The full annual calendar with confirmed dates, free-access notes and booking tips for every festival, from Semana Santa to the Alhambra concert season.
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Start with the quick answers, move into the calendar and the June peak, then use the guides and booking sections to plan.
June
The Festival de Música y Danza fills the Alhambra with concerts most nights through to July, picking up just after Corpus Christi wraps up in late May.
Semana Santa
The Cristo de los Gitanos climbs Sacromonte by bonfire light on Holy Wednesday. Nothing else on the calendar looks like it.
Most of them
Cruces, Noche en Blanco, the Corpus casetas, Semana Santa street viewing and the Virgen de las Angustias procession all cost nothing.
Jun – Jul
The Música y Danza festival fills the Alhambra, then the Guitar Festival takes over the Palace of Charles V into August.
Confirmed and estimated dates for every event on Granada's calendar, plus how long each runs, what it costs and who it suits best.
| Festival | Dates | Length | Price | Best for | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Día de la Toma de Granada | 2 Jan 2027 | 1 day | Free | History, civic ceremony | Moderate |
 Día de Andalucía | 28 Feb 2027 | 1 day | Free | Families, free museums | Light |
 Semana Santa Granada Semana Santa de Granada | 21 – 28 Mar 2027 | 8 days | Free street viewing | Religious, photography | Heavy |
 Cruces de Mayo Granada Cruces de Mayo de Granada | 1 – 2 May 2027 | 2 days | Free | Families, photography | Moderate |
 Noche en Blanco Granada | 22 May 2027 (est.) | 1 night | Free | Culture, night owls | Heavy |
 Corpus Christi Granada Corpus Christi de Granada / Feria del Corpus | 22 – 30 May 2027 (est.) | 8 days | Free casetas | Feria, flamenco | Heavy |
 Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada | 11 Jun – 12 Jul 2027 (est.) | 5 weeks | Free to €108 | Classical, ballet | Moderate |
 Festival Internacional de la Guitarra de Granada | Est. 12 Jul – 5 Aug 2027 | 3 weeks | Some free | Guitar, flamenco | Moderate |
 Fiesta de la Virgen de las Angustias | 15 – 27 Sep 2026 | 2 weeks | Free | Religious, tradition | Heavy |
 Granada Jazz Festival | From 30 Oct 2026 | 10 days | Mostly free | Music, off-season | Moderate |
 Maratón de Granada | Nov 2026 (TBC) | 1 day | €35–60 entry | Running, sport | Moderate |
Years shown reflect the next confirmed edition of each event. Easter-driven dates (Semana Santa, Corpus) move with the liturgical calendar; festival dates marked TBC follow the previous year's pattern.
See a flamenco show while you're in town
Granada's festivals overlap with year-round flamenco in Sacromonte and the centre. La Alborea is the highest-rated central tablao, so book ahead on festival weekends.
Tours are selected for quality, not commission. We earn a small fee if you book — at no extra cost to you.
The closest events on the calendar from today, in date order. Tap a card for full dates, free-access notes and planning advice.
80+ concerts at 70+ venues in November 2026. Theatre headliners at Teatro Isabel la Católica €20–40; much of the programme is free in bars and plazas.
Granada Marathon returns in November 2026 after 20 years. 42.195 km through seven villages, start and finish in the city centre. Registration from €35.
Granada's January 2 civic-religious ceremony at the Royal Chapel commemorates 1492. Free to attend, but politically contested — counter-events run in parallel.
The year opens with one civic ceremony rather than a festival. Useful to know about, and genuinely contested.
Andalusia Day is the only date in February, but it opens the museums for free and slows the whole city down.
Holy Week anchors the spring season, with the Sacromonte bonfire procession the scene most visitors come for.
Decorated crosses fill the Albaicín, the city stays up all night for free culture, and the Corpus fair begins at the end of the month.
1 to 2 May 2027
First weekend of May
Cruces de Mayo de Granada
Fifty-plus crosses compete across the Albaicín, Realejo and Bib-Rambla. Bring small coins for the chavico tradition.
Expected 22 May 2027
One Saturday in May, 20:00 to 04:00
300+ free activities across 50+ venues. The Albaicín carmenes open their courtyards after dark.
