Reasons of the month · octubre

What to do in Alicante in octubre

The editorial plan

Why Alicante in octubre

October 9, the Day of the Valencian Community, fills the city with folk dances, a Municipal Band concert, and a fireworks display over the harbor.

You can still swim in the first half of the month —the water holds around 72°F— with the beach half-empty once school is back in session.

Mild autumn with highs near 77°F and shoulder-season prices: ideal for climbing Santa Bárbara or touring the MARQ without the heat.

Same place, another month

Alicante is worth visiting other months too

enero

The Three Kings' Cavalcade rolls through downtown on the evening of January 5, and the Plaza del Ayuntamiento's Guinness-record Nativity scene stays up until the 7th.

febrero

Carnival takes over the Rambla with the massive 'sábado ramblero' costume parade on February 14, the city's big pre-Lent blowout.

marzo

Holy Week kicks off on Palm Sunday, March 29: 27 processions of National Tourist Interest parade past with figures like El Morenet and the Procession of Silence.

abril

The Santa Faz Pilgrimage on Thursday, April 16 draws around 330,000 pilgrims along the 8 km from the Co-Cathedral of San Nicolás to the monastery —five centuries of tradition with rosemary sprigs and mistela wine.

mayo

The May Crosses fill the downtown squares and churches with flower altars, the festive overture to Alicante's spring.

junio

The Bonfires of Saint John, June 20-24, are Alicante's defining festival: dozens of papier-mâché monuments go up in flames during La Cremà on the night of the 24th as the whole city heads to the beach.

julio

The Summer Brass Festival opens July in Plaza del Ayuntamiento (the 2nd to the 6th), and the 'Verano de Músicas' series strings together 21 free concerts through mid-August.

agosto

The Altozano Moors and Christians parade from August 12-16, the festive finale of the neighborhood season with its Moorish and Christian embassies.

septiembre

Alicante's velvet season: the sea hits its warmest point of the year, nearly 77°F, and you can swim in mild water without August's crowds.

noviembre

The ROS Film Festival, November 14-22, screens international sci-fi shorts about robots —a wonderfully niche Alicante affair.

diciembre

The Plaza del Ayuntamiento's Guinness-record Nativity scene and an 18-meter tree on the Explanada anchor a Christmas of over a hundred lit-up streets.

Year at a glance