'Dia de les Penyes' begins this Saturday in Benidorm the countdown to its Major Patron Day Festivities

Benidorm Verge del Sofratge Penyes Association, in collaboration with the Department of Festivals, is celebrating the traditional "Dia de les Penyes" this Saturday, October 25th. As every year, it will take place in Julio Iglesias Auditorium in Aigüera Park, with thousands of club members and festival-goers expected to participate. This event, a prelude to the Festes Majors Patronals (Major Patronal Festivals), which will be held from November 8th to 12th, will feature numerous events throughout the day, with the highlight being the "Comedy-Musical Contest" for children and adults.

The Councillor for Fiestas, Mariló Cebreros, announced that the program of events will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a breakfast for club members at Casa del Fester (Festival House). After this, members will participate in a parade to the Church of Sant Jaume and Santa Anna to participate in the Saturday Mass dedicated to the patron saint of Benidorm, Our Lady of Suffrage, at 10:00 a.m. Likewise, between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., at the Penya Equisdé venue on Olivos Street, registration will be open for groups interested in participating in the Gymkhana, which will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the Óscar Esplá Auditorium.

After the Mass, members of the club and the official delegation will parade to Julio Iglesias Auditorium in Aigüera Park, where, starting at 11:30 a.m., there will be entertainment and bouncy castles for children.

At 12:30 p.m., the board of directors of the Association of Peñas (Peñas), chaired this year by Jonathan López, will present this year's official "Llibret" (Booklet). This will be followed at 1:30 p.m. by a snack for members and festival organisations.

In the afternoon, starting at 6:30 p.m., access to Julio Iglesias Park will reopen with a capacity count. An hour later, at 7:30 p.m., the Children's Playback Competition will begin, in which six peñas will participate this year. After the youngest members, the Adult Playback Competition is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. This year, a total of four peñas have registered to put on colourful shows.

The Association has planned to distribute sandwiches to members between the two competitions. Likewise, the senior and junior queens of the 2025 Festes Majors Patronals, Paula Pascual Sánchez and Aitana Pérez Gutiérrez, will perform, each in their respective categories, alongside their courts of honour, but they will do so outside of the competition.

Once the performances conclude, the jury will deliberate, and the awards will be presented. The party will continue until dawn at the Julio Iglesias venue, livened up by DJ music, as outlined in the club members' program.

Capacity control

As part of the planned security measures, this year, access to the Julio Iglesias Auditorium will once again be controlled by private security provided by the Associació de Penyes (Ponyes Association). Furthermore, to respect capacity, admission to the Julio Iglesias Auditorium will be limited to members with a ticket count starting at 6:30 p.m., while from 9:00 p.m. onward, admission will be restricted to members identified with the festival group's wristband.

These wristbands will be distributed to all members on "Dia de les Penyes" (Day of the Penyes), starting at 11:00 a.m. at the Julio Iglesias Auditorium until 8:00 p.m., one hour before the access restriction begins. Regarding these wristbands, there will be two types: one for minors and another for adults, the group has stated, while also reminding them that alcohol consumption is prohibited for those under 18.

The Councillors for Public Service and Fiestas, Jesús Carrobles and Mariló Cebreros, along with the Local Police Commissioner, José Carlos Amorós, participated last night in the assembly of the Association of Penyes (Diá de les Penyes) to solve doubts about the security measures planned for this event and in view of the imminent celebration of the Festes Majors Patronals (Major Patronal Festivals). At this meeting, they indicated that the maximum expected attendance for the Dia de les Penyes (Day of the Clubs) in this auditorium in Parque de l'Aigüera is around 4,300 people and asked for the "collaboration of festival-goers, citizens, and members of the association so that everything runs smoothly and we can experience a completely festive 'Dia de les Penyes' (Day of the Penyes), as this prelude to what will be our Festes Majors Patronals (Major Patronal Festivals) deserves."