The town of Biar, which is situated in the inland Costa Blanca in the Vinalope Valley will be honouring their patron saint during their Moors and Christians Fiesta. The celebrations start on the 9th May and continue until the 13th May 2024. The main events of the fiesta are below and the Grand Parade takes place at 17:00 on Friday the 10th. For the full programme in Spanish take a look at at the brochure.
Thursday 9th May
19:30 Parade by the Pipe and Drum Band
23:45 Meeting of the filas (groups of Moors and Christians) with their bands in the Plaza de Espana.
00:00 Parade from the Castle along Calle Mayor to the Plaza de la Consitutcion.
Friday 10th May
12:00 ‘Angelu’ from the balcony of the town hall, music from the bands and a grand Mascleta (daytime rockets) display.
17:00 Grand Entrance Parade of the Moors and Christians. Route: Calle Torreta, Barrera, Santa Ana, Plaza de Espanana, Calle Mayor, Plaza de la Constitucion. Followed by the moving of the statue of Nuestra Senora del Roser from the church to the sanctuary.
Saturday 11th May
08:15 Diana, ringing of the church bells and early morning procession with all of the music bands.
13:00 ‘Les Mogudes’ in the Plaza de la Constitucion.
17:00 The call to war.
18:00 Each of the fila are in their correct positions for the start of the war, they all converge in the Plaza Espana for the act of war, the Christians retreat to the Plaza de la Constitucion, then send out spies, then the Moors retreat to the Plaza de la Constitucion where the act of the ’embassy’ or mediation takes place, this all finishes at about 00:00.
00:00 Retreta Parade
Sunday 12th May
08:15 Diana, ringing of the church bells and early morning procession with all of the music bands.
13:00 ‘Les Mogudes’ in the Plaza de la Constitucion.
17:00 The call to war.
18:00 Each of the fila are in their correct positions for the start of the war, the same positions that they were in (more or less) in 1245 when the Christian King Jaime I fought the Moors, they all converge in the Plaza Espana for the act of war, parade to the Plaza Espana where the act of ’embassy’ takes place.
21:00 Solemn Procession with the statue of Nuestra Seora de Gracia along the usual route.
Monday 13th May
08:30 Ringing of the church bells.
09:00 Mass, followed by a parade along the traditional route.
13:00 ‘Les Mogudes’ in the Plaza de la Constitucion.
19:00 The Moors and Christians parade to the Sanctuary, firing their blunderbuss, whilst the statue of Nuestra Senora de Gracia is taken from the church to the Plaza de Espana where the traditional mass is said and mascletas are released before she is carried up to the sanctuary, everyone then returns to the Plaza de la Constitucion for the closing ceremony.