The peak. Corpus Christi closes out May, then the Festival de Música y Danza turns the Alhambra into a nightly concert hall.
22 to 30 May 2027 (procession 27 May)
60 days after Easter, typically late May to early June
Corpus Christi de Granada / Feria del Corpus
Public casetas at Almanjáyar are free, unlike Seville. Use the €2 fair shuttle rather than driving.
11 June to 12 July 2027 (provisional)
Mid-June to mid-July
Concerts inside the Palace of Charles V and ballet in the Generalife Theatre. The 2027 programme has not been announced yet.
High summer belongs to the guitar. Evening recitals start late, when the Alhambra has cooled enough to sit through a concert.
August: After the guitar festival closes, August is hot and quiet. Daytime temperatures push past 35°C; many locals leave for the coast.
Granada honours its patron saint with a day-long floral offering and an evening procession through the centre.
Other autumn dates: Between the patron-saint festival and the jazz programme, October is calm and cheaper, with short Alhambra queues.
Off-season brings the longest-running festival on the calendar and the return of the marathon, both at lower-season prices.
From 30 October 2026 (2025 ran 31 Oct to 8 Nov)
Ten days, late October into November
80+ concerts at 70+ venues. Theatre headliners €20–40; the bar and metro programme is free.
November 2026 (date TBC)
First or second Sunday of November
A full 42.195 km revival after 20 years, flat across the vega. City-centre start and finish.
Corpus Christi fills the last week of May, then the Festival de Música y Danza takes over the Alhambra through to mid-July. Cruces and Noche en Blanco warm up the city in May. It is the busiest stretch of the year, and rooms go first.
The Tarasca dragon parade, the Cathedral procession on 27 May, and a week of free public casetas at Almanjáyar.
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Spain's oldest major music festival. Orchestral nights in the Palace of Charles V, ballet in the Generalife gardens.
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The free, neighbourhood-scale opener to the peak season: decorated crosses, street flamenco and the chavico coin tradition.
Read guideTours are selected for quality, not commission. We earn a small fee if you book — at no extra cost to you.
Flamenco evenings, Sacromonte walks and Albaicín tapas: the experiences that pair best with Granada's festival calendar.
Nightly flamenco at La Alborea, a small central tablao that books out fast on the strength of its reviews.
€20
Less than a restaurant lunch
✓ Verified GetYourGuide reviews
Books up weeks ahead in peak season
Evening walk through the Albaicín and Sacromonte timed to reach Mirador San Nicolás at sunset, when the Alhambra turns orange-gold against the Sierra Nevada.
€15
Less than a restaurant lunch
✓ Verified GetYourGuide reviews
Books up weeks ahead in peak season
A flamenco show in the Cuevas Los Tarantos, a long-running Sacromonte cave venue carved into the hillside.
€27
✓ Verified GetYourGuide reviews
Books up weeks ahead in peak season
Guided walk through UNESCO World Heritage neighbourhoods — the whitewashed Albaicín and Sacromonte cave district — followed by a live zambra flamenco performance.
€39
✓ Verified GetYourGuide reviews
Reporter notebook
Practical observations gathered the way a local journalist would keep them: short, specific, and more useful than brochure copy.
Corpus Christi is expected to close around 30 May, and the Festival de Música y Danza is provisionally booked to open on 11 June — a fortnight later, so a trip spanning the turn of the month catches the free Almanjáyar casetas at the start and an Alhambra concert at the end. The two festivals no longer overlap, but the city stays in festival mode across the gap. Book the Palace of Charles V concert and the Alhambra evening slot before you fix the rest of the itinerary.
Good Friday has the biggest Semana Santa crowds, but the defining scene is the Cristo de los Gitanos climbing Sacromonte on Wednesday night by bonfire light. The cave paths fill from 8 pm, so go earlier than you think you need to. The firelit alleys and the float emerging from above are something the main-route tribunes simply cannot match.
The opening-week Música y Danza nights sell out long before June — the 2027 lineup has not been announced yet, but the earliest dates go first every year. The festival does not sell Alhambra admission; you buy the evening entry separately through the Patronato, and those slots go weeks ahead in summer. Book the concert and the Alhambra slot first, then choose your hotel around the dates.
