreras, a little hamlet on the outskirts of Orgiva, on a field by the river where you can wander under the trees with a beer in hand and inspect the stalls. Every Thursday in Orgiva there is the town market where you can buy all sorts of things - clothes, jewellery, vegetables, spices, bags and shoes among others.

"We stumbled upon Orgiva and would happily do it all over again " - Michael Gill and Barbara Butterworth N.Y. USA. 2010.