Medieval Market Fair: Spring Fiestas in Valencia

How’s the weekend going? I hope it’s going better than mine. This week has been particularly crappy due to a virus that one of us caught at the beginning of last week. It seemed to have done its rounds, but still leaving all pretty run down. So instead of the normal busy weekend, we decided to take it easy.  I’ve been doing a little Dropbox clean out and I came across a folder that contained images from a local fiesta the kids and I attended last year.  I’ve been meaning to update my post draft but have only noticed that I haven’t even put the images in, so before I forget (again), here goes.

On the first week of April last year we attended a medieval market fair in the next town of Llíria. I can’t really remember how we got to know about the event, more than likely we stumbled upon it while out on our weekend road.  The market was held the Plaza Major, and every year they celebrate Sant Vincent Ferrer who was the co-patron of the town and during this time, locals and visitors can enjoy historical reenactments, music, games and shows. We also found stalls selling food, handicrafts from beeswax candle making to stone masons. My boys especially enjoyed the traditional games and toys that were available for them to try for free.

There is a north African theme to the event, stall holders and people are dressed up in traditional clothes and with the warm and sunny weather, it almost feels like that you have been transported to the backstreets of Morocco. Traditional Spanish products such as cheeses, jamons, chrorizos, bread and pastries were also available. There were outdoor bars and a Moroccan styled bedouin tent where you can get a drink and relax, ideal if you are wandering without kids, but we had to give it a miss as they were more interested in seeing the shows, cakes and stuffing their faces with cotton candy.

Farm animals were also on show and craft demonstrations can be found all along the streets from candle making, pottery, painting, wood carving to stone sculptures.  It was very interesting and educative for the kids to see. The fiesta of Sant Vincent Ferrer runs for the whole weekend, the medieval market is not the only event that goes on.  The whole fiesta weekend have schedules of other events such as theatre, concerts, paella festival, processions and of course being Valencia… the mascletà!

It was a fun day out and I can’t believe it’s nearly a year already. We will try to visit again just to see whether they have added anything new and who knows maybe even try the bedouin bar!  The variety and amount of fiestas you get in Valencia is great. Come the spring and summer months you can guarantee that weekends will be busy, there are events all over the Valencian Community and the best thing about them is that most are FREE and suitable for all ages, you just have to find and check them out and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!