Unlike Seville’s April Fair, most casetas at Granada’s Corpus Fair are public. Walk in, order a fino or a rebujito, and stay for the flamenco. The private tents are obvious, with doormen and dress codes; skip them. Use the €2 fair shuttle from the centre to Almanjáyar rather than driving, and you can spend an evening at the fair for the price of a few drinks.
At every decorated cross during the Cruces de Mayo, children approach with the phrase "¿Un chavico para la cruz?", a small coin for the cross. It is a genuine local tradition, not begging, and the children enjoy it. Draw a handful of 10 to 20 cent coins at the hotel before you set out; five or six per person covers a morning circuit of the Albaicín patios.
Walking routes, neighbourhood context, what to book early, and venue breakdowns for the four festivals with a dedicated guide.
Venue breakdown, how to book the Palace of Charles V nights, and where the free FEX events happen across the city.
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The Sacromonte bonfire route, Good Friday timing, and the free viewpoints worth claiming early.
Read guide How the free casetas work, the Tarasca parade timing, and getting to Almanjáyar without a car.
Read guide Which neighbourhoods decorate the best crosses, when to visit the Albaicín patios, and the coin custom explained.
Read guideWhere to stay, what to reserve, transport logistics, and which guide to read before you book.
The Palace of Charles V and Generalife seats (and the separate Alhambra evening entry the festival needs) sell out months ahead. Lock the concert dates first, then choose where to sleep around them.
The Realejo and Centro keep the Corral del Carbón and the Alhambra shuttle within easy reach for late finishes.
The Albaicín and Sacromonte put you on the Cristo de los Gitanos path; the Realejo sits beside Campo del Príncipe for the Señor de los Favores. The centre fills fast from Good Friday afternoon.
Hotels sell out by January for Holy Week. Read the guide before you commit to a neighbourhood.
The fairground sits at Almanjáyar, a short ride from the centre. The €2 fair shuttle saves you the congestion; most casetas are free to walk into, so the only real spend is on drinks and rides.
Corpus week is peak season. Book two to three months ahead for a central room.
November brings short Alhambra queues, off-peak hotel rates and the city at its most local. The jazz festival fills bars and the metro for free; the marathon returns to the city-centre streets the same month.
Book before the jazz lineup drops in September; rates climb once the headliners are public.
Book early for festival weeks
Semana Santa and Corpus Christi fill the Alhambra and Realejo months ahead. The Música y Danza festival drives June too — lock your room before the programme drops.
Semana Santa Granada 2027 takes place 21–28 March. All 32 cofradías and 58 processional floats are free to watch from the street across the historic centre.
Cruces de Mayo Granada: 1-2 May 2027. Decorated crosses compete across the Albaicín, Realejo, and Bib-Rambla. Free entry, flamenco at Plaza del Carmen.
Granada's Feria del Corpus 2027: Corpus Thursday confirmed 27 May, Tarasca 26 May. Fair dates (expected 22-29/30 May) and full programme not yet confirmed.
The Festival Internacional de Música y Danza returns to Granada's Alhambra in June–July 2027, with concerts at the Palace of Charles V and Generalife Theatre.
Answers to the questions that shape your decision: timing, budget, and which festivals are worth building a trip around.
Late May into July is the peak. The Corpus fair is expected to run from 22 to 30 May 2027, and the Festival de Música y Danza is provisionally booked for 11 June to 12 July 2027. May itself is busy too, with the Cruces de Mayo and Noche en Blanco. If you want fewer crowds, November pairs the jazz festival with off-peak hotel rates.
Corpus Thursday is officially confirmed for 27 May 2027, a local public holiday, with the Tarasca parade the day before on 26 May. The wider Feria del Corpus at Almanjáyar is expected to run from around 22 to 29 or 30 May 2027, but Granada's Ayuntamiento typically confirms the full fair programme only a few weeks ahead. Check turismo.granada.org nearer the time.
The Festival Internacional de Música y Danza is provisionally scheduled for 11 June to 12 July 2027, with the free FEX extension normally starting a couple of days earlier. The 2027 lineup has not been announced yet. Concerts take place inside the Alhambra's Palace of Charles V, the open-air Generalife Theatre and the Corral del Carbón. Headline nights typically sell out months ahead once tickets go on sale; the festival guide covers booking.
