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The Festival of History

Ribadavia, Ribeiro, Ourense

1 Villages · 6 Monuments · 3 Activities · 3 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

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The Festival of History

Activity · Ribadavia, Ribeiro, Ourense

A Festa da Istoria is held on the last weekend of August in Ribadavia and draws around 75,000 people each year; in 1997 it was declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional (an official Spanish tourism-interest distinction). Already documented in the 18th century, it stopped being held after the Revolution of 1868 and was revived in 1989 by the San Andrés workshop-school together with the local scholar José Ramón Estévez, work later continued by a neighbourhood committee. The day opens with a speech read by a distinguished local resident and a parade of thousands of people dressed in period costume; it includes a bank where legal-tender currency is exchanged for maravedís, the coin of the festival, a living chess game with children as pieces, falconry displays, medieval dances and tournaments, and ends with a medieval dinner that can only be attended in period costume.

último fin de semana de agosto

Photo: Reservas de Coches (CC BY 2.0)

What to see and do in Ribadavia