Fiestas de la Primavera Murcia, 8th to 11th April

Whats on Murcia, Spring Fiestas, Including the Bando de la Huerta

The glorious Fiestas de la Primavera take place in Murcia between the 7th and 15th of April, celebrating the arrival of Spring and the end of the abstinence of lent, comprising the Bando de la Huerta and then the Entierro de la Sardina, the burying of the sardine following on afterwards.

The Burying of the Sardine Fiestas is being added separately, as although the two celebrations are linked they´re very much separate events, and the programme for the two together is vast. The Entierro de la Sardina starts on the 12th April and will be added to the site on Saturday 7th.

Murcia is known as the vegetable garden of Spain, the Huerta of Spain, as it has traditionally been an area of intensive agricultural cultivation, providing sweet, fresh food for the rest of the country.

Built by, and occupied by the Moors for hundreds of years, Murcia learnt the secrets of harvesting and managing water, discovering how to dig wells, make irrigation channels and watermills, create underground storage systems and to cultivate the plants which are symbolic of the fruitfulness of this region, dates, palms, almonds and figs. This meant that the area around the City of Mur-siya was fertile, a zone of orchards and agriculture, and it has remained that way for the last 800 years.

The traditions of the Huertas were passed down through the generations and this Festival celebrates the best of Murcian traditions, bringing food, flowers, costumes and colour to the streets of the city.

The week starts on the Sunday with a few events and builds up on the Monday, with the grand parade of the Bando de la Huerta on the Tuesday and the parade of spring flowers on the Wednesday. 

The main day for the celebrations is Tuesday, the day of the "Bando de la Huerta" on which the whole city dons country costumes and thousands of people from outlying districts pack the streets with gorgeously decorated horses and carriages, the big procession of the Huerta taking place at 5pm

As the week moves on, we progress smoothly into the fiestas of the burial of the sardine, the Entierro de la sardine, a night of madness and one of the liveliest processions of the year, the burial of the sardine. 

One of the main features of the spring fiestas is the installation of what are known as Barracas. These are booths serving up the best of Murcian cuisine in tasty little dishes of tapas, the funds raised from the sale of the food helping to fund folk activities and the  fiestas. Theyre all over the city in the gardens and public parks, and youll come across them wherever theres a spot of green on the map, but the best known are in the Jardines de Malecon and by the Plaza Cruz Roja, both of which run along the banks of the river, straight through the centre of Murcia.

 Sunday 8th April

12 Midday. Official opening of the Barracas across the city. 

12.00 Midday.

Gala of Folklore music and dance. Organised by the Conservatorio de danza de Murcia.

A chance to watch some of the traditional costumed folk dances of Murcia.

Free entry, taking place in the Jardin de la Seda 

Click for map, Jardin de la Seda, Murcia

7.30pm, Jardín de La fama.

Official inauguration of the barracas, by the Mayor of Murcia.

Monday 9th April
6pm. The childrens parade of the Bando de la Huerta.
Music, folk and a celebration of the spring. The children of Murcia put on their folk costumes, and parade through the streets of Murcia.
Its a charming procession, the costumes are adorable, and this is a real family occasion in which a vast number of people participate, many carrying flowers for the floral offering which takes place afterwards in the Plaza Belluga. There are some floats, dressed with flowers.
.
Route; Avda. Gutiérrez Mellado, Avda. Alfonso X el Sabio,Pza. Sto. Domingo, C/ Alejandro Séiquer, Pza. Cetina, C/ Isidoro de la Cierva, C/ Pintor Villacis, Pza. Ceballos, C/ Ceballos and  Avda.Teniente Flomesta, finalising in the Glorieta de Espana.

( Link to Plaza Santa Domingo,Plaza Santa Domingo    from here you can follow the route and pick where you want to stand.)

8pm.Plaza Belluga,Plaza Belluga

Floral Offering to the Virgin of Fuensanta.

Hundreds of people dressed in Huertano costume offer flowers to the Virgen of Fuensanta who has been brought down into the city for the duration of the Easter and spring celebrations.

9pm to Midnight.

In the parking lot of the Vieja Condomina, which is next to the Plaza deToros and a multi storey car park.

Free pop concert sponsored by the Estrella Levante beer company and the radio station Los 40 principales.

Featuring La Oreja de Van Gogh, a top pop band.

10pm. In the Teatro Circo de Murcia.( Click Teatro Circo de Murcia.)

XXV International competition of Tunas.
A tuna is not a fish on this occasion, its a type of musical group, which plays a traditional folk music. Its very popular, and this competition attracts participants from all over Spain, as well as from Portugal, Mexico and Peru. It´s really interesting music, the night we went to ourselves last year was a real surprise, a cross section of barbershop, folk and opera and was extremely entertaining.
This first night is very much a gala night with a few speeches and presentations, followed by lots of folk music, entry by invitation. Later on in the week, the groups perform in Murcia on several occasions.

Tuesday 10th April.
Day of the Bando de la Huerta.
This is a big holiday in Murcia, and thousands of people take to the streets dressed in traditional folk costumes. There is folk music playing all over the place, many people come in from the surrounding areas on horseback and pulling carriages, the Barracas are packed with friends and families enjoying tapas and a few drinks, and the whole day is about celebrating the huerta traditions of Murcias past. Come into Murcia and just enjoy the atmosphere, watch the folk dancing in the streets, join in with the eating and drinking in the Barracas throughout the gardens of Murcia, and watch  the big parade of the Huerta with horses and carriages, floats and flowers. It´s a wonderful day out. For more specific info, click Bando de la Huerta.

