Festivals & events in Santiago de Compostela

Santiago doesn't need much of an excuse to celebrate, but it does have a handful of dates that genuinely shape the year. Below is what is on today and over the next seven days, pulled live from the council and Turismo de Santiago listings, plus the exhibitions open right now; after that, what's still ahead in the 2026-2027 calendar, and then the 2026 editions that have already taken place, as a guide to dates and prices. Once you've picked a date, our Santiago itineraries guide helps fill in the rest of the days around it.

What’s on today in Santiago?

Today, 13 September, there are 2 eventsbetween the council programme, Turismo de Santiago’s listings and the Cathedral’s calendar: time not published; 19:00 at Sala Capitol. What each one actually is shows up in the week table just below, and unless stated otherwise entry is free.

What’s on this weekend?

From 13 September to 20 September: everything with a fixed day and time, which unless stated otherwise is free. It updates itself from the council listings, Turismo de Santiago’s and the Cathedral’s liturgical calendar; even so, last-minute times do move. Event names are left in Galician or Spanish, as they appear on the poster.

Exhibitions open right now in Santiago

Whatever the week looks like, Santiago has 15 exhibitions open right now across 9 venues, plus 5 runs that are still going, 10 of them free. They are sorted by closing date, so what is at the top is what you have least time left to see. Titles are left as the venue publishes them, in Galician or Spanish.

The venues sit closer together than the list suggests: the CGAC and the Museo do Pobo Galego share a corner at San Domingos de Bonaval, the Granell Foundation and the Casa do Cabido are inside the old town, and the Cidade da Cultura holds half a dozen shows up on the Gaiás hill, twenty minutes uphill on foot or a ride on the C11 bus. They are all in what to see in Santiago, and they are the plan that holds up best on a rainy day. Closing dates are the ones each venue publishes and sometimes get extended; opening dates do not.

That’s the week itself. This page also covers the big fixtures of the year, the ones planned months ahead. If you’re reading this later, or you want everything that is on the weekend you’re in town — concerts, theatre, exhibitions, markets — two council sources publish the full listings and update them weekly: the Concello’s cultural agenda (compostelacultura.gal, in Galician) and Turismo de Santiago’s listings. As a rule of thumb: there is something on most weekends at the Auditorio de Galicia, the Teatro Principal and Zona C, and in summer the programme moves out to the squares of the old town and the Alameda, usually free. If the week you are here looks thin, the rest of Galicia is close enough to fill it: Padrón is 15 minutes by train, A Coruña 30-40 and Fisterra about two hours by coach, all covered in day trips from Santiago.

The calendar at a glance

What's coming up

About the botafumeiro on 1 November: right now it is out of action. The Cathedral itself confirmed to santiago.es in writing on 5 September 2026 that it is still out of service: the scaffolding for the cimborrio restoration covers the mechanism it hangs from, and there is no date for its return. On its website it has published no notice and has not changed its liturgical calendar, so that programme may go ahead without the censer. We cover it in the botafumeiro guide.

Already held, for reference

The Feast of the Apostle

The city's great patronal festival, running from 22 to 31 July, with 25 July marking St James's Day and Galicia's National Day. The most photographed moment of the year is the Fuegos del Apóstol fireworks display, launched over two nights — 24 and 31 July — from 23:30, lasting 15 to 18 minutes. It's fired simultaneously from three points across the city — the Alameda, the Cidade da Cultura and Parque de Carlomagno — forming what locals call the "crown of fire," visible from several viewpoints around the city, not only from Praza do Obradoiro. If you want a good spot, arrive early: the old town fills to capacity those nights. The 2026 edition is over — it ran from 22 to 31 July — and the 2027 one will be the first inside the Xacobeo Holy Year, so expect bigger crowds than usual. Our guide to visiting during the 2027 Holy Year covers exactly how to plan around that.

Ascension: the warm-up act

Ten weeks earlier, in early or mid-May, comes the Ascension Festival, traditionally regarded as the appetiser for July's bigger celebrations. There's a livestock fair, funfair rides for all ages, the Romaría das Flores, and the ComposFest concert series, plus the pulpo á feira stalls that set up in the Alameda fairground. It's a more local affair, with fewer tourists and more neighbourhood atmosphere. In 2026 it ran from 13 to 17 May, with Thursday 14 as the central day; in 2027 Ascension falls on Thursday 6 May and the programme is built around that weekend, though the exact dates aren't confirmed yet.

Holy Week

The next one runs from 21 to 28 March 2027, with Easter Sunday on 28 March: eleven brotherhoods organise a total of seventeen processions through the streets of the old town, accompanied by drums, gaitas (Galician bagpipes) and municipal bands. In 2026, which ran from 27 March to 5 April, an indoor backup plan was designed for the processions in case of rain for the first time — hardly unusual in Galicia at this time of year, as our weather guide explains — so if you're coming to watch, bring an umbrella and have a mental Plan B.

Festivals: O Son do Camiño and Feito a Man

O Son do Camiño is the city's big music festival, held at Monte do Gozo — the same spot where pilgrims on the Camino Francés catch their first glimpse of the Cathedral's towers. It runs for three days in June: the 2026 edition was on 18, 19 and 20 June, headlined by acts including Linkin Park, Katy Perry, The Chemical Brothers, Bad Bunny and Liam Gallagher, with a three-day pass from 59 € — a reasonable guide to the cost. Dates and line-up for 2027 have not been announced yet; they usually land between January and March. In August, smaller and free, comes Feito a Man, a street festival born in 2003 that fills the old town's landmark squares — more than thirty events in all — with concerts and cultural activities: Praza de Feixóo, Rúa de Xelmírez, Praza da Quintana and San Paio de Antealtares.

Film and culture: Cineuropa

Every November, the Cineuropa Film Festival turns central Santiago into a permanent European cinema. The 39th edition, in November 2025, screened more than 140 films at Teatro Principal, Salón Teatro, NUMAX and Auditorio de Galicia, under the slogan "Out of autumn and out of the shadows." The 2026 edition will also be held in November, but the dates and programme aren't out yet: they usually land in October. If you're travelling then, it's worth checking the programme even if you're not much of a film buff: many screenings are free or very affordable.

Christmas in Compostela

The light switch-on marks the start of the Christmas season — it was 28 November in the 2025-2026 season, and the 2026 date is announced in the autumn — lighting up Praza da Quintana, the Alameda and the whole historic centre until after Epiphany, on 6 January. The city sets up several markets, among them the Carreira do Conde market and the Mercado da Estrela, which in 2025 ran from 19 to 21 December; its 2026 dates and venues are confirmed in late autumn. There's an ice rink, a visit from the Apalpadora — the traditional Galician figure equivalent to Santa Claus — a New Year's Eve run, and a Three Kings' Parade. It's one of the best times to see the old town with fewer tourists and more lights.

Xacobeo: the year that changes everything

The Xacobeo, or Compostelan Holy Year, is a jubilee year celebrated only when 25 July falls on a Sunday, following an irregular cycle of 6, 5, 6 and 11-year intervals. During that year, pilgrims who complete the Camino, visit the Cathedral and pass through the Holy Door can obtain the plenary indulgence. The last Xacobeo was celebrated exceptionally as a double cycle, 2021-2022, extended because of the pandemic. The next natural Holy Year is Xacobeo 2027, and the Holy Door will open solemnly on the afternoon of 31 December 2026, staying open for all 365 days of the following year. After 2027, the next Holy Years fall in 2032, 2038 and 2049.