Halloween and Gau Beltza in Bilbao 2026: what to do from 29 October to 1 November

Halloween falls on a Saturday in Bilbao this year. And 1 November, Domu Santu Eguna, falls on a Sunday — so it is a genuine long weekend: four nights of programming in a row.

One thing worth knowing if you have just arrived. Halloween here has an older Basque cousin: Gau Beltza, the "black night". It was celebrated before the American pumpkin turned up, with hollowed-out turnips and door-to-door visits. It was lost under Franco and has been coming back for fifteen years. If you want something with local roots, that is the thread to pull.

Halloween here has an older Basque cousin: Gau Beltza, the black night. It was celebrated with hollowed-out turnips, long before the pumpkin arrived.

Friday 30 and Saturday 31: the heart of the night

Visigoth Metal Fest 2026 — Saturday 31, D8 Sorkuntza Faktoria. If your idea of Halloween runs through metal, this is the obvious date in town.

PEDRÁ, Extremoduro tribute — Saturday 31, Bilboko Kafe Antzokia. Nothing to do with Halloween, and it does not matter: this is the Saturday night plan that will fill that room.

Chameleons — Friday 30, Bilboko Kafe Antzokia. British post-punk from the eighties, the real thing. Dark atmosphere, no costume required.

Ángel Stanich (Sirimiri 2026) — Friday 30, Sala BBK.

The most terrifying plan is not a concert

Mariana Enriquez, in conversation with Mónica Ojeda — Thursday 29, Bidebarrieta Kulturgunea, part of the Ja! Bilbao festival.

If you can only make one thing this week, consider this one. Enriquez is the most important horror writer in Spanish right now — Things We Lost in the Fire, Our Share of Night — and Ojeda is no lightweight either. Two voices of Latin American horror talking in an Old Town library three days before Halloween. Hard to write a better script.

Ja! Bilbao continues on Friday 30 with Michel Houellebecq and Rodrigo Blanco Calderón at the Euskalduna, and on Saturday 31 with "Glitch Generation" at Bilborock.

With kids, and free

Dantza Plazetan 2026: Salbatzaile Dantza Taldea — Saturday 31, Plaza Santiago, in the heart of the Old Town. Basque dance outdoors and free. The perfect late-afternoon plan if you have children and want Halloween night to start with something from here.

Theatre and comedy, if horror is not your thing

• "A View from the Bridge" (Arthur Miller) — Friday 30, Teatro Arriaga.
• Ángel Martín: "Somos monos" — Saturday 31, Palacio Euskalduna.
• Luis Álvaro: "Tourette" and David Cepo: "No cruces los brazos" — Teatro Campos Elíseos.
• Bob Pop: "Hablar no sirve. De nada" — Thursday 29, Teatro Campos Elíseos.

Sunday 1 November, winding down

A public holiday, and the city wakes up quiet. On the bill: "Techno Pop" at the Palacio Euskalduna, Pasión Vega: "Pasión Almodóvar" at the Teatro Arriaga, "Piensa en Wilbur" at the Campos Elíseos.

And if you like tradition: 1 November is the day for taking flowers to the cemetery, and many neighbourhoods still hold Gaztainerre, the chestnut roast. Follow the embers to the squares.

---

Times and venues change. Check the Bilbao agenda before you head out — it is updated twice a week from what the organisers themselves publish. Full programmes are under festivals.

Another city? We have the same guide for San Sebastián, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Hendaye, where Gau Beltza is celebrated with a parade and a witches' ball.