Summer food festivals: wine, gazpacho, and even free sardines

Monday, 23 June 2025, 12:06

While this isn’t Malaga’s busiest food festival season, it’s one of the most diverse. From the cherries of Alfarnate, to the ajoblanco of Almáchar and the wines and muscatel sultanas of La Axarquía or Manilva; events with a traditional flavour are being held across the province until the third weekend of September – the epilogue of this summer. The event will continue to be held every year with some additions. This includes the ‘bocatas” (sandwiches) showcased in the last week of August.

Even though it began in the spring season, the event is distinctly summery, thanks to the refreshing cocktails that are offered and the hot June climate. This year, 14 establishments will participate in the edition. Exclusive cocktails will be offered at a cost of six Euros, both for alcoholic and other beverages.

Every first Saturday of August, this event has been on the calendar since a very long time. The famous Gazpacho will be given out to visitors and locals on the 2nd of August while stocks last. This year, as a new addition, the village in upper Axarquía will have a special scent of lavender.

This festival, like the previous one, is held every first Saturday of August. It is difficult, but not impossible to attend both events at the same time. They are located in the same area and although they are many kilometers apart, there is a common theme. Although this Iznate event is dedicated to the muscatel grape, which has already begun to be harvested, it also revolves around the traditional cuisine of La Axarquía. There will be free samplings of different dishes in the village, from ajoblanco and gazpacho to roasted peppers salads and sausages.

Also on the first Saturday in August, as part of the fair in Zapata (a neighbourhood in Alhaurín de la Torre), there is another classic tradition of Malaga’s summer cuisine. It is a gastronomy contest that has been designated a tourist festival in the province. The competition is very popular, with more than one hundred dishes being presented every year.

One of the biggest sardine grilling contests takes place in Malaga at the mid-point of summer. The 11th edition will be held in Torremolinos on the 2nd of August. The competition will be followed by a tasting of espetos, sardines on skewers. Only professional espeteros of each municipality on the Costa del Sol will be allowed to enter this edition.

The most popular culinary event on the Costa del Sol is celebrating its 10th birthday this summer. Expert jamón cutters from all over the world will be competing to cut the perfect dish of wafer thin slices of jamón. On Estepona’s promenade by the sea, for nine days, there will be dozens of stalls selling high-quality products such as jamones, sausages, and other local specialties. The musical programme is another attraction of the Estepona festival. It will keep the party going into the evening.

It is a fiesta that is always on the calendar. It takes place every 15th of August, regardless if it is a weekend or a working day. Despite its name, it takes place all day long, as the first activities usually begin at 11am, with a customary mass in honour of the town’s patron saint, the Virgen de la Asunción. It is then followed by the annual grape treading by a well known figure. After this, one of the most anticipated moments of the day is the tasting of Migas de harina (a salad of potatoes, cod with oranges, onions, and olives), followed by muscatel grapes, local wine and arriera. The fiesta will continue at 10pm, with a speech and a flamenco festival.

Like the previous event, this one is scheduled for 15 August. It is held as part of a showcase of agricultural products from Coín and the surrounding area. The competition to determine which batch of ‘huevo de Toro’ is the best, and to find the best tomato variety (also known as a ‘bullsball’), is the highlight. After the competition, tomato are auctioned to attendees. Proceeds are donated to charity. The event takes place in a morning market format where you can purchase tomatoes and other agricultural produce directly from the local farmers. This event is not the only one that takes place in the province. Every year, the ‘Ruta del Tomate de Huevo de Toro,’ which allows you to taste the tomato in many different dishes, is also held in many restaurants.

Organisers say that the first edition of the food festival will take place during the last few days of August. It revolves around signature sandwiches, street foods, and fine dining. Fuengirola hosts seven renowned chefs who will offer creative ideas to appeal to sandwich-lovers.

Muscatel grapes shine not only in Axarquía but also in the westernmost town in the province of Malaga. Manilva celebrates the grape harvest on the first weekend in September. On 7 September there will be a traditional grape treading followed by the tasting of first grape juice (mosto) of the season. The day before, in the afternoon, the procession of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores will take place – which will also involve the grapes, distributed among visitors by local farmers.

It is one of the oldest events on the list of festivals in Almáchar and is usually held on the first Saturday in September. It began as an initiative to improve the roads, but has now become a popular attraction for those who love the summer dishes of Malaga. This event began in 1970, and this summer marks its 55th anniversary. The star is Ajoblanco, an Andalusian soup of bread, almonds and garlic. Visitors can cool down with a refreshing glass of muscatel during the muscatel season.

The Ethnographic Museum in Riogordo, which coincides with Noche de las Candelas will be hosting the symbolic grape-treading to celebrate the wine production tradition at this time of the year. The Ethnographic Museum of Riogordo, known for its verdials olives and its dedication to preserving the traditions that were lost over recent years, will host the symbolic grape treading.

It has been a long time since this festival was just tasting fried anchovies or anchovies pickled in vinegar along the promenade of Rincón de la Victoria. The event has evolved over the years, and although it remains free, restaurants and bars have started to host it in the area. The more recent culinary aspect of the event has become a clear reference point for September gastronomy in Andalucía. In recent years, there has been an extensive programme of activities such as live cooking demonstrations, Sabor a Málaga market and, of course, the aforementioned anchovy tasting.

In the Antequera Valley, the village of Mollina also celebrates the grape harvest. There are three major wineries in this area. Each produces high-quality wines including reds and whites as well as sweet and sparkling wines. Two events that you should not miss are the macro-tasting on Saturday, 13 September, and the bicycle parade decorated with grape harvest themes on Sunday. Over the course of a weekend, the festival includes live music as well as an afternoon fair.

It is a date marked on the calendar of the village that produces the largest quantity of aloreña olives in Malaga. This festival marks the start to the olive season, so the first ones of the year can be tried there. The Alozaina fair also has a religious component, as it is always held on the day of the Virgen del Dulce Nombre de María.

A stone’s throw from the Mediterranean, but within the ‘Corazón Moscatel’, in this village in the Axarquía region, the second Sunday of September is a special tribute to the grape farmers. The second Sunday of September is dedicated to those grape farmers who spend their harvests gathering the delicate, aromatic muscatel, which can then be turned into delicious wines, dried out in the sun, or eaten as a fruit.

The Malaga Goat Festival will take place on the third weekend in September. It will focus on the products and the agri-food cultures related to Malaga’s native goat breed. There will be a tapas tour, a market for cheese and various workshops. Three days will allow visitors to sample dishes prepared with goat’s milk and goat’s milk in various restaurants. Casabermeja will be offering guided tours to its main monuments.

The last Saturday in the summer will see another festival featuring sardine-skewers. It will take place in Marbella, with its tradition of seafood, followed by a party that will be held that evening on three of its most iconic beaches: Venus (Marbella), La Salida (San Pedro de Alcántara) and Las Chapas. Each of these beaches will host a moragas, an open air barbecue to taste one of Malaga’s most traditional dishes.

El Borge honors the sultanas produced from the Muscat Alexandria grape every third Sunday of September. This municipality is located on the Raisin Route and forms part of the tourist brand ‘Corazón Moscatel’ (alongside Almáchar and Moclinejo). On Sunday mornings, visitors will witness the growing of this crop and the productions of sultanas, wine, and other products. Other attractions for a visit to this village in La Axarquía are tastings of different dishes and folk music performances (verdiales).

* Throughout the summer there are other events in which local produce and dishes are given centre stage, such as the festival in the village of Los Pepones, where every second Saturday in August it is customary to distribute the fruit of the prickly pear cactus among the visitors in the evening.