Requena Grape Harvest Festival
The Requena Grape Harvest Festival turns late summer into a celebration of vines, wine and local identity. Committees from the Villa, Peñas and Arrabal districts join the Central Committee in a calendar combining harvest rituals, music, parades, food and devotion to the Virgen de los Dolores.
Date and duration
It normally takes place during the second half of August. The festival overlaps with Requena's fair and ends on the final Sunday with the offering, the grand parade and the burning of the monuments.
Festival venues
Events are held along Avenida Arrabal and at the Monumento Universal a la Vendimia, Plaza Juan Grandía, Plaza Consistorial, Plaza de El Portal, Plaza del Coronel Ruiz de Albornoz, Patio del Mercado and other cultural, religious and festival venues in Requena.
Origins and history
The organising association dates the first edition to 1948, when the Arrabal group proposed a festival devoted to wine and the grape harvest. In 1949, events appeared that still define it: cutting the first bunch, treading grapes, blessing the first must, offering flowers and fruit, parades and burning the allegorical monument.
The fair and harvest festival adopted a joint name in the 1960s. Spain's Ministry of Information and Tourism granted the celebration the honorary title of Festival of Tourist Interest in 1966.
Events and traditions
- Harvesting the first grapes, the harvest parade, grape treading and blessing the first must.
- The Fuente del Vino, adult and children's monuments and their ceremonial burning at the close.
- Noche de la Zurra, Rallye Humorístico, Noche del Cava, Noche del Labrador and Noche del Vino.
- Offering to the Virgen de los Dolores, mascletàs, grand parade and committee events.
- FEREVÍN, tastings and food events rooted in Requena's wine country.
Organisation and participation
The Asociación Fiesta de la Vendimia, Requena Town Council, festival committees, cultural bodies, wineries, associations and clubs sustain a programme for many different audiences. Traditional dress, brass bands and each committee's shared work pass the celebration between generations.
Sources
Today's international trade fair
You can also find information about international trade fairs and discover today's featured trade fair at FeriasHoy.com.