Calpe is about to celebrate the patron saint fiestas in honour of the Virgen de las Nieves, organised by the 2023 Fiestas Commission and Calpe Town Council. They will begin on Saturday 29 July with the traditional Entrada de la Murta and will conclude on 13 August with the end of festival parade.
Saturday will begin with the aerial bombardment to announce the fiestas and the ringing of bells, and in the afternoon the festival goers will gather in the Plaza del Arco Iris to perform the Entrada de la Murta through the streets of the old town until they reach the Plaza Miguel Roselló. There the queens of the fiestas, María Crespo Devesa and Abril Mestre Castillo, will perform the "Crida a la festa" from the balcony of the Town Hall. In the evening, the Plaza Mayor will host the macro disco "Tumbalea".
On Sunday 30 July, in the morning there will be a popular lunch in Purísima street, in the afternoon, cucañas in Llibertat street and at midnight, a concert by the orchestra "La Pato" in the Plaza Mayor. The following day, Aqua-jocs will be held in the Petit car park and at midnight, the macro disco "Bacarrà on Tour" in the Plaça Major.
On Tuesday 1st August, the "Día del Fadrí" (Day of the Fadrí) will be celebrated, when the Festeros born in 2005 will take over the Town Hall and the "vara de mando" will be exchanged, making one of these young Festeros the mayor for a day. This will be followed by a "cordà". In the evening there will be a performance by the orchestra "Tokyo" in the Plaza Mayor.
On Wednesday 2 August, the "Dia del Xiquet" (Children's Day) will be celebrated with various activities for the little ones. There will be a children's wake-up call, aqua-jocs in the Petit car park and in the afternoon there will be the traditional musicals in the Plaza Mayor, "Ogre el musical" at 20:00 and "Operación homenaje" at 23:30. From 2 a.m. onwards, there will be the "DJ Remember" macro-disco-mobile.
On Thursday 3 August, the Night of the Commissions will be held. On that day there will be a mini mascletà and a fireworks display of sweets at midday and in the afternoon, a mini disco-mobile in the Plaza del Mosquit. The Night of the Commissions is characterised by the fact that the festive commissions from previous years meet for dinner and then go together to the Plaza Mayor to attend the midnight performance of an orchestra. This year the orchestra "Límite" will perform.
On Friday 4th August, the eve of the main festival, a parade will be held to collect the queens and members of the 2023 Festival Committee to gather in front of the Town Hall to go to the Parish Church where the Offering of Flowers to the Virgen de las Nieves will be held.
For the second year running, the queens and presidents/presidents of previous years' fiestas commissions have been invited to attend the offering of flowers.
At midnight there will be a night-time mascletà followed by a performance by the orchestra "La Tribu" in the Plaza Mayor.
On Saturday 5 August, the feast of the Virgen de las Nieves, Patron Saint of Calpe, the events will begin with a warning thunderclap and a parade by the fiestas committee. At 12 noon, the High Mass will be held in honour of the patron saint, and at 2 p.m. a mascletà will be fired in the main square.
At 8 p.m. the Holy Mass will be celebrated, followed by a procession through the streets of the town, followed by the well-known Castell a la Mar, an "aero-aquatic" firework display, which is set off from the jetty of the Arenal-Bol beach. At 00:30 hours, the Plaza Mayor will once again be the meeting point with a performance by the "Nexus" orchestra.
On Sunday 6th August, Saint Saviour's Day, there will be a "despertá", the traditional game of Valencian pilota in García Ortiz street and at 2 p.m. mascletà in the Plaza Mayor. In the afternoon the festeros and authorities will move to the hermitage of San Salvador where the traditional mass in honour of San Salvador is scheduled to take place. This will be followed by a popular wine of honour in the park of La Ermita.
From the 6th to the 12th of August, the traditional "Bous al carrer" will be held in Conde de Altea street, with afternoon and evening sessions organised by the Societat Festiva i de Bous a Calp. And on Sunday 13th August there will be a big parade at the end of the fiestas with a parade of wagons from Benissa street to Colón square.