With just two weeks to go before the Fiestas del Pilar begin, many people in Zaragoza are racing to complete their traditional Aragonese outfit in time for one of the year's most eagerly awaited events. And if one element can give the ensemble personality, it is jewelry.
Pablo Portet started doing comedy after what was meant to be a date ended with him being detained and questioned by police. The bizarre situation was certainly worthy of a stand-up routine. Or at least that is what the friend he told the story to said. “The girl I went on the date with fell down the stairs, and for one reason or another I ended up being questioned by the police until she regained consciousness and confirmed that I had done nothing. I told my friend about it and he was dying of laughter, and that is how it all began,” says the 27-year-old Valencian comedian.
The Las Fuentes Cabezudos Troupe will deliver Interpeñas Zaragoza’s opening address this year during the Fiestas del Pilar, held as usual on the first Saturday in Plaza España. The group, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, was chosen in recognition of five decades on the city’s streets and of its ties to Zaragoza’s festivities and popular culture.
Many Zaragoza residents will enjoy German beer at the Valdespartera Oktoberfest during the 2026 Fiestas del Pilar. From October 9 to 25, the popular tent will return to the Valdespartera Fairgrounds with music and ice-cold beer by the stein, as well as a wide range of food for those who want to pair their drinks with some of the most characteristic flavors of this German celebration.
Goya has been studied through the arts, from literature and theater to poetry, but his work had never before been set to music. Until now. Fundación Ibercaja presented on Monday one of the “major milestones” of its 150th anniversary: the only major symphony dedicated to the Aragonese painter in existence worldwide. Composed by Joan Valent, the work traces Goya’s artistic career, from the social criticism of The Prints to the darkness of The Disasters of War.
Pilar Day is one of the most eagerly awaited days of the year in Zaragoza and also one of the dates when finding a table is hardest. On October 12, 2026, the city will once again fill with families, groups of friends and visitors who, after enjoying the Ofrenda and the festival events, will look for a restaurant where they can sit down to eat.
One of the essential venues for enjoying the 2026 Pilar Fiestas will once again be the Food Trucks area in San Pablo Park. From October 8 to 18, the space will bring together a range of food options for all audiences, including people with celiac disease. There will be plenty to choose from: gluten-free burgers, croquettes, patatas bravas, arepas, nachos and broken eggs are some of the dishes available during the festivities.
For much of the year, life in this town in Zaragoza remains quiet beyond the usual sounds of everyday life. Conversations unfold, cars travel along the roads and children play in parks, but nothing disrupts the municipality’s routine. However, for the past nine years, there has been one weekend when the streets come alive and become an improvised stage for a host of unusual artists.
It has surpassed Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in pre-sales and is one of the most eagerly awaited films in Spanish cinema. “La bola negra” triumphed at the Cannes Film Festival, where Los Javis won the Best Director award and received a standing ovation. The good news continued, and this Wednesday they will find out whether it will be selected to represent Spain at the Oscars, competing with “El ser querido” and “Los domingos”. The film will be released in cinemas on September 25, and audiences in Zaragoza will have the chance to attend a Q&A with its directors.
Descend into the hidden crypt beneath La Seo’s Parroquieta, get close to F-18s at the Air Base in one of Europe’s largest hangars or see the transformation of the Water Tower before its full reopening. From September 24 to 27, Open House Zaragoza will once again open some of the city’s most surprising spaces for free, allowing everyone to see the Aragonese capital from a different perspective.
The featured Aragonese anniversary recalls that Joaquín Costa was born in Monzón on September 14, 1846. Costa was a Spanish jurist, historian and scholar who represented the regenerationist movement. Despite coming from a modest farming family, he studied at the University of Madrid, earning doctorates in Law in 1872 and in Philosophy and Letters in 1873. Although his teaching career was cut short, he found other opportunities as a notary, Treasury lawyer and professor at the Free Teaching Institution.
Espacio Zity will once again be the busiest venue during the upcoming 2026 Pilar Festival. Top artists and concerts will arrive at the Valdespartera site from October 9 to 18 for nine days of nonstop music, delighting younger and older audiences alike. Zity will reinvent itself this year with a new attraction designed to improve the experience for its thousands of spectators.
José María Turmo has spent seven years managing Zaragoza's Performing Arts and Image Board and is experiencing a golden age at the city's municipal theaters. With the Teatro Principal having recently turned 227 and playing in the premium league of Spain's venues, and the Teatro del Mercado remaining one of Zaragoza residents' favorites, the show will continue for another season. A season with room for everything—or almost everything—backing both "highly delicate" productions and major shows that are difficult to fit onto a two-century-old stage but are among audience favorites.
Finding the perfect shawl for the Fiestas del Pilar can take some Aragonese much farther than expected. Some travel nearly 400 kilometers from Zaragoza to Toledo, almost making a pilgrimage in search of pieces rarely found in ordinary shops: antique shawls passed down through generations, some of them nearly two centuries old.
Miguel Servet’s life was brought to the stage through theater, dance, acrobatics and fire in Villanueva de Sijena on Saturday night. The show ‘La sombra y la ceniza’, created by Viridiana Producciones specifically for the town, drew a large audience on a journey through some of the best-known episodes in the Aragonese humanist’s life.
Magallón is already celebrating, with one of its best-known residents taking center stage. Juanjo Bona delivered the opening speech this Sunday, officially launching the Cruz festivities, a special occasion for the Aragonese singer, who was born in the Zaragoza town.
One of the most deeply rooted Pilar Festival traditions is taking children out to enjoy the best street performances. For three decades, Teatro Arbolé’s Puppet Tent has set up near Plaza de los Sitios with one goal: to delight children and adults alike. 2026 will be no exception.
The Aragonese musician, singer, composer, writer, philosopher and researcher Santiago Auserón Marruedo will receive the 2025 Aragonese Letters Prize this Monday, September 14. The Government of Aragon is granting the award in recognition of his contribution to literature as a lyricist and writer.
Although she admits that, at 50, she is more into Bisbal, Chenoa and Rosa, Blanca is counting down the hours to see a younger generation of OT stars take the stage at the Príncipe Felipe. Her daughters, Alba and Nora, got her hooked on OT 2025, and after following the show from episode to episode and gala to gala, they drove three hours from Irun to the Aragonese capital this Saturday to see Claudia, Cristina, Tinho and the rest of the cast.
Just one month remains until the 2026 Fiestas del Pilar begin in Zaragoza and Oktoberfest arrives at the Valdespartera venue, the world’s largest beer festival and a must-visit event for many residents.
