Mark Your Calendars: The Essential Guide to Sitges’ Top 2026 Events (Confirmed Dates!)

If you follow our travels, you know that Sitges is our happy place. It’s that rare destination that manages to be a relaxing beach town, a cultural hub, and one of Europe’s wildest party capitals all at once.

While Sitges is wonderful any weekend of the year, the real magic happens when the town throws a party. And nobody throws a party quite like Sitges. Below are the confirmed dates for every major 2026 event, month by month.

Sitges 2026 Events at a Glance

Still to come this year: September Bears Week and the Wine Festival in early October. Everything above them has already taken place, so if you are planning a trip rather than looking back, skip to Autumn or straight to our Sitges 2027 events guide.

One constant whichever event you are chasing: accommodation sells out months ahead for the big weeks. Carnival, Pride and September Bears Week in particular.

Winter and Spring: February to May

Sitges Carnival: 10 to 18 February 2026

This is the big one to kick off the year. Sitges Carnival is legendary across Europe, easily rivalling the energy of far larger cities. For over a week the town is a riot of colour, incredible costumes and non-stop music.

Traveller tip: the main events are the massive parades on Sunday (Rua de la Disbauxa) and Tuesday (Rua de l’Extermini). If you want to sleep, don’t book a hotel on the parade route.

International Vintage Car Rally: 1 March 2026

For a complete change of pace, this event is pure elegance. Dozens of stunning pre-1924 vintage cars drive from Barcelona down to the port of Sitges, with drivers and passengers dressed in period clothing appropriate to the era of their car. A fantastic spectacle and a great excuse for a sunny Sunday lunch by the sea.

Easter Week, Semana Santa: 2 to 6 April 2026

Spring is a beautiful time to visit before the intense summer heat arrives. Easter in Sitges offers a mix of traditional Spanish culture and holiday atmosphere: solemn, stunningly beautiful religious processions winding through the narrow streets of the old town, coexisting with lively terraces and busy beaches.

May Bears Sitges: 30 April to 3 May 2026

Sitges is globally famous as an LGBTQ+ hotspot, and the Bears weeks are huge draws. The May event is the smaller, friendlier sibling to the massive September gathering, and it essentially marks the unofficial start of the summer beach season. Our full Bears Sitges Week guide covers both editions.

Summer: June to August

Corpus Christi: 7 June 2026

Perhaps our favourite aesthetic event of the year. For Corpus Christi the residents of Sitges spend hours creating intricate carpets of flower petals along the streets. The air smells amazing and the visual effect is stunning.

Traveller tip: arrive early in the morning to walk around and see the flower carpets before the religious procession walks over them in the evening.

Sitges Pride: 10 to 14 June 2026

Sitges Pride is ranked as one of the best small Prides in the world for a reason. The main stage sits on the beach promenade, the atmosphere is inclusive and energetic, and the Sunday parade along the seafront is pure joy. The whole town turns into one enormous, glittery celebration, and hotels will sell out for this week.

Fiesta Mayor, Sant Bartomeu: around 23 August 2026

This is the heart and soul of Catalan tradition. Fiesta Mayor honours the town’s patron saint with a festival that feels ancient and chaotic in the best way: traditional dances, towering human pyramids known as castellers, fire-breathing dragons in the streets, and on the night of the 23rd arguably the most spectacular fireworks display you will ever see, exploding directly over the church.

Autumn: September and October

September Bears Week: 4 to 13 September 2026

The bigger international Bears event closes out the high season, and it is one of the largest gatherings of its kind in Europe. The town is packed, the bars overflow, and the atmosphere is remarkably social for ten straight days. The seafront Bear Village runs from 7 September.

👉 Read our full Bears Sitges Week guide for the venues, the Bear Village and how the May and September editions differ.

The Wine Festival, Festa de la Verema: 2 to 4 October 2026

Sitges has deep winemaking roots, particularly famous for the sweet Malvasia. The grape harvest festival is a sophisticated and delicious weekend: gourmet food stalls along the beach, endless wine tasting, and the traditional grape-stomping competition. The perfect mellow autumn weekend and the last hurrah before the town quietens down.

Planning Ahead: Sitges 2027

The Sitges calendar repeats reliably year to year, but the exact dates move, and for Carnival and Easter they move a lot because they follow the church calendar. If you are booking beyond this year, we keep a separate guide with confirmed dates.

👉 See the Sitges 2027 events calendar, including Carnival 2027, which we have covered in detail separately.

Sitges Events: Your Questions Answered

What is on in Sitges in September 2026?

September Bears Week, from 4 to 13 September, is the major event and one of Europe’s largest bear gatherings. It closes the high season and the town is at capacity throughout.

When is Sitges Carnival?

February, following the church calendar, so the dates shift each year. In 2026 it ran from 10 to 18 February. The two parades to plan around are the Sunday Rua de la Disbauxa and the Tuesday Rua de l’Extermini.

When is Sitges Pride?

June. In 2026 it ran from 10 to 14 June, with the main stage on the beach promenade and the parade along the seafront on the Sunday.

What is the biggest event in Sitges?

Carnival in February is the biggest in overall scale and draws from across Europe. For LGBTQ+ visitors specifically, September Bears Week and Pride in June are the two that fill the town.

When should I book accommodation?

Months ahead for Carnival, Pride and September Bears Week. Sitges is a small town with a finite number of beds, and the good ones go first. For quieter weekends a few weeks is plenty.

Is Sitges worth visiting outside festival weeks?

Absolutely, and it is a different and calmer town. Bear in mind that winter sees reduced hours and some closures, so May to October is when everything is running.

Where to Stay

Staying in the old town within a few streets of the centre means you walk to everything, with the trade-off that the parade routes and the bar strip are loud until very late during festival weeks. The seafront and a couple of blocks back are quieter for a five-minute walk.

More Sitges from us: our full gay Sitges guide, the gay beach guide with maps, and the Bears Sitges Week guide.

Individual event guides: Full guide: Corpus Christi and the flower carpets and Festa Major de Sant Bartomeu.

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