The Old Town was alive for Carnival last night – with a parade of more than 1,500 people. Unusually for Spain, it started bang on time at 9:30pm, with 78 groups and a dozen individuals dressed in a variety of eye-catching outfits, marching down the length of the Avenida Ruzafa and finishing at the town hall square. The roadside was lined with cheering spectators and the requisite loudspeakers pumped out music that even made the pavements vibrate!

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Benidorm did it again, seeing thousands turn out for the annual British Fancy Dress Day, which always takes place the day after the official Benidorm fiesta ends. The beginning of the week was marred with grey skies and rain – coincidentally, the same as last year, but this morning the sky was a perfect blue and the sun was certainly shining down to greet all those who descended for what has been deemed Europe’s biggest fancy dress party! The entire Calle Gerona was closed to traffic, as were many of the street running off it, giving revelers free reign to party… and boy, do the Brits know how to party!

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Thankfully the predicted downpours didn’t materialize this afternoon and the highlight of Pride Week – the colourful parade, went ahead. Even Her Majesty made an appearance as well as plenty of other queens! There was an abundance of rainbow flags, colourful and sometimes barely there outfits as well as lots of cheeky feathers.

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The event of the year took place in Benidorm today – the British Fancy Dress Day and boy what a day it was. This year certainly appeared to beat all expectations as the entire length of Calle Gerona was jam packed, from Western Saloon all the way past Jumping Jacks. It is also the first year that roads have been blocked off to traffic –not just Calle Gerona but all the roads running off it too, with National and Local Police out in numbers.

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The long awaited Benidorm Fiesta is nearly upon us and hopefully today´s torrential rain will be long gone by Friday when the Fiesta Queens turn on the lights at 6pm to mark the beginning of the celebrations. After that they will all head to the fair – located next to the Bull Ring to officially open it and at 10pm all the peñas will parade down Calle Ruzafa – and so ends Day One of the Benidorm Fiesta!

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The sun shone – well for the first half of the day at least and Calle Gerona in the Rincon de Loix turned green to celebrate the Patron Saint of Ireland. St Patrick’s day is big business here in Benidorm and many of the bars embraced the occasion, with bunting, flags, balloons and shamrocks decorating their premises. Most dressed up – although there was one very brave gent wearing not much apart from his shamrock glasses and Guinness hat… but then this is Benidorm!

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Today was British Fancy Dress Day in Benidorm – which always takes place the day after the end of the Benidorm fiestas. Things didn’t look too good this morning as the heavens opened under dark grey skies, but fortunately, by midday it had cleared and there was even a little bit of sun poking through in between the clouds. Revellers started to appear on Calle Gerona soon after midday, which had been closed off to traffic to allow the anticipated crowds to roam freely.

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The famed British fancy dress day took place today, Thursday 17 transforming parts of the Rincon de Loix area of Benidorm into a giant street carnival. The sun was blazing and revellers started to appear on Calle Gerona before midday, which had been closed off to traffic to allow the anticipated crowds of an estimated 30,000 to roam safely. The costumes were simply amazing...

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I think that when everyone woke up yesterday morning and looked outside their hearts sunk - it was pouring with rain! Considering that temperatures had been in the late 20´s with blazing sun only the previous week it was very disappointing - but fear not. By late morning the clouds were breaking and by noon the sun was shining - I bet you could almost hear the sign of relief from all the bar owners!

Yesterday saw the traditional "British Fancy Dress" day which always follows the end of the Benidorm fiesta. Thousands turned out in all manner of "attire" ranging from playboy bunnies, nurses, soldiers, policeman, cavemen, cartoon characters - the list and imagination really was endless! They all congregated from 2pm onwards in "The Square" when the drinking and fun began.

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Love them or loath them, All Inclusive holidays are seen as a god send to some - mainly families with children. The Council met to discuss the impact and consequences of this sector yesterday, initiated by the PSOE opposition party during the summer, but to no avail.

