Las Mercedes Festival 2026 in Getxo

What the Las Mercedes festivities are

Las Arenas is the district of Getxo that faces Portugalete across the estuary, and its festivities are those of Our Lady of Mercy. 24 September, the patron saint's day, is the main day and a local public holiday.

These are the last big festivities of the summer on the right bank: when Las Mercedes ends, summer is genuinely over.

When

Around 24 September, with a programme that usually covers four days, Thursday to Sunday. In 2025 it ran from 26 to 28 September, with close to forty events.

The centre of gravity is the Plaza de Las Escuelas, where the bulk of the programme falls.

The snail contest

This is the event that sets Las Mercedes apart from any other festival in Biscay, and the one people from Getxo name first. Alongside it, the food programme is a significant part of the festivities: a sardinada, rib barbecues and, in some editions, marmitako and tortilla contests.

What else there is

• Txikigune: the children's zone, with its own programme every day.
• Herri kirolak (rural sports) and dances.
• Concerts and open-air dances at night.
• A craft fair and sporting events, depending on the edition.

The full plan: cross the Hanging Bridge

If you are coming from outside, Las Mercedes has an advantage other neighbourhood festivals do not: it is right next to the Bizkaia Bridge, the Puente Colgante, which links Las Arenas with Portugalete and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a late 19th-century transporter bridge: a suspended gondola that crosses the estuary with cars and people aboard.

Crossing costs little and takes a minute and a half. Combining the festivities with the crossing — and with the upper walkway, if heights do not bother you — makes a full day out.

If you are coming from outside

• Bilbao metro to Areeta. It is direct and drops you in the neighbourhood; no car needed.
• Bring cash for the bars and stalls.
• It is September on the coast: bring something warm for the evening even if the day is fine.

More in the area

The Getxo agenda has what is on the rest of the year, and the Bilbao agenda covers the city, twenty minutes away on the metro.

The final programme is published by the council in the preceding weeks; as soon as our sources pick it up, the individual events will appear at the top.