Holy Week in Granada runs 21 to 28 March 2027. The dates move every year because they follow the week before Easter Sunday. The signature night is the Cristo de los Gitanos procession through Sacromonte on Holy Wednesday, 24 March, lit by bonfires. Street viewing is free; book accommodation by January.
Most are. The Cruces de Mayo, Noche en Blanco and the Virgen de las Angustias procession cost nothing. Semana Santa street viewing is free, and the Corpus casetas are open to all. The exceptions are ticketed: the Música y Danza concerts (free FEX events aside), the jazz theatre shows and the guitar festival venues outside the Alhambra.
The Cristo de los Gitanos procession during Semana Santa. On Holy Wednesday the float climbs through the Sacromonte cave neighbourhood while residents light bonfires outside their homes along the hillside paths. The combination of firelight, narrow lanes and the float emerging from the dark is unlike anything elsewhere in Spain. Go early; the paths fill from around 8 pm.
Yes. Two festivals stage concerts inside the Alhambra complex. The Festival de Música y Danza (June–July) uses the Palace of Charles V for orchestral nights and the Generalife Theatre for ballet and flamenco. The Guitar Festival (July–August) also plays the Palace of Charles V. For the guitar concerts you need a valid Alhambra evening admission ticket alongside the free concert entry.
The Festival Internacional de Jazz de Granada has not confirmed its 2026 dates yet. The 2025 edition ran 31 October to 8 November, with pre-programme events from late October, so expect a similar window. Theatre headliners at the Teatro Isabel la Católica cost €20–40, but most of the 80-plus concerts across the city are free. The programme is usually published in September.
The Día de la Toma is a civic-religious ceremony every 2 January marking the 1492 handover of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs. It is a local public holiday and free to watch. It is also Granada's most politically divided day: far-right groups gather at the official ceremony, while the civil-society platform Granada Abierta runs a parallel coexistence event. Visitors should know the context before attending.
Winter is quiet. The Día de la Toma falls on 2 January and Día de Andalucía on 28 February, which opens the state museums for free. There is no major festival between them. That makes January and February practical months to visit without festival-week prices; the Granada in winter guide covers what to expect.
For the most current dates, use the upcoming festivals strip near the top of this page, which lists the next events in calendar order, and the festival dates table below, which sets out all 11 events with dates, length, price and crowd level. Both reflect the latest confirmed or estimated dates rather than a generic typical window, so they are the most reliable reference here. Each row links to a dedicated event page.
Tours are selected for quality, not commission. We earn a small fee if you book — at no extra cost to you.
Flamenco evenings, Sacromonte walks and Albaicín tapas: the experiences that pair best with Granada's festival calendar.
Nightly flamenco at La Alborea, a small central tablao that books out fast on the strength of its reviews.
€20
Less than a restaurant lunch
✓ Verified GetYourGuide reviews
Books up weeks ahead in peak season
Evening walk through the Albaicín and Sacromonte timed to reach Mirador San Nicolás at sunset, when the Alhambra turns orange-gold against the Sierra Nevada.
€15
Less than a restaurant lunch
✓ Verified GetYourGuide reviews
Books up weeks ahead in peak season
A flamenco show in the Cuevas Los Tarantos, a long-running Sacromonte cave venue carved into the hillside.
€27
✓ Verified GetYourGuide reviews
Books up weeks ahead in peak season
Guided walk through UNESCO World Heritage neighbourhoods — the whitewashed Albaicín and Sacromonte cave district — followed by a live zambra flamenco performance.
€39
✓ Verified GetYourGuide reviews
We earn a small commission if you book a hotel through this search — at no extra cost to you.
Early summer is Granada's peak: Corpus, the Música y Danza festival and Semana Santa fill the centre. Rooms near the Alhambra and Realejo sell out months ahead, and prices climb sharply during festival weeks.
Further reading
Official tourism portal used to confirm festival dates, venue updates and city-level visitor information.
Primary source for the music and dance festival programme, venues and ticketing.
City council source for municipal celebrations, Noche en Blanco and official announcements.
