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IN A NON-COVID year, you can take your pick from about 800 music festivals in Spain – in some of which, the music is only part of a packed programme of completely unrelated activities that might even include yoga classes and wine-tasting – at least one in almost every province, featuring local or national bands which may or may not have made the mainstream music charts, and often with a handful of inter-galactic superstar singers or groups swinging by the western Mediterranean on a world tour.
Back in the halcyon days when vaccines were what you had before an exotic holiday and masks were what you wore at fancy-dress parties or slathered on your face with a couple of cucumber slices over your eyes, Spain frequently hosted macro-festivals where revellers outnumbered the population of a European capital city.
And now they're back for the first time since the 2010s, some of the most famous have been boasting ticket sales running into six figures: Mad Cool saw Madrid's headcount swell by 5% in the space of a weekend, with 300,000-plus descending on the nation's largest metropolis; the globally-acclaimed Costa Azahar-based Benicàssim International Festival (FIB) welcomed 180,000, and the Basque-based BBK Live shifted 115,000 entry passes.
Not all festivals in Spain are quite as gigantic – some feel almost 'local', and not all of them cost a fortune to get into. But they all offer a great excuse to see a different part of the country that you would perhaps not think to visit specifically in summer, or which is still on your holiday long-list waiting for you to work your way through destinations near the top.
These seven upcoming festivals – three of which are in the next week – either provide that pretext for you, or serve as an additional attraction if you're going there anyway.
And they're not the kind of festival where you're fighting for air-space in front of the stage, are ankle-deep in mud or crossing your legs to put off the unhappy experience of stinky port-a-loos for as long as you can get away with. They're sort of midway between Glastonbury and a local village fête, if you follow.
Lazareto Music & Gastro Festival (Until Saturday, August 6)
Click on the link in the title to read up on this beautiful and intriguing, but practically unknown Balearic island, so you can get a feel for it first. Then jump on a free boat from the port of Mahón, Menorca to catch massive names like Kool & The Gang and UB40 live on stage.
Others among the musical line-up include Los Secretos, and lead singer of what was probably the biggest band of the 1980s and early 1990s in Spain – Ana Torroja, one-third of Mecano.
As for the 'gastro' bit, top celebrity chefs Diego Guerrero and Paco Roncero have put together some delectable taster menus specifically for the festival, and the 'street food' stalls nearly all sell local produce – local as in, practically walking distance from where you're standing.
From Mahón, the boat trip to Lazareto and the festival in the 18th-century sandstone-coloured UNESCO fortress in its harbour takes around 10 minutes.
Festival Castell Peralada (Until Saturday, August 6)
An ideal choice for those who prefer a slower pace of music to your rockers and indie outfits at the likes of Benicàssim – you should still just about be in time to catch Catalunya-born opera legend José Carreras, one of the most eagerly-awaited acts of this Girona-province festival, along with Bulgarian soprano Sonja Joncheva, the highly-versatile Lucas Vidal, and an on-stage representation of Nabucco.
Other activities include an exhibition of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's works, and a brand-new special-edition menu devised by the on-site Castell Peralada restaurant, which is Michelin-starred.
Prestoso Fest (Thursday, August 4 to Saturday, August 6)
Deep in the countryside – the nearest large town, Cangas de Narcea, is 25 kilometres away – this three-day festival is only partly about music; the rest involves wine-tasting, pottery workshops and guided hikes.
Regionally-famous pop and rock bands include Joana Serrat, Vera Fauna and Los Punsetes, as well as a string of free-entry gigs in Cangas de Narcea itself.
As well as the main stage, the festival spreads itself out across this northern coastal region, with a welcome party at the Corias Monastery Parador hotel, a wine-and-music session in Las Barzaniellas, an organised tour of the Hermo Monastery Valley, and pottery classes.
Summerfest Cerdanya (Saturday, August 13 to Saturday, August 27)
Some of Spain's best-known chart-toppers of the last 20 years – or 20 months, in the case of Lola Índigo – will be on stage against a peaceful, idyllic rural backdrop in Puigcerdà (Girona province); crooner Sergio Dalma, former El Canto del Loco frontman Dani Martín, Taburete, Nil Moliner, and other top 40 radio household names will be hitting the main stage, found on the Camí de Sant Marc.
Aside from the bands and singers, you'll find craft markets, painting workshops, food stalls, wine-tasting sessions, animals, children's fun and games, and sundry other, similar daytime entertainment that doesn't necessarily involve mosh-pits, glow-sticks, crashing drums and smashing guitars, or any of the standard 'music festival' ingredients.
Festival Esférica Rioja-Alavesa (Thursday, August 18 to Sunday, August 21)
Brunch on Saturday, barbecue on Sunday, food tents all four days offering seasonal local produce, wine-tasting, and art exhibitions are some of the main features of this festival in the inland Basque province of Álava, the capital of which is Vitoria.
The 'Rioja' bit is because the events are right on the regional border, close to La Rioja – in four different towns, in fact; Elciego, Laguardia, Labastida and Lapuebla de Labarca.
Two iconic wine merchants' will be hosting the tasting sessions: Marqués de Riscal, the premises of which were designed by Frank Gehry, the architect behind Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum, and Ysios, the brainchild of Santiago de Calatrava, who created Valencia's trademark City of Arts and Sciences.
As for the music, Iván Ferreiro, Mon Lafterte, and one of the Benidorm Fest finalists who nearly got to represent Spain at the Eurovision, Tanxugueiras, are some of the acts scheduled, although organisers have hinted at off-programme additional concerts by extra, unannounced bands and singers whose identities will not be revealed until the last minute.
Phe Festival (Friday, August 19 and Saturday, August 20)
A massive line-up of pop and rock artists for this two-day event in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, includes Viva Suecia, Alizzz, The Parrots, Los Planetas and Xoel López, but while the music plays, plenty of other off-stage activity is happening – from art exhibitions in the San Felipe Castle Culture Centre through to regional sports championships.
Whether or not you're feeling energetic (and, frankly, who is, in this heat?), these competitions are set to be fun to watch – the acrobatic Water Jump contest off the pier always being a hit with spectators.
One-off sports classes on the programme and which are actually pleasant in sweltering summer climates include an introduction to surfing, kite-surfing and paddle-boarding, plus yoga for relaxation.
A Summer Camp pre-festival from Monday, August 15 to Friday, August 19 offers classes in BMX, skateboarding, roller-skating, diving and even bungee-jumping.
MUWI Fest (Thursday, August 25 to Sunday, August 28)
Another Benidorm Fest finalist and almost-Eurovision contestant, Rigoberta Bandini, is one of the nationally-famous performers on stage in Logroño, La Rioja over the last weekend of August, along with Lagartija Nick, La La Love You and León Benavente, whilst local wine merchants' offer DJ sessions and acoustic concerts between the acts – together with art exhibitions and wine-tasting.
Beer trucks and food trucks selling typical La Rioja dishes (unfortunately, regional cuisine here offers limited choices for vegetarians, but more generic stalls and food vans should be able to cater for you if you don't eat meat) will be open almost around the clock, and a Martini-and-music session on Logroño's iconic C/ Laurel on Saturday night is set to be hugely popular.
A closely-supervised playroom for children will be set up, so parents and grandparents can chill out and enjoy the festival without having to worry that the little ones might be getting bored.
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