Elda’s Moors and Christians and the fiesta year

Elda’s Moors and Christians see off the spring and the Fiestas Mayores welcome the autumn. Since May 2026, the first of those two dates has been a Fiesta of International Tourist Interest. We write as neighbours in the Vinalopó: our kitchen is in Aspe.

Elda’s Moors and Christians: five days, Thursday to Monday

Elda Tourism places the fiesta around the first weekend of June and dates it to the early nineteenth century. It begins on Thursday with the Entrada de Bandas (the parade of bands) and the pasodoble “Idella” in front of the Castillo de las Embajadas, in Plaza de la Constitución; on Saturday and Sunday afternoons come the Moorish and the Christian entrances, and on Monday the procession returns St Anthony (San Antón) to his hermitage. In 2026 it ran from 28 May to 1 June. The international designation was granted by the Secretary of State for Tourism in May 2026: El Español reported it as the sixteenth in the Valencian Community.

What drives the fiesta is its nine comparsas (troupes). On the Christian side march the Zíngaros, the Contrabandistas, the Cristianos, the Estudiantes and the Piratas. On the Moorish side, the Huestes del Cadí, the Realistas, the Marroquíes and the Musulmanes. Between one parade and the next, people catch their breath in the cuartelillos, the clubhouses of each comparsa and its groups.

For 2027 there are no official dates yet: the page will show them when the programme is published.

Fiestas Mayores in September

The Fiestas Mayores honour the Virgen de la Salud and the Cristo del Buen Suceso, a tradition that Elda Tourism traces back to 1604. The big days are 8 and 9 September, with processions and with “correr la traca”, a run of almost a kilometre beneath a string of firecrackers between Plaza de la Constitución and Plaza Castelar. These are the two days that the DOGV (the regional official gazette) recorded in 2026 as local holidays, listed as “Fiestas Patronales”. There is also a release of balloons from the Plaza Mayor, with breakfasts, sweets and the mezclaíco, the typical drink of these fiestas. At the table, it is traditional on the 8th to eat Elda rellenos, meat and bread balls simmered in cocido broth, according to the recipe published by the local site No Eres de Elda Si No.

The rest of the fiesta year

The fiesta year starts on 17 January with San Antón, which opens the Media Fiesta (the “half fiesta”) of Moors and Christians: the following weekend the captains and standard-bearers of each comparsa are proclaimed. And in September, after the Fiestas Mayores, come some unusual Fallas, at the end of the month: in 2026 they ran from 24 to 27 September, according to Elda Tourism, with the pregón (opening speech) and the Crida on the Wednesday, the plantà (when the figures go up) on the Thursday and the cremà (the burning) on the Sunday.

If you are part of a comparsa

If your comparsa or your Fallas committee is looking for someone to set up the lunch or dinner, we bring kitchen and bar in a marquee, with QR ordering, for 40 or for 500 guests. You can find the service under catering for Moors and Christians, local fiestas and catering in Aspe and the Vinalopó. Before you call, this guide to the comparsa meal will help. When you have dates, get a quote.

Petrer, neighbour and fiesta town

A few minutes from Elda are the Moors and Christians of Petrer, in May. And to see what is on in the rest of the Community, the calendar.