Medieval Festival in Guadalajara

Just an hour’s drive from the capital, a medieval town will reappear. For a few days, Hita, in Guadalajara, will become the setting for medieval battles and theatrical performances.

From 5 to 7 July, the town turns into a melting pot of shows, early music, jousting tournaments and open-air theatre. The market opens with dulzainas at Puerta de Caballos, and soon the squares fill with minstrels, dances, troubadours and medieval scenes emerging on every corner. Crispín d’Olot and Ali Kaskabel bring the Archpriest and his go-between to life, amid fictional weddings, micro-theatre and town criers’ proclamations.

The nights bring theatre among ruins, dances with death and jousts on horseback beneath the stars. Saturday culminates in a night-time combat show and the fantastic-medieval sound of Grimorium. On Sunday, crafts, musical talks and dulzaina farewells bring down the curtain on a weekend out of time.

The medieval festival was first held in 1980 and immediately became a festival of national tourist interest, and it will now be held for the 63rd time.