TravelBlog
Feria del Rosario 2026 in Fuengirola: the programme and how to do it well
Fuengirola’s feria runs 6–12 October 2026. The official programme day by day, concert tickets from €5, when the horses are out, the daily quiet hour and the night bus home.
Fuengirola’s patronal fair runs Tuesday 6 to Monday 12 October 2026, the same seven dates as every year. What changes each year is the programme, and the town hall published this one in late September. Everything below is taken from that official programme and from the town hall’s own notices, with the practical parts a visitor needs pulled to the front.
If you want the background on the fiesta itself, that lives on our evergreen Feria del Rosario page. This article is the 2026 edition: who plays, what is free, when the horses are out and how you get home at four in the morning.
The week at a glance
| Day | What | Where | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 6 Oct | Pregón by Juani Guerrero, 21:30, then the lights are switched on | Palacio de la Paz | Free |
| Wed 7 Oct | Misa Flamenca 10:00 and procession of the Virgen del Rosario; flamenco festival 22:00 | Plaza de la Constitución; Palacio de la Paz | Free; €10–15 |
| Thu 8 Oct | Children’s Day, children’s rides half price; Cantajuegos 18:00 | Fairground; Palacio de la Paz | €5–10 |
| Fri 9 Oct | David Bustamante, 22:00 | Palacio de la Paz | €10–15 |
| Sat 10 Oct | Antonio José, 22:00 | Palacio de la Paz | €10–15 |
| Sun 11 Oct | Noche Joven: Los 40 Sessions with DJ Nano and San Bernardino, 22:00 | Palacio de la Paz | Free until full |
| Mon 12 Oct | Sondesoto 12:30; Marta Sánchez 22:00 | Plaza de la Constitución; Palacio de la Paz | Free; €10–15 |
Two of those seven days are public holidays. Wednesday 7 October is Fuengirola’s own local holiday, so shops and offices in town close. Monday 12 October is the Fiesta Nacional across Spain, which turns the last three days of the fair into a long weekend. That is when the town is fullest.
Two fairs in one town
The feria happens in two places, and they feel nothing alike.
The Recinto Ferial is the permanent fairground on the north side of the centre, a short walk from the train station. This is where the casetas, the funfair and the Palacio de la Paz concert hall are. In Fuengirola the casetas belong to the town’s peñas, the local social clubs, and they are open to anyone who walks in. The president of the Federación de Peñas says as much in this year’s programme. If your picture of a feria is Seville, where most casetas are private, this is the opposite arrangement. Our Feria de Abril page explains that difference.
The old centre around Plaza de la Constitución is where the religious side happens: the mass, the procession and the free midday concert on the 12th.
Day by day
Tuesday 6 October: the opening
The pregón, the opening speech, starts at 21:30 in the Palacio de la Paz. Entry is free and seated. This year it is given by Juani Guerrero, a flamenco dancer who runs a dance school in town and started the council’s “Sevillanas Express” classes that locals take in the weeks before the fair. When she finishes, the municipal band plays the national anthem outside and the lights on the façade are switched on. From that moment the fair is open.
Wednesday 7 October: the patron’s day
This is the day the whole week is named for. An open-air Misa Flamenca begins at 10:00 in Plaza de la Constitución, and the procession of the Virgen del Rosario Coronada follows directly after, with two bands. The route is Plaza de la Constitución, Avenida Condes de San Isidro, Calle Marconi, Calle Palangreros, Calle Larga, Calle España and back to the church. The programme gives 14:30 as the expected finish.
Riders on horseback join the procession at around 12:45 on Calle Palangreros. If you only have time for one thing on the 7th, stand there.
At 22:00 the Palacio de la Paz hosts the 48th Festival Flamenco “El Jabegote” Juan de la Loma. Israel Fernández sings and Diego del Morao plays guitar, with Paqui Corpas, José “El Petro” and a long supporting bill. Of everything on the programme, this is the night aimed at people who already care about flamenco.
Thursday 8 October: Children’s Day
The children’s rides at the fairground are half price all day. Cantajuegos, a children’s music group every Spanish parent knows, play the Palacio de la Paz at 18:00. Tickets are €5 in the stalls and €10 in the boxes.
Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October: the concerts
David Bustamante plays on Friday and Antonio José on Saturday, both at 22:00. Sunday is the Noche Joven, a Los 40 Sessions night with DJ Nano and San Bernardino. It is free, but only until the hall reaches capacity, so the practical advice is to arrive well before 22:00.
Monday 12 October: the close
Sondesoto play a free concert at 12:30 in Plaza de la Constitución for the national holiday. Marta Sánchez closes the fair at the Palacio de la Paz at 22:00.
Tickets
Paid concerts cost €10 in the stalls and €15 in the boxes. Cantajuegos is €5 and €10. There are three ways to buy:
- Online at entradas.fuengirola.es, the town hall’s own ticket site.
- In person at the information point in the Miramar shopping centre, Monday to Friday, 10:00–12:30 and 15:00–18:00.
- At the Palacio de la Paz box office from two hours before each show, if any are left. Card only.
At those prices the Friday and Saturday concerts are the ones most likely to sell out. We have not checked availability, so look before you travel.
