If you are planning to travel to Andalucia in 2010, try not to miss the fabulous festivals and ferias which are held every year in Malaga, Seville, Huelva, Jaén, Almeria, Granada, Cordoba and Cadiz.

Some of the most popular annual festivals in Andalucia include:

Malaga Feria and the San Bernabé Feria Marbella
During the Feria de Málaga, the city comes alive with colour and life. All the locals join in the revellery and the streets fill with traditional costume, live music, flamenco and food stalls dishing up typical Andalucian cuisine. Tourists are welcome to join in the fun and many do.

During the day Málaga’s city centre is transformed, with horses carrying people dressed in typical costume through the streets. Thousands of locals and visitors dress up and line the streets and decorated food stalls offer local delicacies (which should be accompanied by a vino fino (sherry) or a sweet Malaga wine) and there’s plenty of music and dancing.

In the evening the real de la feria (the feria proper) shifts south-west of the centre to Cortijo de Torres, with more than 200 pavilions open to the public, each hosted by a different local group or association. Nights are dedicated to flamenco dance and music, including peña music groups, pop and flamenco bands and competitions. The port is lit up by a firework display, turning the city into an explosion of light and colour.

Every year Marbella pays homage to its patron saint, San Bernabé, with a week of festivities. Music, dancing and locals in traditional dress fill the plazas and streets of the old town.

The festival starts in the Paseo Marítimo with a fireworks display. The last day is the most important, with a procession in the morning to commemorate the Reconquista, or Reconquest. This was led by the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, who expelled the Moors and regained control of the kingdom. In the afternoon, there is a second procession in honour of San Bernabé.

The Feria de Abril Seville
One of the biggest annual ferias in Andalucia is held in Seville every April, and the Feria de Abril is attended by thousands of visitors every year. La Feria de Sevilla began as a cattle trading fair in 1847, and through the years it has evolved into a sexy Spanish round-the-clock spectacle of flamenco, bullfighting and rowdy fun. If you are looking for the ´real Spain´ you will find it in the passion of Seville, which is considered the home of flamenco music and culture.

Most of the feria festivities take place on the far side of the Rio Guadalquivir, in a place called the Real de la Feria. This rectangular piece of land is about a mile long and 700 yards wide. The tents, called casetas, are made of brightly-striped canvas and decorated with thousands of paper lanterns. While this set-up was originally created for the cattle market, today the casetas are temporary dance halls and each evening you’ll find flamenco music and dancing from around 9pm to 6 or 7 the following morning. The women all wear spectacularly bright Gypsy-inspired flamenco dresses, and everyone -young and old- throws back a glass or two of sherry and gets down and dirty on the dance floor.

Semana Santa in Malaga and Seville
Holy Week or Easter has been one of the most important celebrations in Seville for centuries. During holy week the Cofradías (Brotherhoods or Fraternities) process in penitence through the (many narrow) streets of the city, from their church to the Cathedral and back, taking the shortest possible route, as decreed in the rule of the ordinances.  Starting on Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday), and ending on Domingo de Resurrección (Easter Sunday), there are 57 brotherhoods that pay the religious visit to the Cathedral of Seville, the third largest Cathedral in the world and similar processions take place through the streets of Malaga.

Mojacar Moors and Christians Festival in Almeria
Held on the weekend closest to June 10th, the Mojacar Moors and Christians Festival is without doubt Almeria´s biggest festival. Not just because of the large participation from the town’s-folk who prepare for this event all year long, but also for the spectacular commemoration of the peaceful submission by the town to the Catholic Kings and the peaceful co-existence of the two cultures of the times. The festival always begins on a Friday with the opening of the Moorish and Christian camps (known respectively as ‘kabilas’ and ‘cuarteles’) and the festival continues uninterrupted until the final glorious parade on the Sunday evening.

The Pilgrimage of El Rocio Huelva
The pilgrimage of El Rocio is the most colourful event in Spain. About 1.5 million people from all over Andalucia walk, ride horses, ride carriages and tractors to the town of El Rocio, near the Doñana Park and pay homage to the Virgen del Rocio (also called La Paloma Blanca). The people are dressed in traditional Andalucian costumes, with flamenco style dresses with all the flounces for women, and the men with striped grey trousers, white shirts, and vests and jackets. It takes them at least 4 days to reach El Rocio.

So they have to camp out of doors on the way. In the morning they pray before starting out. While walking, they sing Andalucian songs. Then they prepare their lunch, with more singing and dancing to music. Then they take a nap and at 5 pm they are on their way again. At midnight the pilgrims pray and supposedly it is time to sleep, but the music continues well into the night. Many famous people take part in this pilgrimage. Every group belongs to a brotherhood and many of the brotherhoods have houses in El Rocio, where they can sleep and prepare their meals in a group. El Rocio is an enchanting and colourful event with a cast of more than a million people. The final act in El Rocio is the procession with the image of the Virgin.

Las Cruces de Mayo Cordoba
The Crosses of May is a spring festival which has been revived in recent years. Neighbourhoods and associations around the city set up crosses in public squares, covering and surrounding them with flowers. Some are quite elaborate. Music, dancing and drink accompany the festivities.

The Crosses Festival in Cordoba and other Andalusian cities has its roots in the celebration of the exuberance of life and its triumph over death following the Easter season–it is a massive, lively street party welcoming back the warm weather. The best crosses are worth seeing, and around a few of them there is still a traditional festive atmosphere, where some women wear colourful flamenco dresses, people drink chilled Montilla-Moriles wine and the most danced-to songs are “sevillanas”.

The Carnival of Cádiz
The Cádiz Carnival is one of the best-known carnivals in the world. The whole city participates in the carnival for more than two weeks each year, and the presence of this fiesta is almost constant in the city because of the rehearsals, recitals, and contests held throughout the year. This is a lively and vibrant festival, not for the faint-hearted.

Largely known as the wittiest people in Spain, the main characteristics of the carnival are acerbic criticisms, stinging sarcasm and parody. Other carnivals in Spain may stress the spectacular and the glamorous, but Cádiz distinguishes itself with the ingenuity and imagination of its carnival attire. Faces are often painted in place of masks, and visitors can get involved in the feria as easily as the residents. On the Saturday of the carnival, everyone wears colourful costumes, which are often related to aspects of current affairs and news. The Carnival of Cádiz is well known for its satirical groups of performers called chirigotas, whose music and lyrics are at the centre of the event.

Granada Festival of Music and Dance
The Granada Festival of Music and Dance is one of the most attractive summer events in Andalucia, and it proves popular with residents and tourists.

A real array of artistic activities, held at the city’s most emblematic locations. Concerts by major symphony orchestras at Carlos V Palace, dance and ballet at the open-air theatre in the Generalife Gardens, recitals at Patio de los Arrayanes in the Alhambra, morning concerts at churches and monuments around Granada, along with late-night flamenco and world music in the typical Albaicín and Sacromonte neighbourhoods, all bring thousands of people together every year, drawn by the magic of these spectacles, staged in unique settings. During these first days of summer, all this, along with Granada’s wonderful heritage, its monuments, gardens and history, fill the city and its visitors with a spirit of fiesta that grows year on year.

Whenever you plan to visit Andalucia, make the most of the incredible festivals, ferias and carnivals which bring colour, music and passion to the streets. Most major festivals are held annually, and whatever time of year you visit Andalucia there will be plenty of things to see and do.