Sitges Event Calendar 2024
From Sitges Carnival to the Film Festival, we have the dates of all the key events in Sitges for 2024!
Sitges Carnival 2024, Feb 8-14
For over 100 years, Sitges has been celebrating nonstop -between the months of February and March, according to the liturgical calendar- Carnestoltes, or Carnival.
The festivities begin on Dijous Gras, or Fatty Thursday, with the arribo, King Carnestoltes’ spectacular arrival. From the moment this character appears until the burial of the sardine – late afternoon on Ash Wednesday – you could well say that life in Sitges moves to a new beat.
Here there is even room for youngsters to step into the limelight with children’s ruas, or Carnival parades, on Sunday and Tuesday afternoon. Folk dances and xatonades (traditional local salad served with assorted omelets) are also characteristic carnival elements.
The two most important moments are the Rua de la Disbauxa, or the Debauchery Parade, on Sunday night and the Rua de l’Extermini, or Extermination Parade, on Tuesday night. Some forty-odd floats with more than 2.000 participants leave a jam-packed Sitges completely breathless.
Vintage Car Rally Sitges 2024 – 6-7 April
Dating as far back as 1959, the Rally takes place at the end of March every year. The cars meet up at 10am at Arc de Triomf in Barcelona, and are on display until around 17h.
The following day, all of the cars leave from Plaça Sant Jaume and make their way along the coast to Sitges.
With between 80 and 100 cars taking part, it’s a real spectacular with participants coming from all over Europe to join in the fun, dressing up in period costumes to accompany the feel of their car and its age. Prizes are given out throughout the weekend and it’s fun for all the ages. The event finishes right in front of the Church in Sitges so make sure you book one of our seafront apartments and you can view the entire event from your balcony.
Easter in Sitges 2024 – March 31st
The old town of Sitges embraces its catholic roots with ‘Semana Santa’ as thousands from all over Spain come to visit the quaint little village.
For locals it’s a breath of fresh air after a few long quiet months to its typical bustling sea side town.
It’s a nice break if where you’re living is still cold and wet as Sitges receives 300+ days of sun per year… sounds like a great way to spend a weekend in spring!.
Corpus Sitges 2024 – June 2nd
Sitges celebrates Corpus Christi with a huge popular flower festival, particularly celebrating carnations. Proudly enjoyed by the people of Sitges, this event finds its most spectacular expression in the flower carpet contest, deemed to be of “national tourist interest.”
The participants turn the streets in a show of incredible colors, and they compete for their street to be declared the most beautiful carpet in Sitges.
The first record of this beautiful tradition dates from 1887, and today around 360,000 carnations are used in its preparation, in addition to other types of flowers. It also marks the beginning of the high season in Sitges.
Sitges Pride 2024 – June 5 – 9
Now in its 12th year the Sitges Pride party attracts more than 60,000 people to Sitges during its week long series of parties and festivities.
Given that Sitges is such a popular gay friendly destination, it is no small wonder that this event is one of the most popular in the European gay party calendar.
There is a gay-village by the sea, right in front of some of our best apartments, so book early to ensure you have the best view. The main parade takes place on the Saturday and there are parties hosted every night during the event.
The Sitges Pride is growing in popularity each year. Last year, apartments were booked out well in advance, so we urge you to consider this when planning to visit for this event.
Fiesta Mayor 2024 – Fireworks Aug 23rd
La Fiesta Mayor de Sitges is the biggest annual festival in honour of Sant Bartomeu, the patron saint of Sitges.
The Festa Major de Sitges takes place in August every year and like other Catalan festa major celebrations, you can see processions with gegants (giants) – capgrossos (big paper mache heads), correfocs (fireruns) – bastoners (stick dances) and a full programme of music and concerts and of course castellers, groups that build human towers.
The festival lasts for 10 days, but the highlight of the event is the fireworks display which attracts more than 200,000 people each year. It is one sight not to be missed and a sea front apartment is in high demand during this event.
Bears Week Sitges 2024 – September 1st to 8th
Sitges Bears Week takes place every September and attracts people from all over the world. This event attracts over 50,000 bears, papas, otters, and other men’s men from all over the world.
A wide range of activities takes place during the event, including the Mr Bear Sitges a nightly bear-route through the village of Sitges and International circuit bear parties such as MAD and BearXXL.
The entire event is held on the seafront in a special “Bear Village” complete with disco, shows and more.
Sitges Wine Festival – October 2024
Sitges celebrates the annual grape harvest with a Wine and Food festival called “La Festa de la Verema” in Catalan and “la Fiesta de la Vendimia” in Spanish. It features a popular wine show called “Mostra de Vins” on Passeig de Ribera where visitors can sample the best wines from 18 wineries of the “Macizo del Garraf” and Penedes wine regions of Catalunya.
During the festival Sitges restaurants prepare special menus dedicated to grapes and wine. The “Nit de les Pubilles” is a “beauty pageant” with roots in Catalan traditions. Various barrios or organisations enter a girl as their “pubilla” in the contest to become the winner called the “Pubilla major.” who then later goes on to represent Sitges at the contest of “Pubilla de Catalunya.”
Other highlights of the Verema festival are the grape stepping contest – on Plaza del Baluard followed by the inauguration of the wine fountain -“inauguración del la Fuente del Vino,” the weighing of La Pubilla counterbalanced by wine bottles – called “pesaje de la Pubilla” and finally sardanas dancing led by La cobla Sitgetana . The Festa de la Verema de Sitges is organised by Fomento de Turismo de Sitges in conjunction with Bodegas Torres and the Ayuntamiento de Sitges
Santa Tecla 2024 – Fireworks September 22nd
Want the summer to last a little bit longer? Head to Sitges, famed for its beautiful beaches and entertaining nightlife, and host to the last day of the Santa Tecla festival in September.
This festival is a smaller version of the Fiesta Mayor. It is one of the main yearly events for Sitgeans with the Church of Santa Tecla as the backdrop.
Think fireworks, daily parades and the usual Sitges mayhem and you get the general idea of what this event is all about. It is however one of our favorite events in that it is easier to see it, given that the massive crowds of August have gone back home to work or school.