Malaga Festivals Not to Be Missed

There are many festivals in Malaga that not everyone knows. The Malaga Film Festival monopolizes all the headlines of the local, national and international press year after year. However, there are many other extraordinary events that you will love when looking for things to do in Malaga. In this post we want to gather all these local events and festivals for you to combine with Malaga’s cultural guide PREÁMBULO. You will never be bored!

• 2021
• June
  • Los Jardines de La Térmica 2021
• July
  • Festival Terral 2021
  • Acompasao
• August
• October
  • 27 French Film Festival
• November
  • 35 International Jazz Festival

Los Jardines de La Térmica 2021: Multidisciplinary Festival in Malaga

La Térmica | Malaga

June 25 – July 31

This Malaga event celebrates its second edition, between June 25th and July 31st, thanks to the success achieved in 2020 by proposing safe and outdoor activities. Last year about 1300 people enjoyed one of the few Malaga festivals that in 2020 offered pop, trap, indie and electronic concerts from the local and national scene.

This year, in addition to concerts, the festival Los Jardines de La Térmica 2021 offers a symphonic programme and three theatre proposals. The symphonic programme will be performed by the Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra, but will also feature special sessions of symphonic flamenco, symphonic jazz and symphonic tango. The theatre proposals will be led by Kinexcencia and its stage improvisation laboratory, Roberto from Popacaemia Fama and La cabra from Espejo Negro.

The concert programme will be headed by Dani & Glenn Brath DJ, Chico Blanco & Innerkid DJ, Ladilla Rusa & You To Me DJ and Dreyma & Festiboy DJ. In case this is not enough for you, July 24th will be Transdisciplinary Night, a night in which visual artists, musicians, dancers and actors collaborate on an interdisciplinary project that offers a scenic, visual and musical experience without labels.

Festival Terral 2021 in the Heart of Malaga

Teatro Cervantes | Malaga

July 5 – July 31

The Terral Festival is one of the most awaited Malaga events. In its 2021 edition it fills the stage of the Cervantes Theatre in the capital of the Costa del Sol with top-notch national and international artists. From Mariza to Kiko Veneno, as well as Broukar and its Syrian rotating dervishes.

On July 5th, the new edition of the Terral Festival kicks off with Noa’s return to the Malaga stage, four years after her last visit. In addition, those attending the festival will be able to enjoy two performances by Rocío Molina and one of the most respected voices in Spain, that of the soprano Ainhoa Arteta.

In addition to Noa, the Portuguese Mariza and Salvador Sobral bring the international scene to this Malaga festival, as well as German-Nigerian Ayo and Broukar and their dervishes, who come from Syria. This year, as a novelty, we can also enjoy Terral… in your area, a series of Malaga events that offer free concerts of jazz, swing, blues, flamenco and country that can be enjoyed in the different neighbourhoods of Malaga.

Write down the dates from July 5th to 31st, because this Malaga festival stands out for its feminine prominence and its intimate and warm atmosphere like the authentic “terral” wind brings to the city.

Acompasao: Flamenco Festival in Malaga

Cerro de San Cristobal | Velez-Malaga

July 30 – August 20

Among the various festivals in Malaga dedicated to flamenco, at Hotel Alcazaba Premium we would like to recommend the Acompasao festival for its wonderful setting in Cerro de San Cristobal in Velez-Malaga, the capital of the Axarquia region (just 30 minutes from Malaga city) and for its excellent programme.

This year, in its fifth edition, the organizers of this festival will allow us to enjoy the art and flamenco fusion of Cristian de Moret, Alba Molina, Lin Cortés and Diego Amador.

Every Friday from July 30th, with the inauguration by Cristian de Moret, flamenco singer and multi-instrumentalist, until the closing ceremony on August 20th, with pianist Diego Amador, flamenco lovers have an appointment in Velez-Malaga. Alba Molina will delight the attendees with a tribute to her parents, the legendary Lole and Manuel, and Lin Cortés will bring us closer to the freshest and most renewed flamenco that he himself defines as “Gipsy Evolution”.

