Unique Madrid sheep parade festival returns this Sunday: Fiesta de la Trashumancia 2023
Witness the strange and remarkable Spanish festival that herds thousands of sheep and goats through the centre of one of Europe’s major capitals!
This Sunday October 22, 2023, Madrid welcomes back one of Spain’s most unique and eye-popping local festivals – La Fiesta de la Trashumancia – in which thousands of sheep are herded through the city centre of the Spanish capital.
Every year on the second-to-last weekend in October, the animals are led by their shepherds through Madrid’s city streets, which are closed off to traffic for the occasion, and people turn out in their droves to witness the remarkable spectacle.
The so-called ‘Transhumance Festival’ event has been held in Madrid since 1994, beginning life as a way “to contribute to the approval by the Spanish Parliament of the new Law on Livestock Trails, recognising the cattle trails, cords and paths as public domain assets and a unique heritage in the world,” according to Madrid’s City Hall.Transhumance is the name for the nomadic migration of livestock between higher mountain pastures in warm seasons and lower altitudes the rest of the year, and as such the fiesta represents a sort of welcoming for the autumn season.
The festival now serves as a reminder of “the role of transhumance and extensive livestock farming as a tool for the conservation of biodiversity and the fight against climate change.”
It is organised by the Asociación Trashumancia y Naturaleza with the collaboration of the Asociación Concejo de la Mesta, Fundación MAVA, Ayuntamiento de Madrid and Fundación WWF/ Adena España.
The main event is the passage of the flock of sheep and goats through the city centre Sunday October 22, departing from the Casa de Campo park at 10am and heading to the central Plaza de Cibeles to ceremonially deliver 50 ancient ‘maravedí’ coins to the Mayor of Madrid for the passage of the livestock, based on a tradition dating back to 1418.
Before that, on the Friday October 20, adults can walk with the herd of animals from the Madrid suburb of Pozuelo to the Casa de Campo, while a family event aimed at children takes place on Saturday October 21 to visit the herd in the pastures of the Casa de Campo.
Now read: 21 cool free things to do in Madrid
Images: Fiesta de la Transhumancia 2021, Emilia Picazo / Ayuntamiento de Madrid
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