Novelda fiestas: Santa María Magdalena and Moors and Christians

Novelda’s fiestas come in two seasons. In July, Santa María Magdalena and the Moors and Christians share a week; in February, the comparsas celebrate the Mig Any Fester, the half-year fiesta. We are neighbours: Novelda is just down the road from Aspe.

Novelda fiestas in July: the Magdalena and the Moors and Christians

Novelda’s patron saint is Santa María Magdalena and her day is 22 July, with Mass and a procession. The programme of the Moors and Christians fiestas is built around that date, and they hold Regional Tourist Interest status. The Generalitat’s register of fiestas of tourist interest places them every year from 19 to 25 July, and in 2026 the Federación de Comparsas stretched the programme from 18 to 26 July. The exact 2027 dates will be known when the Federación publishes its programme.

On 20 July 2026 the programme began at the Santuario de Santa María Magdalena, with the reception of the grapes in the morning, and continued at 20:30 with the procession of the saint’s entrance into Novelda, from the Paseo de los Molinos to the church of San Pedro. The Entraeta de Flores (the flower parade), with the fiesta officers and the seven comparsas, was planned for that same night.

The comparsas, the heart of the fiesta

According to the Federación’s website, Novelda has seven comparsas (troupes): Astures and Mozárabes on the Christian side, and Árabes Beduinos, Negres Betànics, Árabes Omeyas, Árabes Damasquinos and Piratas Berberiscos on the Moorish side. The Generalitat’s register, from 2020, counted eight; today the Federación lists seven. If you want to understand what a comparsa is, or how the work is shared out in a Moorish and Christian entrance, the glossary has the entries.

For a Novelda comparsa, July and February are the two big meals of the year. If you want someone to take care of the kitchen, we set up kitchen and bar in a marquee with the team that the number of guests calls for. You can see how we approach it in Moors and Christians and there is a practical guide in the article on the comparsa or filà meal. Tell us your date and numbers when you get a quote.

February: the Mig Any Fester

The Federación scheduled the 2026 Mig Any Fester between 5 and 8 February, with the Día de las Banderas (Flags Day), the entraeta and a gala dinner on Saturday 7. It is little known from outside, but it is the comparsas’ winter fiesta. If it falls to you to organise a dinner like that, the sooner you talk about it, the better. For other town celebrations there are local fiestas.

Local holidays

In 2026 Novelda had two local holidays, according to the DOGV (the regional official gazette): 13 April, which the resolution calls “Segundo Lunes de Pascua” (“second Easter Monday”, the day of St Vincent Ferrer in other towns), and 22 July, Santa María Magdalena. The 2027 ones are not published yet. You can compare with the town next door in Aspe’s fiestas, consult the public holidays calendar or see how we work in catering in Aspe and the Vinalopó.