A year on the coast: the Costa del Sol events calendar
Month by month, the ferias, festivals, concerts and sporting events that structure the year on the Costa del Sol, with 2026-2027 dates where they are confirmed.
The shape of the year
The Costa del Sol does not have an off season so much as a sequence of seasons, each with its own events. Winter belongs to Málaga city, golf and the mountains; spring to Holy Week and the first fairs; summer to concerts, polo and the ferias; autumn to the last fairs, golf tournaments and film. What follows is a month-by-month guide. Fixed dates are given where they exist; ferias move by a few days each year with their patron saints, and councils publish exact dates a month or two ahead.
January
Three Kings parades fill every town on the evening of 5 January; Málaga's runs along the Paseo del Parque, with grandstand seats sold through the council. The Christmas lights on Calle Larios stay on until 6 January. Then come the quietest weeks of the year: cool, bright days, golf courses booked solid by northern Europeans, and the first almond blossom inland from mid-January.
February
Carnival in Málaga runs for about a week in early to mid-February (7-15 February in 2026), with satirical singing groups at the Teatro Cervantes and a street parade. Almond blossom peaks in the Guadalhorce valley and the Axarquía. The Festival de Málaga, Spain's showcase for Spanish-language cinema, opens in the last week of the month; the 30th edition runs from 26 February to 7 March 2027.
March and April
Holy Week is the coast's great spring event. Málaga's processions run from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, 21-28 March 2027, and Marbella, Estepona and the smaller towns have their own. Hotels in Málaga center sell out. Late April brings Fuengirola's Feria Internacional de los Pueblos, five days of national stands and folk performances around the 1 May holiday, and the Marenostrum concert season opens at Fuengirola's Sohail castle.
May and June
May is the sweet spot: warm, long days before the heat. Málaga's Noche en Blanco opens museums and streets for a free night of culture in mid-May. June starts the summer calendar in earnest. Marbella's Feria de San Bernabé fills the old town in the week around 11 June; Starlite's concerts begin in the Nagüeles quarry in mid-June; Málaga Pride takes over Plaza de la Merced in the last week of June; and on the night of 23 June the whole coast goes to the beach for San Juan bonfires and midnight swims. Benalmádena's fair in Arroyo de la Miel follows immediately after.
July
Estepona's feria stops the town for a week in early July. On 16 July the fishing quarters from El Palo to Los Boliches carry the Virgen del Carmen to the sea. In Sotogrande the International Polo Tournament begins in the last week of the month, with free afternoon matches that run through August. Art World Marbella brings galleries to the congress center at the turn of the month.
August
Starlite and Marenostrum hit their stride, polo's Gold Cup is decided at the end of the month, and in the middle of it all is the Feria de Málaga, eight days in mid-August (15-22 August in 2026) split between a daytime fair in the historic center and an all-night fairground at Cortijo de Torres. It is the loudest, hottest and most crowded week of the year on the coast, and the most fun if you are prepared for it.
September
The heat eases and the sea stays warm. Mijas Pueblo's fair for the Virgen de la Peña runs from 4 to 8 September, and Torremolinos closes the month with its San Miguel fair and romería. Golf's high season begins, and the Concurso de Elegancia is due to bring collectors' cars back to Marbella in September 2027.
October
October is the best-kept secret on the calendar: warm days, cool nights, open restaurants and no crowds. Fuengirola's Feria del Rosario in the first or second week and San Pedro Alcántara's fair in the week ending 19 October are the last ferias of the year. The Marbella International Film Festival screens from its hub between Marbella and Estepona in the first half of the month.
November
The Ladies European Tour ends its season at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España in the last days of November, played at La Cala in 2026. Málaga's jazz festival fills the Teatro Cervantes in the first half of the month, and the city's marathon runs along the seafront on a Sunday early in the month. On the last Friday of November the Christmas lights are switched on in Calle Larios.
December
The Gran Feria Sabor a Málaga sets up producers' tents along the Paseo del Parque in the first week of December, the Christmas market runs beside it, and on 28 December the Fiesta Mayor de Verdiales gathers the province's folk bands in Puerto de la Torre. New Year's Eve is a street party in Plaza de la Constitución with twelve grapes at midnight.
How to use this calendar
Fixed-date events such as San Juan, the Virgen del Carmen, Three Kings and Verdiales never move. Ferias follow their patron saints and shift by a few days each year. Holy Week and Carnival follow the church calendar. Ticketed seasons such as Starlite and Marenostrum announce their line-ups between January and April, which is when the best seats go.