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If any place knows how to do fancy dress then it’s definitely the party capital that is Benidorm! Official town hall figures estimate that 35,000 people attended this year and many still appear to be here. The assortment and variety of costumes was incredible – some a little near the knuckle when it comes to taste, but hey ho, this is probably to be expected here, but full marks for effort. The entire Calle Gerona, as well as roads leading down to it, were closed to traffic, with numerous gun-totting National police on stand-by. Thankfully there was no sign of any serious trouble, just typical drink induced scuffles, which are the norm here when people have been drinking for hours on end!

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 There is still over a week to go, but Benidorm is already gearing up for British fancy dress day – due to take place here on Thursday, November 17. Many bars - predominantly along calle Gerona, the epic centre of celebrations, have already hung up the bunting in preparation for the arrival of tens of thousands of Brits in all manner of fancy dress.

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The traditional Castell de l´Olla midnight firework display took place in Altea last night (Saturday, August 13) following a two-year absence due to the pandemic. The event is the biggest firework display in the entire country, attracting tens of thousands to the area and a great and much needed boost to the local economy. 

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Many holidaymakers, especially those only coming to Benidorm for a long weekend, opt for hand luggage only for speed of disembarkation on arrival. But with limited space in the overhead lockers, tempers are often raised when travelers find no room left. A standard aircraft has space for approximately 90 pieces of hand luggage of the specified size, although no doubt everyone has witnessed passengers with far bigger coming onboard. The subsequent delays in trying to find space often results in time slots being lost and so departures delayed. Ryanair, a favourite for many traveling here to Benidorm via Alicante airport have just announced a new policy, which will come into effect from November 1. Those booked to come over for the Benidorm fiestas and British Fancy Dress Day on Thursday 16 November take note.

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Fiestas feature strongly in Spanish culture and every year towns and villages up and down the country celebrate at various times of the year - and Benidorm's is virtually upon us. The annual fiesta is a celebration of the local Patron Saint, which for Benidorm is the Virgin of the Sufragio and San Jaime Apostle (they have two) and religion features heavily. The event dates back to 1740 when an image of the Virgin was found in the remains of a burnt out fishing boat, which was taken up to the church. A re-enactment of this is played out every year on the Poniente beach on the first official day of the fiesta – which is this Saturday, 12 November at about 5pm followed by a procession up to the San Jaime church at the top of the Old Town.

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One of the most asked questions at the newly relocated SATE office in the Rincon – opposite the Flash Hotel is from lost or disorientated holidaymakers, after a long hard night of partying asking “Where is my hotel”? Often the only clue is that the hotel is tall and has a swimming pool – not really much help considering that probably describes virtually every hotel in the resort!

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With clear blue skies and temperatures in the mid 20’s here in Benidorm today there was no stopping many taking to the streets, especially in the Rincon this afternoon to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Many of the bars embraced the occasion, with bunting, balloons , shamrocks and flags decorating their terraces. Most people also enthusiastically embraced the theme, at the least wearing something green or a garland around their necks whilst others went for full-on fancy-dress, with an interesting selection.

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We’ve been incredibly fortunate with the weather here this year. On Thursday, the last day of October, people were still swimming in the sea and sunbathing on the Levante beach… must be a first! We welcomed the first day of November in with blue sunny skies over the resort, temperatures in the mid 20’ and Saturday’s rugby final was watched by hundreds on the mega poolside screen of the Marina hotel wearing summer clothes. Terraces up and down Calle Gerona were also full of locals and holidaymakers, cheering England on… sadly to no avail in the end.

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This weekend would have marked the start of the Benidorm fiestas, a massive deal financially for the resort. Hotels, restaurants, bars all benefit – not forgetting the florists who supply the thousands of bouquets of flowers for the floral offering, decorating the outside of the San Jaime church up in the old town. The entire process takes absolutely hours to complete but the end result is pretty amazing. Sadly all events except a couple of religious masses have been cancelled which also includes the British Fancy Dress Day - although this isn´t actually an official event.

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