What Is The Festival In San Sebastian Spain 2026?

San Sebastián, the Basque city on La Concha bay in Gipuzkoa, Spain, whose official name is Donostia / San Sebastián, does not have one festival in 2026. It has a chain of them, and most of their dates are not chosen fresh each year but fixed by rules that have held for decades. Semana Grande, the city's big summer festival, always runs the week of 15 August, Saturday to Saturday. The film festival closes the September that follows. Anyone asking which festival is on during their trip first needs to know which week they are travelling, because the answer changes almost month by month.

What Is The Festival In San Sebastian Spain 2026?

The headline festival of San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain in 2026 was Semana Grande, or Aste Nagusia in Basque, which ran from Saturday 8 to Saturday 15 August and always occupies the week of 15 August. It includes the International Fireworks Competition over La Concha bay. Beyond it, the city's 2026 calendar carried the 74th San Sebastián International Film Festival from 18 to 26 September, the 61st Jazzaldia, and the La Concha regattas on the first two Sundays of September.

So the honest answer depends on the month. A visitor arriving in mid-August walks into Semana Grande: nine days of concerts, fairground rides on the seafront, brass bands, and a fireworks competition in which teams from different countries fire over the water from near the Peine del Viento, with the crowd lined along the railing. A visitor arriving three weeks later walks into the film festival instead, when the Kursaal becomes the festival's main venue and the city fills with industry guests and cinema fans. Both are huge, and both are annual, but they are entirely different animals. The full calendar lives on the San Sebastian festivals guide, and the two events below each get their own section here.

Which Festivals Fill The San Sebastian Calendar In 2026?

San Sebastián's 2026 calendar held six major events with published dates or rules: Tamborrada on 20 January, Semana Grande from 8 to 15 August, Quincena Musical from 2 to 30 August, the La Concha regattas on 6 and 13 September, the film festival from 18 to 26 September, and the Behobia-San Sebastián race on 8 November. The Santo Tomás fair closes the year on 21 December. Jazzaldia's 61st edition also ran in 2026, though its exact dates are not stated here.

The table below shows each event with the rule that fixes it and what the 2026 edition looked like. The rule matters more than the date: anyone planning a 2027 trip should anchor on the rule, then check the organiser's page for the year they travel, because only Tamborrada and Santo Tomás sit on the same calendar day every single year.

Two of these belong to the city's identity more than the rest. Tamborrada, the drum festival on 20 January, fills the old town with marching companies in 19th-century dress from the early hours onward; the tourism board gives the date but not the start and end hours, so anyone wanting to catch the opening should check the organisers for their year. The regattas, first rowed in 1879 and with a women's flag since 2008, are the oldest fixture of all: crews in traineras, the long Basque rowing boats, race across the bay in front of a packed promenade, with the women's race at 11:00 and the men's at 12:00 on each of the two Sundays.

Festival weeks are also the weeks when the city is fullest, and the hotel data shows it plainly. In 2025, the last full year of INE hotel figures for the city, August recorded 245,769 overnight stays, the peak of the year, against 115,910 in January: a little over twice as many. July and August together carried 22 percent of the year's hotel nights, and no month from April to October dropped below 200,000. Anyone booking for Semana Grande should expect the busiest rooms market of the year, and anyone who wants the city quieter should look at the shoulder months instead.

Festival-going and eating run together in this city, and the weeks when the calendar peaks are exactly the weeks when the Old Town bars are hardest to get into. A guided food walk solves that problem, and three of the best options for a festival week sit below.

The pintxo tour above is capped at eight guests, which matters most in August, and the audio option suits anyone whose days are blocked out with festival tickets.

What Is Semana Grande And When Does It Run?

Semana Grande, called Aste Nagusia in Basque, is San Sebastián's main festival and always runs the week of 15 August, Saturday to Saturday. In 2026 it ran from 8 to 15 August. Its centrepiece is the International Fireworks Competition, fired over La Concha bay each night of the festival week, alongside concerts, a fairground and street bands across the city.

The fireworks are the part that gives the festival its shape. Each night a different competing company fires a display from a barge position near the west end of the bay, and the crowd gathers along the entire promenade, on Ondarreta, on the sand of La Concha itself, and up on Monte Igueldo, where the funicular has carried passengers since 1912. The competition is international and judged, and the tourism board treats it as the festival's signature event. The rest of the programme spreads across open-air stages, with the fairground on the seafront and free concerts running late. Other pages covering the same trip are gathered on San Sebastian Spain Guide.

The week is not the only thing on. Quincena Musical, the classical music festival, ran its 87th edition from 2 to 30 August 2026, so it overlaps Semana Grande entirely and adds symphony concerts and recitals to a week already full of brass bands and pop stages. A visitor in mid-August can hear a fireworks crowd on the beach at midnight and a chamber concert the following afternoon. The fuller picture of the week, including how the days usually flow, is on the Semana Grande guide, and the question of how many days the festival actually lasts has its own answer on how long the San Sebastian festival lasts.

