Malaga prepares to throw itself into its gargantuan Andalusian summer fair

Malaga city is preparing for one of its biggest and most colourful events of the year, the gargantuan summer fair, which takes place between Saturday 16 and Saturday 23 August.

The festivities begin the previous day (Friday 15) with the historical parade organised by the Zegrí cultural association. As in previous years, the parade will set off from Plaza de la Merced at 8pm, and the ceremonial handing over of the keys to the city is scheduled for 8.30pm in Plaza de la Aduana. Afterwards, the parade will proceed through the main streets of the historic centre. This will be followed at midnight with a spectacular drone light show and firework display in Malaga port.

One of the major new features this year is the main entrance arch at the Cortijo de Torres fairground - a structure standing 29 metres high and 40 metres wide, inspired by the 'queen's pier pavilion', which was originally built in the city in 1862 to welcome Queen Isabella II. This year, not only will visitors be able to admire the arch from outside, but they will also be able to explore it from within, offering visitors privileged views of the fairground from different angles.

In addition to the 145,000 LED lights that will illuminate the new entrance arch, the fairground will feature more than 2.5 million light points using sustainable technology.

The city centre and the fairground will be the two epicentres of the festivities, hosting flamenco and verdiales, pop concerts, street performances, children's activities and equestrian exhibitions, among other things.

Saturday kicks off with the pilgrimage in honour of Santa María de la Victoria, which begins at 10am with the gathering of the horse-drawn carriages and pilgrims in Paseo del Parque.

The daytime fair is particularly popular with tourists because it offers all of the traditional aspects of life in Andalucía. The festivities of the day fair begin on Saturday at 1pm, when visitors will enjoy a varied programme of events until 6pm in the main streets and plazas. These will include rock and pop concerts, verdiales, choral performances, and a series of bullfights held in the Malagueta bullring (7pm).

The daytime festivities continue throughout the week and will be concentrated on Calle Larios and Plaza de la Constitución, Plaza Las Flores, Plaza del Obispo, Plaza de Merced and Plaza de San Pedro de Alcántara.

Flamenco fans will enjoy a series of daily recitals in the Peña Juan Breva (Ramón Franquelo, 4) from 2pm, performed by some of the province's most renowned artists, including Chato de Málaga, José de Chaparro, José Lucena and Antonio Soto.

The 'casetas' on the fairground will open on Saturday night, after a keynote speech by writer Javier Castillo, and the official switching on of the illuminations. The entertainment in the casetas usually gets going around 10pm and will continue into the early hours. This year's programme of concerts includes a variety of different genres, although the main focus is on traditional Spanish music such as verdiales, flamenco and copla.

The municipal auditorium will host concerts each night at 10pm: these will include Camela, a Spanish group credited with being the pioneers of the techno-rumba style; Paco Candela, one of today's top flamenco-pop singers; and Chambao, a trio from Malaga that fuses traditional flamenco with electronic chillout music.

www.malaga.eu/feria-de-malaga