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.

With strings of glistening lights adorning every town and village, Christmas has definitely arrived in Mallorca. And what better way to get a festive fix than a trip to a Christmas market?

The people of Mallorca, like their mainland brothers, love a fiesta. Almost every weekend there seems to be a saint or a historical event that requires face paint and explosions, or at the very least a market. The Fiesta Sant Joan in Mallorca celebrates the life of John the Baptist and in Majorca Sant Joan is a very big deal. Every other street, shop and restaurant seems to be named after him, he's the Patron Saint of four towns and he even has a town named after him.

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.

This was the 13th year of the Pollença Wine Fair which showcases the best in Mallorcan wines. It was held at the Claustre de Sant Domingo in Pollença on 16 and 17 April 2016 and was possibly the most important event on the island that weekend.  

The 4th edition of the Mallorca Open sent tennis fanatics into a frenzy on the island. Between June 17th and 23rd 2019, under the leadership of Toni Nadal, this WTA international tennis tournament hosted some of the world’s best female tennis stars competing for the $250,000 prize money up for grabs.

The people of Pollenca have been given a reprieve this week as the Miquel Salom photography exhibition that was supposed to run until the 25th of May has been extended until the 7th of June.

The Esporles Sweet Fair began in 2005 and is held on the first Sunday of October to guarantee fine weather. The event is becoming increasingly popular and diverse with every passing year and offers a unique opportunity to meet the people who make a fine range of traditional, homemade and, often, organic foods including wines, cakes, pastries, jams and sweets. And, of course, to sample their wares! Here are some of my favourite stands from Sunday's fair, with an insight into the characters and traditions behind the produce.

The 2012 running season is well under way in Mallorca, with the popular Cursa de Muntanya trail race series moving on to its second race, the daunting Mancor Extrem on Sunday 11th March (see the EliteChip website for details).

This is Soller’s weekend of the ‘Apropa’t A L’Art’. Literally translated means ‘come to the art’ and it is the three days of the year when art, music and poetry are honoured in our town. On the 6th, 7th & 8th August from 6 pm onwards, many of our fine buildings are open to the public to view the paintings and participate in the music and poetry – it’s like a mini Eisteddfod here.

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.

The drive or bus ride to the small mountain village of Estellenchs, in the southwest corner of Mallorca, is quite breathtaking in its beauty. If sand, sangria and discos are your thing then read no further. However, for the discerning lover of pure and unspoiled Mediterranean countryside read on. How to get there? If you have a car at your disposal, so much the better. If not, head to the Plaza España underground bus terminal in central Palma and take the red and yellow IB 11 or 217 (beware, the numbers are frequently changed just to keep you on your toes! Obviously, the key is to look for the names of the villages (Palma) – Esporles – Banyalbufar – Estellenchs). If you are fortunate enough to miss the last bus back (18.05, when I enquired) you could do a lot worse than to check into the small, family run hotel called Sa Plana, but more of that later.

Spring officially takes hold. With support from the city of Palma de Mallorca and the collective Balearic Islands Government, the international festival of contemporary dance, 'Palma amb la dansa' as it's called in Catalan...or Palma loves dance in English, has arrived to Mallorca for the eighth year in a row.

This years Sant Sebastia festivities in Palma last Saturday night were much quieter than in previous years as wind and rain put many Mallorquians off coming out to celebrate. However, the rain didn’t last long enough to put out the barbecues on the streets and still crowds were there cooking sausages, toasting bread, and warming up by the foguerons (bonfires).

The Mallorca Live Festival, to be held on 29th and 30th April this year, offers up sixteen eclectic and colourful hours of music, art, food and design.