10 Best Festivals in Madrid

The festival of the Virgen de La Paloma is a vibrant event celebrated in honour of the day the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared in Spain. Centred around one of the oldest areas of Madrid, the event encompasses a massive block party with games, rides, food, live entertainment and fun for everyone. You can witness dance contests, parades and of course, religious events to remind everyone of the significance of the day.

The event is held every year on August 15 in the La Latina neighbourhood of Madrid. It's only a 15-minute walk from the city centre, so it offers easy access to one of the biggest parties of the year.

Mad Cool is an annual music festival that offers the best in emerging and big-name pop, indie rock and mainstream rock acts. The event is held in a broad open-air space in the neighborhood of Valdebebas, which features vast green space in a woodland park about 30 minutes north of the city centre. The festival takes place over 4 full days and attendance reaches 60,000 people every day.

The festival has seen such massive acts as The Who, Pearl Jam, Garbage, Foo Fighters, Vampire Weekend, Lauryn Hill, Belle and Sebastian and many others. Just about every genre of popular music is represented, from folk to hard rock to country to hip hop and beyond.

Noche en Blanco is an annual festival celebrating literature, art, cinema, dance, theatre, music, crafts and other forms of media all over the city. On one September night each year, businesses all over Madrid stay open for 24 hours and the entire city is immersed in the celebration of the cultural melting pot that makes Madrid special.

On this night, just about every public square in the city offers events, parties, markets and live music till the wee hours. Culture centres and museums stay open all night long as well. If you're looking for a different kind of party in Madrid, this is certainly the way to experience local colour and culture in a unique way.

La Semana del Orgullo, or Madrid Pride Week, celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community with live entertainment, parades, games, food and fun every year. The festival takes place around the Chueca neighbourhood at the end of June or early July every year and draws up to 2 million people. You'll see such entertaining events as a high-heels race, live concerts and of course, the crowning event: an epic parade.

This festival is so huge and famous that it has been the host of the International World Pride event. La Semana del Orgullo is considered among the best in the world and is easy to reach from the city centre with just a 10 or 15 minute walk.

Carnaval is an exciting festival that offers wild costumes, dancing, parades, masquerade balls and live entertainment sure to thrill everyone. Madrid's Carnival Festival is less wild than in some other cities and perfect for a family holiday.. In fact, the Madrid Carnaval has plenty of events that are specifically geared toward children.

Scheduled for February each year, notable Carnaval events include the Masquerade Ball at the Circulo de Bellas Artes, the Carnaval Parade and the ritual tossing of the puppet. You'll also see street performers and the symbolic burial of the sardine, which signifies the end of the celebrations. The epicentre changes annually, but is usually within easy reach of the city centre.

Dos de Mayo is a national holiday filled with festivals, block parties and celebrations to honour the day that Spain gained independence. What Cinco de Mayo is in Mexico and the Fourth of July is in the United States, Dos de Mayo is in Spain: Independence Day. The festival commemorates May 2, 1808, the day the people of Madrid rose up against French oppressors.

Celebrations are often centred upon the Plaza del Dos de Mayo in Malasaña, which is named for a hero of the revolt, a young girl who gave her life for the cause at just 17 years old. The plaza is just about a 20-minute walk west from the city centre.

The Madrid Gastrofestival is a celebration of culinary tradition and culture with hundreds of activities, from cooking classes to literature, design, art, fashion and charity. This event takes place all over the city in restaurants, bars, museums and cultural spaces. In total, the festival features over 450 participating institutions and encompasses 16 days of more than 550 different activities and events.

Themed days and events include Gastroculture, Gastrofashion, Gastronomic Madrid, Gastrohealth, Charity, Eno-culture, Sensory Experiences and others. The event is family friendly and some of the events are free to attend.

Nochevieja draws thousands of people to celebrate the New Year with the ringing of bells, live entertainment and ritual grape eating. The most unusual part of this festival, the grape-eating ritual features attendees eating a single grape after each toll of the bells. If they finish their bunch with the final toll, they'll have good luck for the coming year. After the bells, the party spreads out across the city centre with dancing, music and other events.

New Year's Eve is one of the biggest parties across Madrid and goes into the wee hours of New Year's Day. Nochevieja is held in Puerta del Sol, right in the heart of the city centre.

Festival de Otoño, or the Autumn Festival, is one of the top music festivals in the country with dance, music and theatre. During this month, you can see live acts from all over the world and attend prestigious shows from highly respected troupes and artists, all in some of the top theatres and venues.

Artists featured at the festival include up-and-coming acts from all over Spain, as well as famous international acts. The performances are divided up among 15 different venues all across the Madrid city centre, with even more in the surrounding neighbourhoods and towns.

The Madrid Book Fair celebrates Spanish-speaking literature from all over the world with hundreds of print books, medieval text replicas, food and events. Along with promoting Spanish literature, the fair highlights a guest country each year and includes its literature in the festivities.

The fair is held in El Retiro Park and draws thousands of people every year. Normally scheduled for September, the fair is a popular event and just a 20-minute walk from the city centre.