Event Previews & Reviews from Mallorca

A trip to Deià on the north coast of Majorca is a must for anyone wishing to experience the diversity that this beautiful island has to offer.

The Diamond Jubilee celebrations may be over in the UK, but here on Mallorca, we enjoyed a quintessential English garden party at La Residencia Hotel in Deia to mark the British monarch’s 60th year on the throne.

Before you reach for your top hat or fascinator, this is not Ascot, nor is it actually horse racing as you know it. For in Mallorca, it is trotting races that is the king of sports. The specially bred horses (with a height of 1.5 - 1.7 metres) pull a small and lightweight cart which carries a ‘jockey' around a race track going at speeds you would not think possible. This sport has been popular in Majorca for 200 years and tracks in Palma and Manacor host races once a week.

This Sunday we were lucky enough to catch another spectacular fiesta in Palma de Mallorca. Like the festival in Soller three weeks ago and the up coming Nit de Foc in Palma, this is a Majorcan tradition that is more interested in fun and participation than health and safety - the Catalan Castells.

Carnival happens in the Port of Soller from Friday 2nd March onwards. Take a trip to the marina end of the Port in the morning and the children from the only school in the Port will parade down to the sea in their fine costumes. Masked princesses, skeletons, pirates, fairies and goblins will stroll among the holiday makers and locals. 

Sometimes on a weekend, it is nice simply to laze around the house, take a leisurely breakfast and flick idly through the newspaper (or your fancy i-Pad if you are The Frenchman). But not so this weekend! For it is the annual Olive Fair, held in Caimari, in the north west of Mallorca. Named as one of the top ten gastronomic festivals in Europe by The Guardian, it is actually one of the autumn fairs on Majorca that you really shouldn't miss.

La Patrona is arguably the best and most popular summer festival in Majorca. This fiesta runs from the 24th July to the 2nd August with activities and festivities happening every evening, with the popular ‘Simulacre de Moros i Cristians’ being the final and most exciting event in the schedule.

As most countries in the world begin to wrap up their Christmas festivities, in Spain the Christmas holidays are still in full swing. 

The illustrious annual Medieval fair in Capdepera is set in the streets leading up to the breath-taking castle of Capdepera and is a popular event for adults and children alike.

La Patrona Festival – it’s Moors V’s Christians in an epic battle re-enactment in Pollenca

The 50th International Plastic Art’s Competition on display in Pollenca Museum.

The Dijous Bo autumn fair is held in Inca on the fourth Thursday after the feast of St Luke (18th October) in November, and is the largest fair of its kind in Mallorca. As with most of Majorca's autumn fairs, it originated as an agricultural fair celebrating the harvest, and has since grown to include a range of sporting and cultural entertainments.

I have been living in Palma for nearly 9 months and was surprised to stumble upon a somewhat common monthly event but still very unknown to many residents here on the island - The Changing of the Guards of Honour.

There was a great sense of anticipation at Palma Auditorium on Friday, as people arrived for the one night only show celebrating Glenn Miller and the golden era of swing and big band music.