Gau Beltza in Hendaye 2026: the Basque Halloween, with a parade and a witches' ball

If you want to see the real Basque Halloween — not the imported pumpkin version — Hendaye on 31 October is probably the best plan on the whole coast.

Gau Beltza (literally "black night") is the festival held in the Basque Country on the eve of All Saints', long before Halloween arrived from the United States. People hollowed out turnips rather than pumpkins, put a candle inside, and children went from house to house. The custom nearly vanished in the twentieth century and has been coming back for about fifteen years, village by village. Hendaye does it properly, with three events running back to back across the evening.

People hollowed out turnips rather than pumpkins, put a candle inside, and children went from house to house. The custom nearly vanished in the twentieth century and has been coming back for fifteen years.

31 October, hour by hour

16:30 — Bal des Sorcières (witches' ball) The opening act, and the family one: costumes, music and dancing, with the children front and centre.

19:00 — Parade through the town centre The main event. The parade crosses the centre as night falls. If you only see one thing, see this — and get a spot on the route early.

20:30 — Live music The closer. The party stays in the street.

It is free and outdoors, so there is nothing to book: just turn up.

The night before: an investigation in a château

Friday 30, 18:30 — "Enquête" evening at Abbadia.

Château d'Abbadia is a nineteenth-century neo-Gothic folly built by Antoine d'Abbadie, explorer and astronomer, on the cliffs of Hendaye. It has an observatory, Ethiopian motifs and a thoroughly deserved reputation as a strange place. A mystery evening staged there, the night before Gau Beltza, sells itself.

On Saturday 31 at 10:00 there is also a "Prestige" tour of the château — longer, and with access to rooms the standard visit skips. A good morning plan before the festival.

With children, all week

Hendaye runs its Semaines des Enfants over exactly these days:

• Thursday 29, 10:00 — "Mystery and Witchcraft" workshop.
• Friday 30, 10:00 — Face painting and tattoos, Halloween edition.

And for something quieter: Thursday 29 at 10:00, a guided visit to the exhibition "Côte basque, un littoral en mouvement"; at 10:30, a guided walk around the beach quarter. Thursday at 14:30, a talk with geologist Patrick de Wever.

While you are in the area

Hendaye is half an hour from San Sebastián on the Euskotren and sits right next to Irun. The same weekend, a few kilometres away:

• Biarritz — Syd Matters + Fyrs at Atabal on Saturday 31; L.F.T. + Leroy Se Meurt on Friday 30.
• Irun — Garazi Esnaola + Amaia Miranda on Saturday 31 at the CBA.
• Zarautz — Gau Beltza 2026, "Beldurrak piztu, iluntasunak bizi", also on the 31st.

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Check the times before you go. The Hendaye agenda is updated twice a week from municipal sources. For the coast as a whole, see festivals.

Looking at the Spanish side? We have the same guide for Bilbao, San Sebastián and Vitoria-Gasteiz.