Feria y Fiestas de San Bartolomé, Cieza

Fiestas and fair in honour of Saint Bartholomew and fair.

Festivities to celebrate the Patron Saint’s day of Cieza, San Bartolomé, take place between the 24th and 31st August.
This is a big week for Cieza, with a lot of activities and events taking place to entertain both the locals and visitors who visit the town specifically for these dates.

The origins of Cieza´s San Bartolomé Fair and Festivities
Cieza started life in its current format in the middle of the XIII century, when Murcia became the property of Alfonso X el Sabio, following the Christian Reconquist.  Prior to this the settlement had been in the Moorish town Medina Siyâsa, high above the current location.
The Ermita del Patrono San Bartolomé (church of the Patron Saint Bartolome) was built during the first twenty years of the creation of the town.  
Records show that the first fairs took place in the XIV century in Cieza.

The devotion to San Bartolome, dates back to the end of the XV century and there are records dating back to 1579 during the reign of Felipe II which show that this devotion had  become established in the last quarter of this century , with the popularity of the saint continuing to grow during the XVII and XVIII, aided by miracles.

Chapter XXIV of Monk Pascual Salmerón´s book “la Historia de Cieza” describes the “miraculous sweating of the image of Saint Bartolomé, the patron of Cieza, whilst battling with a mighty cloud”.

The legend relates that on 25th August 1722, the people of Cieza were in the town square observing the patron saint’s day of Saint Bartolomé when suddenly a violent thunder storm occurred and the townspeople were forced to take refuge in the church.  The people prayed and asked their patron to protect them and were, according to the legend, amazed to witness the image of the saint visibly sweating water 5 times before the storm subsided.

The monk recorded:
...por lo mucho que había trabajado el santo en defensa de su devoto pueblo. (..”how hard must the Saint have had to work to defend his devoted people”)

The fiestas in something resembling their present form in honour of San Bartolomé began in the 19th century, although at this time the fair was not part of the fiesta celebrations.
The fair traditionally took place from 16th to 23rd August with a mostly commercial nature, followed by the celebrations of Saint Bartolome on the 24th August.

At this point bull runs in the streets were very popular, but in 1755 these were stopped by the crown due to the number of accidents that regularly took place.  It took 40 years of pressure from the townspeople before the monarch would agree to reinstate the custom, the Ciezans claiming they deserved this privilege after a year of hard toil.  Finally they were granted three bull runs during the San Bartolome festivities as long as they were not “bulls or cows of death.”

Current Times
In recent times, the fair and festivities in honour of Saint Bartolomé have become one of the most important and popular in the region of Murcia whilst at the same time ancient traditions have been resurrected.
The traditional Misa Huertana (country mass) was started in 1984 in the Basílica de la Asunción and involves participants dressed in traditional regional dress making a floral and fruit offering to the patron.

Since 1996, the Hermandad de San Bartolomé (Brotherhood of Saint Bartolome) has organised the opening speeches( pregón) of the Feria y Fiestas de San Bartolomé.  Each year, on the 15th August the speeches take place at the doors of the Basílica de la Asunción after the procession of the patron saint.

1998 saw the introduction of the theatrical production of Crónica y Leyenda de una invasión anunciada, a play by Carmen Carrillo, narrating the historical events which took place in Cieza on 7th April 1477 as well as the Asociación Cauce.  The tradition of blessing the fields and orchards of Cieza by Saint Bartolome has also been restored in recent years.

One particular event has achieved international fame, namely the  Concurso Internacional de Lanzamiento de Huesos de Oliva (The International Olive Spitting Competition) which attracts more and more visitors each year and has lead the way for this contest to extend to other parts of Spain and abroad.

There are a wide number of associated activities and events, making the fiestas a popular choice for visitors to, and residents of, the region. See the dedicated Cieza section nearer the time for the annual programme.