FIESTAS HISPANO-ÁRABES EN HONOR DE SAN BONIFACIO

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Moros y Cristianos en honor a San Bonifacio

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Every May, Petrer holds its Moors and Christians festival in honour of San Bonifacio. A great excuse to explore a town with plenty to see and do.

Every May, around the Day of San Bonifacio, Petrer hosts its incredible Moors and Christians festival. The legions of the Moors and Christians – divided into comparsas and filaes – are the focus of the festivities.

Now listed an Event of National Tourist Interest, the festival has been taking place since the 17th century. It is held from Thursday to Monday on the weekend closest to the 14 May. During this time, the streets of the town come alive with parades of comparsas of Berbers, Bedouin, Students, Basque people and much more. You can also see spectacular events such as retreta, which takes place after the entrada of bands playing the pasodoble, marking the start of the festivities.

With the bajada del santo (the descent of the saint), the festival takes a more solemn turn while the noisy guerrillas and embajadas moras are accompanied by the sound of firing arquebuses. The humourous embajada in Valencian, the entrada of the Christians, the Solemne procession, the parade in honour of the captains, the entrada of the Moors and the subida of the saint (the ascent of the saint) complete the programme of events in a town that is totally transformed for a couple of days a year. Come and experience it for yourself in the pretty municipality of Petrer.