Cultural and leisure activities program for christmas 2024
The City Council presents the programme of cultural and leisure activities for Christmas
The festive programme will begin this Friday, 29 November, with the switching on of the Christmas lights and will end with the traditional Three Kings Parade on 5 January, leaving from the Town Hall.
The Exhibition and Congress Palace will be one of the main venues, with a Christmas Fair for children and families, which will have an ice rink.
Estepona Town Hall has today presented the programme of cultural, festive and leisure activities that it has organised to celebrate Christmas.
The Councillor for Culture and Festivals, Macarena Diánez, explained that numerous events have been scheduled for the enjoyment of children and adults, most of them free, at different points, cultural spaces, streets and squares in Estepona. There will be concerts, nativity scene competitions, facades, musicals, ballets, flamenco zambombas, children's parties, charity events, gastronomic festivals, or the traditional New Year's concert.
The activities will begin this Friday, November 29, at 7:00 p.m., in El Paseíllo, with the inauguration of the comprehensive remodeling of Terraza Street, after which the Christmas lights will be switched on. The event will be enlivened by the Children's Christmas Carol Choir directed by Tina Kids, winner of the 2020 Latin Grammy for best children's music album, and the Estepona Pastorals 'Nostalgia Navideña' and 'Jesús Cautivo'. As a culmination of the official opening of Terraza Street, at 9:30 p.m. you can enjoy a concert by the Sevillian singer Juanlu Montoya in the Orquidario Botanical Park.
The Felipe VI Auditorium will once again host a wide variety of performances for all audiences, including the ballet show 'The Nutcracker' on Sunday 8 December, to benefit the Foundation for People with Functional Diversity in Estepona, Aprona.
Another of the important moments in this setting will be the traditional Christmas concert that the Municipal Band will offer on Saturday, December 14, under the direction of Maestro José Antonio López Camacho, accompanied by the Magnum Mysterium Choir of Estepona and the tenor Miguel Machado Orozco, and the XXIII Christmas Proclamation organized by the 24 Horas Deportivas Foundation, which will be led by the local historian José María Guerrero. In addition, this space will host on Sunday 15, the children's show 'Salacadula', with a tribute to Disney songs in a Jazz key.
The performances at the Auditorium will continue on Saturday 21st with the free Zambomba ''From Écija to Jerez'', one of the most typical cultural and festive customs of Andalusian folklore, with the performance of the Jerez guitarist Fernando del Morao and a cast of great artists, and will continue on Saturday 28th with the show ''The Spirit of Christmas'', a family event to benefit the Red Cross. Finally, on January 4th the traditional 'New Year's Concert' will be held, with the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Julio García-Vico.
Another place that will be in the spotlight during the Christmas holidays will be the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos (Exhibition and Congress Palace). From December 5 to January 6, it will host a Christmas Fair designed for children and adults, with an ice rink, rides, a playroom and other attractions, with free entry. Likewise, the Plaza del Ajedrez will host the traditional 'Santa Claus Christmas Village', where children will be welcomed by Santa Claus and can have fun with bouncy castles, workshops and artificial snow. It will be on Sunday 22 and Monday 23 December, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Also, as every year, one of the most eagerly awaited events by citizens is back: the 'Popi, Sabor a Málaga' Cheese Fair, which will be open to the public from 12 to 15 December.
The blessing and enthronement of Baby Jesus in the Municipal Nativity Scene will be held in Plaza del Rocío on Tuesday, December 17 at 8:00 p.m.
The Padre Manuel Cultural Centre will also be a musical stage this Christmas, with a recital by Belgian pianist Ben Roels on Wednesday 11 December, and the cello and piano concert 'Beyond Words' on 20 December, with musicians Adriana Rojo and Ángel Moya.
Christmas will also come to the outskirts. On Tuesday, December 10, there will be a competition for traditional Christmas sweets; on Friday the 13th, the Zambomba of Ana Soto, Baraka and company, and the Ana Guerrero Dance School; and on January 5, the traditional Three Kings parade.
For its part, Nueva Atalaya will celebrate, as every year, the representation of the Living Nativity Scene, which will be on Saturday, December 14, at 7:30 p.m., organized by the San Cristóbal residents' association.
The events to bid farewell to 2024 will end with the Popular End of Year Festival, which will once again take place in the Plaza del Reloj on December 31, and will feature the Perfect Band Show, free distribution of party favors, the traditional ringing of the bells to welcome the New Year and a grand fireworks display.
The Christmas activities programme will culminate with the children's party par excellence, the Three Wise Men. The events will begin on Friday, January 3, with the delivery of letters to the Royal Postman, in the Plaza Antonia Guerrero, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and will culminate on Sunday, January 5, with the reception of the Three Wise Men, from 11:00 a.m. in the Fairgrounds, and the children's show 'In search of the magic star', and with the great Cavalcade of the Three Wise Men, which will begin at 5:00 p.m. As a novelty, the parade of floats will start from the door of the City Hall, on Avenida Juan Carlos I, and will end in the Plaza Antonia Guerrero, where children will be able to deliver their letters to the Three Wise Men.