Music, fireworks and maritime traditions take centre stage at Benidorm’s Festes Majors Patronals Cultural Week
The programme begins this Sunday with a concert by Societat Musical L’Illa and will feature a mascletà for the first time
The programme will also include the presentation of several CDs, audiovisual screenings and the opening of the exhibition ‘La Mar Èpica’
Benidorm’s Festes Majors Patronals Cultural Week will feature a programme this year spanning almost two weeks, bringing together concerts, presentations, audiovisual screenings and activities celebrating the city’s local heritage and maritime traditions, as well as a traditional mascletà fireworks display. Organised and coordinated by the Department of Culture in collaboration with other departments of Benidorm City Council and the Comissió de Festes Majors Patronals, the programme will begin this Sunday, 25 October, and run until Thursday, 5 November. All activities will be free and open to the public.
Councillor for Culture Jaime Jesús Pérez presented the full programme at a press conference this Friday, alongside Councillor for Fiestas Mariló Cebreros and the president of the organising committee, Ramón Cano. Pérez highlighted the growth of the initiative, which welcomes an increasing number of cultural associations and groups each year. “We can no longer call it a week; we are practically talking about a cultural fortnight,” he remarked, also emphasising the leading role of the music bands and the addition of new initiatives that further enrich the programme.
Pérez also thanked the Comissió de Festes for its “cooperation and commitment” and encouraged residents to take part in all the activities, which are free of charge, with admission available until capacity is reached at each venue.
For her part, Councillor for Fiestas Mariló Cebreros pointed out that the Festes Majors Patronals “do not begin with the city’s festive lighting, but rather have their prelude in this cultural programme”. Cebreros invited both Benidorm residents and visitors to enjoy the activities taking place over the coming days and acknowledged the work of the various municipal departments and the Comissió de Festes in preparing the celebrations.
The programme will begin this Sunday, 25 October, at 12 noon, at Rafael Doménech Auditorium in the Cultural Centre, with a concert by Societat Musical L’Illa de Benidorm. The programme will feature a repertoire combining classical concert band works with more contemporary pieces, with one of the highlights being the premiere of Eugenia, a composition by Josep Cano, a composer and musician with the society.
On Monday, 26 October, at 7 p.m., the Town Hall’s assembly hall will host the presentation of a recording by Colla de Xirimiters de la Marina, which joins the Cultural Week programme for the first time this year. Recorded several years ago, the CD has yet to be officially presented and offers a musical journey through a traditional day of festivities, from the despertà (early-morning firecracker procession) to the cucanyes (traditional games), street parades, the floral offering, copletes (traditional festive songs) and the ball del peuet (traditional dance).
Jaime Jesús Pérez explained that the event will also have an emotional dimension, as the recording features the voices of several Benidorm residents who have since passed away, including Jaume Pérez Llorens, known as ‘Llugueret’; Jaume Anton Grau; and Francisco Alvado Barber, known as l’Esquilaor. Their voices will once again be heard alongside those of other regular performers of 'copletes' (traditional songs), including Magdalena Simarro, Inga Martínez, Eusebi Chiner and María Sufragio Martínez Simarro.
Music will once again take centre stage on Friday, 30 October, at 9 p.m. at the Cultural Centre, with a concert by Societat Musical La Nova. During the performance, audiences will hear the opening melodies of a suite composed around the Trobada de la Mare de Déu del Sofratge, a work linked to the musical recreation of one of the most emblematic episodes in Benidorm’s history and traditions. The complete composition will be performed on Saturday afternoon during the Festes, on Poniente Beach.
On Saturday, 31 October, the music programme will continue with two performances. The first will take place at 6 p.m. at Rafael Doménech Auditorium, which will welcome Unió Musical de Benidorm, Abanderada de les Festes Majors de 2026. To mark its centenary, the band will pay tribute to the conductors who have led it throughout its history.
Later, at 8.30 p.m., the Orquestra de Pols i Pua de l’Associació Cultural Recreativa La Barqueta will perform at the church of Sant Jaume i Santa Anna. The concert will feature several pieces recorded alongside La Nova for their joint CD.
A traditional-style Mascletà and a journey through Benidorm’s maritime heritage
Among the new additions to this year’s Cultural Week programme, the Comissió de Festes Majors Patronals 2026 has introduced a traditional-style mascletà, known as an ‘engraellat’. The fireworks display will also take place on Saturday, 31 October, at 2 p.m. on the road alongside the Town Hall. The show will be provided by Pirotecnia Mediterráneo.
The cultural programme will resume on Tuesday, 3 November, at 6 p.m. in the Town Hall’s assembly hall, with a screening of the documentary ‘Pasado, presente y futuro de la identidad marinera y gentes de la mar de Benidorm’, by Cristian Aguado. Directed by Víctor Pérez, the audiovisual work explores Benidorm’s living maritime heritage through two central figures: the traditional fishing boat La Toñina and Vicent Martínez Rostoll, a representative of the local seafaring community.
On Wednesday, 4 November, at 6 p.m., the Cultural Centre auditorium will host a concert by Unió de Pensionistes de Llíria, Camp de Túria i Serrans. The ensemble, from the province of Valencia, will return to Benidorm for another year to share its music with local audiences. As Jaime Jesús Pérez explained, the band has a close connection with this cultural event and takes advantage of its stay in the city to spend a few days there with its families.
The Cultural Week will conclude on Thursday, 5 November, at 8 p.m. at Museu Boca del Calvari, with the opening of the exhibition ‘La Mar Èpica, els almadravers de Benidorm’, by Jesús Navarro. Organised by the Department of Historical and Cultural Heritage, headed by Ana Pellicer, the exhibition brings together a photographic archive documenting Benidorm’s relationship with the sea. It features underwater photography and images of the traditional almadraba tuna-trapping technique, a fishing practice that forms part of the city’s identity and in which Benidorm has produced several renowned captains, known locally as arraeces.
Traffic restrictions this Saturday, 24 October
Because of the mascletà organised by Associació de Penyes Verge del Sofratge for tomorrow, Saturday, 24 October, Primavera Street will be closed to traffic between Plaza SS MM Reyes de España and Vía Emilio Ortuño from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. approximately