What to do in Galicia from April 1 to 10

01-03 abril 

Fiesta de Encuentro Degustación del Maíz Cuervo (Bueu, Pontevedra)

This gastronomic fair, organised by the Meiro Cultural Association, is held for the ethnographic, educational, cultural and gastronomic recovery of the crow corn. This curious variety of black corn is practically extinct in the Morrazo region. 

At this meeting, attendees have the opportunity to taste all kinds of products made with crow corn flour: bread, cakes, pies, pies… The public gets to know the natural cycle of crow corn between workshops and exhibitions, as well as the popular architecture, the different farming tools and implements.

During the weekend there will also be performances by popular groups, guided tours, storytelling, workshops on traditional trades, talks, screenings… It is worth visiting the Ecotaberna, where you can find recipes made with crow corn and the sale of village products.

01-03 abril 

Fiesta de la Uña – Romería de San Lázaro (Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña)

This celebration coincides with the Fifth Sunday of Lent, which gives way to Holy Week with Palm Sunday. The Compostela neighborhood of San Lázaro celebrates this Fiesta de la Uña, one of its most traditional religious and gastronomic festivities.

In this festivity, the image of San Lázaro is carried in procession from the chapel to the festival field, where an open-air sung mass is held before the image of the saint is returned to the church. Every year, various religious services are held in honor of San Lázaro, as well as the great auction of hooves and other pieces of pork offered to the saint.

During these days, many locals go to the restaurants in the neighborhood, located on the French Way, to taste the most popular dish: las uñas – the pig’s hands – with cabbage bertones with chorizo sausage and potatoes. Enjoy one of the oldest celebrations in the city.

02-03 abril 

Fiesta de la Ostra de Arcade (Soutomaior, Pontevedra)

The Oyster Festival is one of the most famous in Vigo, promoting the consumption of an essential product in the town’s economy. This festival has been held since 1987 thanks to the producers, pioneers in marketing and exporting this prized seafood to Spanish and European markets.

It was the famous Galician writer Álvaro Cunqueiro who considered this bivalve mollusc to be an essential delicacy to start a seafood feast, because of “its spiritual flavour, which is like a saudade of the sea”. And the truth is that more than 100,000 oysters are distributed during this event, and more than 25,000 people come to Arcade to taste its authentic flavour from the waters of the river Verdugo.

Oysters are eaten all year round, cooked or raw, although the perfect month for tasting them is April. It may be so successful because of its aphrodisiac power, although it is worth noting that pairing it with white wine makes for an impressive pairing. 

Dozens of people gather in the marquee on the quayside in Arcade to eat the oysters with lemon. There will also be stalls with portions of oyster empanada or pickled oysters for sale, as well as bottles of albariño from Soutomaior. Enjoy the fireworks, the children’s entertainment activities, the parades and the musical performances included in the programme of this celebration.

10 abril 

Feria del Vino de Amandi (Sober, Lugo)

This great meeting of the Amandi Wine Fair takes place in the fairgrounds in the Town Hall Square of Sober, and already has 130 years of history. The brass band that plays and entertains the streets is one of the oldest in Galicia, as well as being one of the symbols of this town in Lugosa. 

In this fair you can get a glimpse of the way of life of the area, with craft stalls that show the importance of the ancient pottery pieces in the work of the winegrowers.

The winemakers take the opportunity to sell hundreds of bottles of their mencía wine, while visitors have the chance to taste them along with other exclusive products also on sale. These include cheeses, bread, honey from the Ribeira Sacra and Millán’s roscones, the latter of which are highly prized for their quality and increasingly in demand.

This festival brings together thousands of people to highlight the importance of wine production in the area. As well as the prestige of a wine that has been cultivated since the monastic orders settled in the socalcos of the Ribeira Sacra, on the steep slopes of the Cañones del Sil. Undoubtedly, a topography that makes it difficult to work the vines, which is why this viticulture is considered heroic.

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