Zumaia Through its Festivities

Personality, folklore, Basque, cuisine... these are the main ingredients of the festivities that Zumaia celebrates throughout the year.  

 
Ours is a festive town, we can't deny it... One look at our long list of celebrations is enough to appreciate this. The major festivals on the calendar are to commemorate St Elmo (santelmoak) and St Peter (sanpedroak), but these aren't the only ones. Not by any means! The festivities in our many neighborhoods also offer unique festive atmospheres, showing that there's much to celebrate. The small neighbourhoods of Oikia, Artadi, and Narrondo... also offer fun and leisure. Would you like to take a tour of them? 

 
Don't worry, we're not going to explain them to you one by one, as we're aware that your time is precious. But we want to tell you about the most important and special ones in Zumaia, because we think they deserve it.  

 
In the heart and first on the list of Zumaia festivals is santelmoak. To honor the patron saint of sailors, St. Elmo, the town dons blue as its fill with the aroma of saltpeter. Without a fixed date on the calendar, each year it begins on the weekend of Easter Week. And, since a weekend is not enough for us, it continues the following weekend. During those two weeks there are not-to-be-missed events like the processions of the Brotherhood (Kofradia), drum beating (danborrada), regattas, an octopus soup contest, and horse races on Itzurun Beach. A genuine spectacle!

 
In June it's time for the festivities commemorating St Peter (sanpedroak), the town's patron saint. These early-summer festivities have maintained the grandeur they have always displayed, with their red-letter day being June 29. The festivities' highlights include parades featuring "giants and big heads" (buruhandi eta erraldoiak), marching musicians playing traditional instruments (dultzaineroen kalejira), concerts by the Musika Banda, rural sporting events, and fireworks. Endless activities to enjoy the magnificent early summer weather. Can you imagine a better way to spend your time?

 
In July, we move on to the Narrondo neighborhood. The middle of the month brings the festivities dedicated to St Christopher (sankristobalak), patron saint of drivers, attracting both many inhabitants of the neighborhood and residents of neighboring towns. 

 
August is chock-full of events. Summer celebrations fill this month's agenda, with Gala Night (Gala Gaua), the Basque Festival (Euskal Jaia), Crew Day (Kuadrillen Eguna), and regattas as the highlights. On August 24, St. Bartholomew's Day (sanbartolomeak) is observed in Oikia, as the unique neighborhood organizes celebrations with a special charm, its main hallmark being its rural flavored parties called ‘erromeriak’. In addition, every two years there’s a centuries-old event called ‘Chicken collecting’. Don’t miss it! 

 
In September it's time for Octopus Day (Olarro Eguna) and the festivities of St Michael (sanmigelak) in the Artadi neighbourhood. Octopus, one of the stars of the tidal plain between Deba and Zumaia, is also usually the centerpiece of the celebrations held on the third Saturday of the month. Octopus Day is full of activities, such as regattas, traditional fare, musical performances, children's games, contests and, of course, lots of food. More than 750 kilos of octopus are used to make the pintxos and traditional lunch that day. In Artadi, St Michael's Day is celebrated on September 29^th, with Basque ‘pelota’ competition, a festival of improvised Basque poetry ‘bertsolariak’, rural sports, and the delightful atmosphere generated making it unforgettable. 

 
All these festivities, and others that we haven't mentioned here, share something in common: music. Zumaia is a very musical town, with melodies being heard at all its different events and festivities. As a well-known Basque song says: "Whoever doesn't sing isn't happy". If we believe in the spirit of that phrase, we can say that Zumaia is pure happiness.