Olarizu Pilgrimage - arabaturismo

On Monday 11 September, Vitoria-Gasteiz will hold the traditional Olarizu pilgrimage. The event is held on the first Monday of September after the 8th, and has been celebrated since the 19th century in the fields of Olarizu, where the tradition is to climb to the cross at the top of the mountain.

The festival programme starts at 9:00 am with the sounds of the Municipal Txistularis Band in the Plaza de España, where the 9.9 kilometre milestone route begins.

Meanwhile, residents of Alava flock to the fields of Olarizu where they can enjoy traditional pastries like doughnuts and Basque pies commonly eaten on this occasion. There are also booths with craft charcuterie, natural cosmetics, nuts and, of course, txosna bars where you can have a drink and try the traditional talo, a corn flatbread similar to an arepa.

At midday, the traditional bean stew feast begins and there are a number of activities planned for all audiences in the afternoon. These include bounce houses, concerts, Gargantúa (a huge figure through whose mouth children crawl and slide down the back) and Basque dance. The festival ends at 8:45 pm in Plaza de España with the traditional running of the toro de fuego, a metal structure shaped like a bull with fireworks attached to it.

See the full programme here.