San Isidro Festival in Madrid

You don't want to miss this festival!

As ChicRoom Barcelona also has holiday apartments in the beautiful city of Madrid we thought we ought to be inform you about this spectacular event in the Spanish capital. Our apartments are located in various central areas of Madrid and have been hand selected to make your stay as comfortable and luxurious as possible. With San Isidro Festival in Madrid we have the perfect excuse for you to escape your day to day routine and explore the city during one of its most exciting and popular festivals whilst staying in one of our beautiful holiday apartments.

Espartinas II on ChicRoom Barcelona

Festivities of San Isidro Festival in Madrid

The San Isidro Festival presents the best of Madrid's culture whether it is old or new. From bull fighting to street dancing, you are bound to find something you like. You can also enjoy concerts, plays, parades, fairs and special exhibitions – most of these are free of charge. This festival is said to be the most significant and emblematic festival of the year for Madrid where the whole city gets involved. It spreads across 6 days from 10 to 15 May.

The Origins

While visiting Madrid during the San Isidro Festival you will be able to fully immerse yourself in traditional Spanish culture and live like a Spaniard in one of our holiday apartments. The history behind this event is that on May 15th 1622, the San Isidro Labrador was canonized as he miraculously made water rise up in a well in order to save his son. To find out more, you can visit the church on Calle Toledo during the festival, which is built over the site where the miracle took place. The church puts on a small museum exhibition and it is definitely worth a visit.

Party Time

The beginning of the festivies are marked with the traditional parade of the Gigantes y cabezudos (giants and over-sized head figures) at 6.00 PM from Calle de la Sal (see map below). The traditional opening speech will follow the parade in Plaza Mayor at 8.00 PM as well as live music.

Photo by gaudiramone on Visualhunt / CC BY-SA

During the weekend of this festival you can join partygoers day and night. If you want to let you hair down with them, head down to the Plaza de las Vistillas, Plaza de San Andrés and Puente de Segovia in the neighbourhood of Austrias near Plaza Mayor. These plazas have bars and pop up chiringuitos (open-air bars)for everyone to enjoy a big glass of mojito, beer or whatever you fancy! There is a real party atmosphere that is unmissable!

Picnic in the Pradera

There are other events during the festival where the party atmosphere fills the city. You can head to the Pradera and enjoy a picnic in San Isidro Park. The Pradera also has many food and drink stalls if you haven’t brought your own. This emblematic part of the festival happens on Sunday 12 May and is known as the Pradera de San Isidro due to its picnicking tradition. It is the place where people used to gather at the end of their pilgrimage.

If you have children they’ll love this part of San Isidro celebrations. Not only can they play outside in a vast green park but there will also be various activities at their disposal.

On the night of May 15 there will be a giant firework display to celebrate the end of the festival.

Photo by So_P on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-ND

Music Events

If you enjoy music, don’t miss the free concerts in several spots of Madrid. You’ll be able to enjoy various music genre such as pop music, rock, electronic and world music together with more folklore styles. See the map below for the different stages. For the programme click here (only in Spanish).

The Full Spanish Tradition

There are other typically Spanish traditions that you can experience. This includes the controversial Spanish sport of bullfighting; it might not be for you but you may want to experience this part of traditional Spanish culture. San Isidro is probably the biggest bullfighting festival in the world. The best fights with the most prized fighters are saved for this time. There is a bullfight every afternoon including one special event called La Corrida Goyesca where traditional Goyesco outfits are worn.

Photo by RussBowling on VisualHunt / CC BY

If you do choose to experience this traditional cultural practice, you should book your tickets as far in advance as possible as they sell really quickly. Some days you can purchase tickets for as little as 8€.

Food also plays an important part in the festivities and tradition. You should try the limonada, a drink prepared with wine, lemon, sugar and fruit (usually apples). Accompany it with rosquillas which are doughnuts that come in different shapes and sizes. You can choose among listas (“smart”, or glazed), tontas (“dumb”, or plain), de Santa Clara (covered in dry meringue) or francesas (“French”, with almonds).

Photo credit: mi) on Visualhunt / CC BY

Parades and Street Celebrations

There are various events and fairs set up throughout the festival. One of the highlights are the street parades with Giant and big-headed figures. These are huge figurines that walk the street and smaller people with paper mache heads. It has been a tradition since the festival began and so you shouldn’t miss it! One will take place on 11 May and will start at 12.00 PM from Plaza de la Villa. The second will be on 15 May from 10.30 AM at the crossroad of Calle del General Ricardos with Paseo del Quince de Mayo (see map below).

Photo by Antonio Tajuelo on Visualhunt / CC BY

You might also come across locals dancing the traditional dance of El Chotis. This is a traditional dance originally performed by the working class. People of every age dance wearing their best traditional outfit.

Photo by cristina cifuentes on Visual hunt / CC BY

Check out this link from 2016 to see what you might be missing.

Via Ayuntamiento de Madrid on Youtube

Where to Stay

If you are lucky enough to be in Madrid during this festical, we recommend you stay in a central location so you don't miss any of the action. Here at ChicRoom Barcelona, we offer top-quality accomodation in the best places in the city to suite all tastes.

Chose your luxury Madrid apartment today.

Carrer de San Francisco on ChicRoom Barcelona