If you were looking for things to do in Malaga to enjoy flamenco, now you have no excuses.

French Film Festival

Cine Albéniz | Centre Pompidou | Alliance Française Malaga | La Térmica | Malaga

October 15th – October 22nd

The French Film Festival is one of the most important events in Malaga due to its international character. A large number of actors, directors and other icons of French cinema gather every year in our city to show the diversity that exists in French-speaking creation. In addition, this 2021 edition presents 12 unpublished films in Spain in which an idea of a more colourful and hopeful future is proposed.

This Malaga festival shows its official section in the well-known Cine Albéniz and organizes various parallel activities at the Centre Pompidou Malaga, La Térmica and the new headquarters of the Alliance Française Malaga. A wide range of scenes in which attendees will enjoy a varied programme with Canadian and Belgian premieres and a tribute to the French film icon Jean-Paul Belmondo. In addition, great artists such as Catherine Frot, Fabienne Berthaud, Aurélie Sadaa, Elisa Kwamé and Luc Roux will visit Malaga during the festival to exhibit their works. And do not forget that, given the excellent location of our Hotel Alcazaba Premium, the French Film Festival is also enjoyed in our facilities. Just a step away from the Cine Albéniz, you can attend an exclusive event at La Terraza de la Alcazaba while enjoying our exquisite signature cocktails.

Write down the dates if you do not want to miss anything of this incredible edition, in which you can enjoy the exclusive premiere in Spain of the Canadian Aline, of Valérie Lemercier, inspired by Céline Dion’s life and with scenes shot in Malaga, or the debut of Aurélie Sadaa, Laura Wandel and Chloé Mazlo. Also, if you don’t know what to do in Malaga to enjoy outdoor music, attend the first concert in Spain of the promising Elisa Kwamé. Finally, know the most important faces of French cinema in the last 40 years thanks to the first exhibition in Spain of the photographer Luc Roux, who will fill the new headquarters of the French Alliance. Get your ticket!

International Jazz Festival

Cervantes Theatre | Malaga

November 4th – November 10th

Malaga’s festivals are back with fully charged batteries and a great cultural offer. Such is the case of the International Jazz Festival of Malaga which, this year, will have seven performances in outdoor spaces and with reduced capacity. Considering the good weather that characterizes our city, we cannot think of a better way to enjoy jazz than in an outdoor concert.

Thus, from November 4th to 10th Malaga will host the twenty-fifth edition of this international festival which aims to restore normality through jazz and which will delight attendees with five performances of international level and two of a high level within the local scene.

On November 4th, the American vocalist José James will be in charge of opening the festival with his No beginning no end 2 and will be accompanied by eleven musicians on stage. He will be followed by the Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan, who presents ten original songs in trio format within the project The call within.

The third guest for this series of events in Malaga is the versatile Richard Bona, African bass player, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is accompanied by Alfredo Rodríguez, musical director of all the recent projects of Quincy Jones. Kyle Eastwood will star in the fourth performance. The musician, composer and actor, winner of the Malaga Jazz Prize and son of the Oscar-winner Clint Eastwood, presents Cinematic, in which he will perform great cinema’s themes in a jazz format.

We continue with drummer and percussionist Toni Di Geraldo, awarded with the Cifu Prize and who arrives with Concert Bal, a set of rhapsodies in which innumerable styles converge such as jazz, Latin, flamenco, Maghreb and copla, as well as own compositions and versions. Finally, the festival will close this edition with the performances of the Malaga saxophonist and composer Tete Leal with Five Elements and with the American vocalist Robin McKelle and her eighth album Alterations.

Now that you know, write down the dates and don’t miss out on this wide range of concerts in Malaga.

And remember, keep an eye out for the latest updates on this publication if you don’t want to miss the most outstanding festivals and events in Malaga. Because at Hotel Alcazaba Premium we want to make you enjoy great experiences when you walk through our doors and also when you go out to discover the life of the city.