Horses, and when to see them
The horse and carriage parade inside the fairground runs from 12:00 to 20:00 each day. Riders are not admitted to the circuit after 19:00, according to the Policía Local, so numbers thin out in the last hour. Early to mid afternoon is the time to go. Riders have to register with the town hall and carry insurance, which is why what you see is organised rather than improvised.
The 7 October procession is the other chance, and it is the only one in the town centre.
With children, or with anyone who dislikes noise
The town hall’s fair notice sets a quiet hour from 17:00 to 18:00 every day, when the sound on the rides is turned down. It is meant for children with autism and others who are sensitive to noise. Local press reports that Fuensocial, the municipal social services body, is again issuing a blue wristband that lets a child with functional diversity and one companion skip the queues for the rides. The wristbands are collected from Fuensocial’s office on Calle Blanca Paloma in the mornings. Confirm the conditions with them before you rely on it.
For everyone else with small children the logic is simple. Go in the afternoon for the horses and the rides, use the quiet hour, and leave before the concerts end and the casetas turn into dance floors.
The quieter caseta
The Caseta de la Tercera Edad, run for the town’s older residents, has its own printed programme of live music and dance. It starts at 17:00 from Wednesday to Monday, with acts on the hour or so until 23:00: local flamenco academies, the municipal Coros y Danza group, singers, and the Orquesta Punto y Aparte on the last two days. Juani Guerrero’s own academy dances there on Sunday at 18:00.
Getting there, and getting home
The town hall’s advice for the week is blunt: leave the car at home. A special traffic plan is in force around the fairground and parking near it is not realistic in the evenings.
From Málaga, the airport, Torremolinos or Benalmádena, take the Cercanías C-1 train. Fuengirola is the end of the line and the station is in the centre. The catch is the return. The C-1 does not run through the night, so check the last departure on Renfe’s Cercanías Málaga page before you commit to a concert that ends after midnight. Our guide to trains in Andalucía covers how the line works.
Within Fuengirola, urban bus Line 1 runs a special night service every night of the fair, 6 to 12 October, roughly every 40 minutes:
| Route | First | Last |
|---|---|---|
| CC Miramar → Recinto Ferial | 23:30 | 04:10 |
| Carvajal → Recinto Ferial | 00:05 | 04:05 |
| Recinto Ferial → CC Miramar | 00:20 | 04:20 |
| Recinto Ferial → Carvajal | 23:45 | 04:25 |
That bus is what makes staying at the Carvajal or Los Boliches end of town workable. From Mijas Costa, La Cala or Marbella we found no night bus home, so the choice is a designated driver parked well away from the fairground, or a taxi. Expect to wait for one at closing time. See taxis and ride-hailing for what operates on this coast.
Where to sleep
Not next to the fairground. The last night bus leaves at 04:25, which tells you how late the music goes. Stay near the seafront or in the old town instead: far enough to sleep, close enough to walk in. With the long weekend on top, rooms from 9 to 12 October will be the most expensive of the autumn, as we noted in October in Málaga.
Things that catch visitors out
- There are no fireworks. None appear anywhere in the 2026 programme.
- The street market is off. Fuengirola’s Tuesday market and Saturday flea market are normally held on the fairground. With the fair occupying it, do not plan a market visit that week.
- Wednesday is a holiday in Fuengirola only. Shops in Mijas and Benalmádena open as normal on the 7th. On Monday the 12th everything closes everywhere.
- This is not the international fair. The Feria Internacional de los Países, with its country pavilions, uses the same fairground in spring. Several listings sites mix the two up.
- Evenings are cooler than the days suggest. AEMET’s October normals for Málaga are 24.1°C by day and 15.0°C at night. Bring a layer for the walk home.
Common questions
When is the Fuengirola feria in 2026?
Tuesday 6 to Monday 12 October 2026. The dates are fixed and do not move from year to year. The opening speech is at 21:30 on the 6th.
Do you need tickets for the Feria del Rosario?
No. The fairground and the casetas are free to enter. Tickets are only needed for four concerts and the children’s show at the Palacio de la Paz, at €5 to €15.
What time does the fair start and finish each day?
Horses are in the fairground from 12:00 to 20:00, and the evening fair runs into the early hours. The special night bus keeps going until about 04:25, which is a fair guide to closing time.
Is it suitable for children?
In the afternoon, yes. Thursday 8 October has half-price children’s rides, and there is a reduced-noise hour from 17:00 to 18:00 every day. Late evening is loud and crowded.
Sources
- Ayuntamiento de Fuengirola, Programa Oficial, Feria y Fiestas del Rosario 2026 (PDF, 54 MB; the English summary is on pages 36–37 and the night bus on page 38).
- Ayuntamiento de Fuengirola, notice on horse and carriage registration and hours, 21 September 2026.
- AEMET, climate normals 1981–2010, Málaga airport.
- The quiet hour and wristband scheme are as reported by local press from the town hall’s fair notice. We could not read the notice itself, so treat the wristband details as reported, not confirmed.
- Header photo: the entrance to the Recinto Ferial, by Olaf Tausch, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
Where to go next
- Feria del Rosario, the evergreen page, and the full fiesta calendar
- Feria season in Andalucía, for how this one fits among the others
- Feria de Nerja, which follows straight after
- October in Málaga and October across Andalucía
- The Málaga province guide and its beaches, for the mornings after
