Beyond the big club parties, Ibiza keeps a calendar of traditional festivals tied to village patron saints and the island's rural culture. They are the best way to get to know the Ibizan soul.
The ball pagès
At almost every traditional festival people dance the ball pagès, the peasant dance of Ibiza and Formentera, one of the oldest in the Mediterranean. Men leap energetically, stamping and clacking castanyoles, large castanets, while women in traditional dress of full skirts, shawls and gold jewellery move with small, gliding steps, eyes lowered. The music is played on flute, drum and the espasí, a kind of triangle. The dance is often seen in church squares after mass.
The calendar
- Sant Antoni (17 January): patron saint festival of Sant Antoni de Portmany, with the blessing of animals.
- Carnival and Holy Week, with processions in Dalt Vila (see Holy Week).
- Santa Eulària's Festa de Maig (first Sunday in May), with a parade of floats, ball pagès and a flower and craft fair.
- Sant Joan (23-24 June): bonfires on the shortest night, especially in the village of Sant Joan de Labritja.
- Virgen del Carmen (16 July): fishermen's sea processions.
- Festes de la Terra (5-8 August): the island's most important festival, in Ibiza town, for the Catalan conquest of 1235 and Our Lady of the Snows, the island's patron, with concerts, fireworks and a procession in Dalt Vila (see history).
- Sant Bartomeu (24 August) in Sant Antoni, with big fireworks over the bay.
- Sant Josep (19 March), Sant Jordi (23 April) and festivals in small villages such as Sant Carles, Santa Gertrudis and Sant Miquel, each with its communal lunch.
- Christmas and New Year, with traditional sweets such as salsa de Nadal.
Dates and programmes are published by the town halls. See also cultural events and Spanish festivals.