Festivals in Zumaia
Discover the main festivals of Zumaia, where Santelmoak and San Pedro connect harbour life with music, processions, sport and popular culture.
Local festivals in Zumaia
Santelmoak have a movable date around the Monday eight days after Easter Sunday and extend across the preceding and following weekends. The town wears sailors' blue and follows the procession to San Telmo chapel to the sound of the San Telmo Martxa. Children's and adults' drum parades, bertsolaris, pelota, small-boat races, horses on Itzurun beach and the octopus soup contest are distinctive parts of the festival.
San Pedro and harbour tradition
The San Pedro festivities are usually celebrated over several days around 29 June. The opening rocket is launched at the Town Hall, while streets, squares, the harbour and the Kofradia host parades, band and brass music, children's activities, sport, concerts, fireworks and religious events linked to the parish church.
Other celebrations: San Telmo chapel and the neighbourhoods
San Telmo chapel, documented since 1540 above the Itzurun cliffs, became the meeting place of the Seafarers' Guild in the 17th century because the saint is the patron of sailors. Oikia and Artadi also maintain their own festivals, giving the municipal calendar celebrations with distinct settings and characteristics.