It's always fiesta time on Ibiza and during August there are some cool local celebrations across the island that all can join in on. Today, as part of the Fiestas de la Tierra, you can see a huge firework display will be put on from midnight in the Medieval old town in Ibiza Town, overlooking the harbour, at Port Vell. This is to celebrate the patron saints of the town, Santa María and San Ciriac. If you miss tonight, there are more fireworks a week later at the same time in Figueretas on the seafront promenade.
The next one for the calendar is the Cala Llonga Festival that brings you the spirit of summer with traditional dance, live music and children's activities. The main event is on 15 August with the two days leading up to it, setting the scene for the big day.
Here and on the Saturday (13 August) from 9pm there are performances on he beach promenade with flamenco singer Miguel Barranco and later at 10.30pm island rock and roll band The Frigolos close the day. The next day on the Sunday (14 August), kids entertainment kicks off events with a sand castle contest starting at 11am followed by a foam and music party at 12pm. In the evening there's a circus at 9pm, called “A night at grandpa's house” followed by a DJ and dance spectacle from 10.30pm onwards.
The main day has a parade of decorated carts from 6.30pm as well as a show of traditional Ibiza folk dance an hour later. Later from 8.30pm, look out for the parade where you will see people in costumes and lots of happy, smiling faces. To round off the day, two concerts will be put on starting from 8.30pm featuring another local band, Canallas de Guateke as well as the Ibiza House Orchestra.
If you don't manage to make it here, San Lorenzo has a rock concert, featuring bands like Morning Drivers and Porjecte Mut on 13 August from 10pm, followed by a Flower Power event starting at 1.30am. Then, San Antonio has its own festival of San Bartolemé on 24 August. There is a children's foam party in the morning at 10.30am in Plaza España with lots of games, so get your kids' bathing suits ready. The evening's entertainment takes place in Passeig de ses Fonts and includes traditional Ibiza folk dance at 9.30pm and from 11.30pm, a parade of correfuegos – people dressed as devils to chase the bad spirits away, culminating in an impressive firework display at midnight.
Finally on 28 August, San Agustin, one of the most picturesque villages on the island is having its own festivities. You'll see the traditional procession through the village starting from 8pm followed by a traditional folk dance spectacle in front of the church, ending with a concert that will almost quite literally rock the village.
If you are looking for an escape into a more traditional Ibiza, make sure you get yourself along for lots of fun on the streets in these fab August festivals.
WORDS | Julian Heathcote
