Drink Festivals
February 2016Fiestas de Otono
A three-week extravaganza of sherry, horse-riding and flamenco, this is a joyous celebration of the wine harvest in Jerez de la Frontera, one of Spain's main sherry-producing towns.
The Festival opens with a celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady. The Queen of the Vintage and her handmaidens is drawn through the streets on a grape-festooned wagon. Sherry flows from the bodegas (sherry houses), and you can look forward to a packed programme of parties, concerts, exhibitions, bullfights and flamenco dancing. They can also go to a special mass, which precedes the annual blessing of the vines.
You can tour the vineyards, visit some of the famous sherry houses and sample the finest finos and manzanillas. At the Wine Harvest Market you can purchase local produce. 2016 dates are provisional.
