I love visiting Spain in early October, with the smaller crowds and pleasant weather. But this year I booked a hotel in Zaragoza and had no idea it was at the start of Festival de Pilar. I'll be arriving on Friday Oct 9 and leaving on Monday the 12th. Will I be able to do things like have tapas in El Tubo or is the Pilares going to make that a challenge?
Appreciate any suggestions for how to best experience Zaragoza during the Festival
Thank you,
From the Spain.I do website:
“The programme brings together theatre performances, concerts, children's entertainment (puppet shows, clowns, magic...), shows, dance, bullfights, craft exhibitions, all kinds of music (from regional folk to pop-rock and electronic sounds at the Independent Music Festival) and many more events. There are also fireworks, the traditional "Giants and Big-heads" parade, sports competitions and exhibitions. The "peñas" (fiesta associations) also play a vital role at the celebrations, which get underway with an opening speech at the Town Hall.
The most important day is 12 October, the feast of La Virgen del Pilar, patron saint of the city. A mass Floral Offering takes place from early that morning: thousands of people from all over the world, dressed in traditional costumes, come to Plaza del Pilar Square to leave flowers before the Virgin. Meanwhile, 13 October sees the Offering of Fruit. And at dusk, the Rosario de Cristal takes place. It is a procession of carriages and glass lanterns that runs through the streets of Zaragoza.”
Sounds like a good time to visit the city with the main activities taking place in the huge plaza by the church.
I’m in a similar situation as Scooter. I learned about the festival de Pilar after making tentative plans for Zaragoza Oct 8-11. I have refundable hotel reservations right near the central plaza but I’m seriously considering visiting Salamanca instead. Although the festival sounds fun, I have been monitoring expected crowd predictions for a while now and the estimates keep rising with some sources now saying 1.5 million visitors plus thousands of locals for the Oct 10-18 activities with the most for Oct. 12. I take these reports with some skepticism but I am more interested in avoiding crowds than massive partying.
In response to Scooter, Google AI says te expect "packed conditions" in the El Tubo tapas zone all week.
I would love to hear from anyone with direct experience with the festival. I’m also interested in any opinions on Salamanca versus Zaragoza. I’m a late 70s solo traveler using public transport with interests in art, culture, walkability, wine and good food but not a foodie.
CD, you would probably do better going to Salamanca, or even Burgos.
I've never been to the Pilar, but I've been to many San Mateos here and a few San Fermines, but large fiestas are pretty similar. The main action will be in the Plaza del Pilar and the near by park next to the river. Outside of the old town area, there will be neighbood events, but probably not the area you'd be staying.
Also the fiesta starts on a Saturday, so a lot of people will come from other towns for the weekend. So it will be pretty lively those days. The official program is not complete yet, but starting on the 10th there will probably be a large fireworks show every night.
"El Tubo" will be active the whole time. There will moments of less crowds than heavily crowded. The floral offering is quite impressive.
Zaragoza has a population of 700K, depending on how they are counting crowds for the week, 1.5million seems reasonable.