Tuesday 10th April

10am.Plaza Belluga, Misa Huertana.

A Misa Huertana is a sung mass, performed by costumed huertanos, folk music. it´s more like an interactive folk concert than a mass, although is a religious activity. The mass is held in honour of the Patrona of Murcia, the Virgen de la Fuensanta, who was carried down into Murcia from her sanctuary in the Santuario de la Fuensanta which is high on the hillsides above Murcia, at the start of lent.

Following the Misa Huertana, she is carried around the cathedral and on a route around the centre of the City.

Click Plaza Belluga for map

12pm Midday.Plaza Romea

Fiesta Cadena 100.

This is a free musical concert, organised by the Cadena 100 radio station, featuring Robert Ramírez and is free of charge.

Midday, Plaza Romea

2pm. Plaza Circular Gran Tronaera Aérea with fireworks. This is the biggest firecracker, a really noisy activity paying homage to the primavera.

4pm.Free musical event with El Pulpo and La Guardia.

This is taking place in the carpark of the Vieja Condomina and is sponsored by Cadena 100 and Estrella Levante beer.

The Vieja Condomina is next to the Plaza de Toros, where there is a multi storey carpark.

Click for Plaza de Toros.

5pm Parade of the Bando de la Huerta

The first floats celebrate the traditions of the huerta, showing the baking of bread, with a real smoking wood oven on board, threshing, which of course had to be done with a real live donkey, washing clothes in the river by hand, forging iron by hand, and even distilling natural herbs, the minty odours of which reach the crowd long  before  the float even arrives.

This is followed by a large number of horse and carriages, followed by the mobile Barracas, which dispense fruit, drinks, bread, sausages and gifts to the crowd, who surge forward en masse.

It´s quite a scrum at times, particularly around the floats handing out the beer, but don´t be shy, these murcians certainly aren´t, just get stuck in there and enjoy the party, along with everyone else.

Route;
Avda. S. Juan de la Cruz, C/ Mozart, C/ Torre de Romo, C/ Sacerdotes Hnos. Cerón,Alda. Colón, Avda. Canalejas,Pza. Camachos, Puente Viejo,Pza. Martínez Tornel, Gran Vía Salzillo, Pza. Fuensanta,Avda. Constitución, Pza. Circular, Avda. Alfonso X el Sabio,Avda. Gutiérrez Mellado and finishing in Avda. José Tapia Sanz.

9pmPlaza Circular

Big Firework display.

 Wednesday 11th April

This is not an official holiday, but is classed as the last day of the Fiestas de Primavera, before it becomes the Entierro de la Sardina.

The main events today are the procession of the flowers followed by the consumption of 10,000 Pastel de Carne, murcian meat pies.

This is a lovely procession, featuring the Queens of the Huerta and their assistants, focusing on flowers and spring.

Spring Procession, Murcia en primavera.6pm.
Departure from Avenida. Alfonso X el Sabio, Plaza. Santo. Domingo, Calle Alejandro Séiquer, Plaza. Cetina,Calle Isidoro de la Cierva, Calle Pintor Villacis, Plaza. Ceballos, Calle Ceballos and  Avenida. Teniente Flomesta , finishing up in front of the Glorieta de España. ( In front of the Town Hall on the riverbank.)

This procession ends at 7.30pm in front of the Glorieta, where the floats are stripped and the flowers handed out to onlookers. Again, this is a mad scrum for the flowers, the taller and the noisier members of the public getting the most. Again, it´s really entertaining to watch, as everyone struggles to try to get a few of the flowers. As it ends, firecrackers are let off and the floats are taken away.

8pm. Homenaje al pastel de Carne,
Homage to the great Murcian meat pie.
Plaza Belluga.

From the Glorieta, thousands of people file through into Plaza Belluga behind the Glorieta and queue up for a free Murcian meat pie and a beer, the famous pastel de carne for which Murcia is justifiably famous.

After this, many head across into the Gardens of Malecon along the riverbank where the Peñas have built their little gardens and houses to feast on tapas. Don´t be shy, these are all public gardens, just pick the one you like the look of and go in. This is the best tapas of the year!

8.30pm In the Aula CAM, the singer Luz Casal in concert. Tickets are 18 euros each, on sale with Servicam on 965 117 117.

10pm. Pergola de San Basilio

Performance of music by the "Tunas". Tunas are musical folk groups and there is a competition taking place all week with tunas from all over the world.

 Click for Iglesia de San Basilio,

More performances from the tunas, musical groups which perform a mixture of folky, barbershop music, quite unique and very entertaining. Some of the South American Tunas sound like mexican folk groups, whilst some of the spanish ones are more akin to operatic barbershop, incredibly difficult to describe, but an entertaining couple of hours.

It´s easy to park here, and is about a 5 minute drive from Central Murcia. The Pergola is an outside structure and the Tunas perform on a stage. It´s really good music and the atmospherre is enlivened by ladies selling deep fried lemon leaves and hot chocolate. Don´t eat the lemon leaf as we did the first time we encountered this murcian delicacy, much to the entertainment of the assembled spanish around us, suck off the coating!

Bring a shawl as it can be quite chilly by 10pm and the performance is a couple of hours long.

This is the end of the Fiestas de Primavera, the week now merging into the burial of the sardine, with a separate programme, to be posted on Saturday 7th.