One practical note that belongs to August specifically: the beaches. The lifeguard service on all three city beaches runs from 1 June to 30 September, with full hours of 10:00 to 20:00 from 15 June to 15 September. In August, bathing happens under supervision and the seafront is at its fullest, so festival days and beach days are the same days.

What Is The San Sebastian Film Festival?

The San Sebastián International Film Festival is one of Europe's long-running film festivals, and its 74th edition ran from 18 to 26 September 2026. Its principal venue is the Kursaal, the Rafael Moneo building by the mouth of the Urumea, which was officially inaugurated on 23 August 1999. The festival turns the city into an industry town for ten days, with premieres, red carpets and screenings across central venues.

The Kursaal is the anchor. Six architects were invited to design it, including Foster, Isozaki and Rafael Moneo, and Moneo's proposal was chosen in 1990; activity began in the Chamber Hall on 3 June 1999 and the building was officially inaugurated that August. During the festival its halls host the main galas, and the surrounding streets of Gros and the centre fill with badge-holders, queues and satellite events. Where exactly the festival's venues sit is covered on where the San Sebastian film festival is held, and the question of its standing among festivals has a separate answer on whether the San Sebastian film festival is prestigious.

September is a good month to test the festival against the weather, because the city's climate does not switch off for it. AEMET's normals for its Igeldo station show September averaging 111 mm of rain over about 10 rain days, against 86 mm in July, the driest month. The film festival is an indoor-and-evening festival by nature, and a waterproof layer belongs in the bag. The station sits 250 m up on Monte Igeldo, so the seafront runs slightly warmer than the published values.

Festival September is also regatta September. The Bandera de La Concha was rowed on 6 and 13 September 2026, the first two Sundays of the month, with the women's race at 11:00 and the men's at 12:00. A visitor who times the second festival week well can stand on the promenade in the morning for a rowing final that has been held since 1879 and queue for a premiere the same evening. The film festival guide carries the fuller detail on the event itself.

What About Jazzaldia And The Rest Of The Year?

Jazzaldia, the San Sebastián Jazz Festival, held its 61st edition in 2026, making it one of the oldest jazz festivals in Europe, though its exact 2026 dates are not published here and should be checked with the festival. Outside the summer, the calendar is anchored by Tamborrada on 20 January, the Behobia-San Sebastián race on 8 November 2026, and the Santo Tomás fair on 21 December, a Basque-country fair day that fills the city with stalls and farm produce.

Jazzaldia's history is the point: six decades of continuous running means its July and September slots have hosted most of the major names in jazz, and its free open-air stages by the water draw the biggest daytime crowds of the festival summer outside Semana Grande itself. The dates move within the summer, so the rule to give is simply that it happens every year and that the festival's own page carries the calendar. The Jazzaldia guide collects what is fixed about it.

November and December close the year with two very different events. The Behobia-San Sebastián, a road race that starts across the French border and finishes in the city, held its 61st edition on 8 November 2026, and it is the one day of the year when the final kilometres are walled with spectators. Santo Tomás on 21 December is quieter and older in feel: a fair with stalls, talo bread with txistorra, and cider, spread from the centre out through the neighbourhoods, and the closest thing the city has to a folk day. Neither needs a ticket to watch.

For anyone whose trip does not line up with any of these, the city does not stop. The pintxo bars of the Parte Vieja run every evening, the bay boat to Santa Clara Island sails its high season from 1 June to 30 September, and the Peine del Viento, Eduardo Chillida's three steel sculptures anchored to the rocks at the foot of Monte Igeldo, stands in the surf all year. The full list of options, festival or not, is on the things to do in San Sebastian page, and eating remains the city's daily festival, which is where the culinary walk below fits any week of the year.

A festival week in San Sebastián is really two trips at once: the programmed event, and the city around it. Check the organiser for the year being travelled, book rooms early for August, and let the calendar pick the festival.

Common Questions About San Sebastian Festivals

What is the festival in San Sebastian Spain 2026?

The main festival of San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain in 2026 was Semana Grande, or Aste Nagusia, which ran from 8 to 15 August and always occupies the week of 15 August. The 74th film festival followed from 18 to 26 September 2026, with the La Concha regattas on 6 and 13 September between them.

Is San Sebastian worth visiting outside festival weeks?

Yes. The pintxo bars, the beaches, Monte Urgull and Monte Igueldo, and the bay boat to Santa Clara Island all run through the warmer months regardless of the festival calendar, and the shoulder months carry fewer crowds.

When is the San Sebastian film festival held?

The San Sebastián International Film Festival runs for about ten days in the second half of September. Its 74th edition ran from 18 to 26 September 2026, with the Kursaal as the principal venue.

What date is Tamborrada held on?

Tamborrada, the drum festival, is held on 20 January every year. The tourism board gives the date but not the start and end hours, so check the organisers for the year being travelled.

Does it rain during the summer festivals in San Sebastian?

It can. AEMET's Igeldo station records 86 mm of rain in July, the driest month, and 117 mm in August, so a waterproof layer belongs in the bag even for Semana Grande.

How old are the La Concha regattas?

The Bandera de La Concha was first held in 1879, and the women's flag has been rowed for since 2008. The races are held on the first two Sundays of September, women at 11:00 and men at 12:00.