Christmas in Rías Baixas
The province of Pontevedra is decked out for an unforgettable festive season. Decorations, lights, nativity scenes, markets and all kinds of activities will take place in all the municipalities of the province of Pontevedra until Epiphany. Here is our guide to help you make the most of this Christmas.
The Rías Baixas are dressed up for Christmas. Experience a memorable Christmas in the province of Pontevedra, where you will find fabulous lights that have aroused international interest, streets and squares decorated with beautiful motifs, endless activities for people of all ages, and formidable living nativity scenes, articulated or in miniature. Get ready to enjoy your best Christmas in Rías Baixas.
Vigo kicked off the festivities on 23 November with Christmas lights and decorations that have become a benchmark throughout Spain, attracting tens of thousands of people. The city of Pontevedra lights up its Christmas lights on 5 December with a big party in Praza da Ferrería, where the largest of its four trees, measuring 30 metres in height, will be located.
We have a month and a half of family fun and activities ahead of us, including the opening to the public of the Artisan Nativity Scene in Motion in Valga on 1 December, declared a Festival of Tourist Interest in Galicia.
Giant slides in the street, ice rinks, traditional street markets and musical performances will dot the urban centres of the municipalities of the province of Pontevedra until Epiphany. Take note because the list of activities is growing all the time.
Lighting up all over the province
Sanxenxo will switch on its lighting on Thursday 28 November and a day later the towns of Caldas de Reis and Soutomaior will take over, where they are awaiting the weather forecast. The Council of Gondomar activates the switch on Saturday 30 November, the date also chosen by Ribadumia and Ponte Caldelas, where the lights in the shape of petroglyphs have already been installed.
Tui is committed this year to a sustainable Christmas that also uses the Camino de Santiago as a common thread of the campaign. Its decoration is created with ecological and reusable materials. The lighting will take place on 1 December at 19:30 with a performance by the Rondalla de Pexegueiro.
On Sunday 1 December, Valga will also light up its Christmas, taking advantage of the opening of the Artisan Nativity Scene in Movement. On the same day, the festivities will also be held in the centre of Vilagarcía de Arousa.
Until the last day before the long weekend, the city of Pontevedra, in A Ferrería, and the municipality of Marín, which will switch on its lights at 18.30 hours from its Alameda, will wait until the last day before the long weekend. The tree will be in Eguren Park and in the Alameda there will be a gift box that can be visited and a carousel. After this first act, the traditional nativity scene of Marín will be inaugurated, located in the Praza da Capirota and accompanied by the carols of Máis Cantos.
This Thursday 5th a good number of municipalities of Pontevedra will join in the Christmas celebrations, such as Poio, Cambados, O Grove, Meis, Cuntis and Moraña.
Singular nativity scenes
- Valga, the most famous nativity scene in the province of Pontevedra since its inauguration in 1995, is inaugurated on 1st December. It has been declared a Festival of Tourist Interest in Galicia and is made up of more than 4,000 handmade figures representing traditional Christmas scenes and current events.
- Vigo: Since the last week of November, the Vigo Monumental Christmas Nativity Scene has been on display in Casa das Artes. It occupies 120 m2 and has nearly 200 clay figures modelled by the sculptor José Luis Mayo Lebrija, from the Agrupación Belenista La Morana de Zamora.
Traditional markets
- Vigo: One of the main novelties of Christmas in Vigo this year is the traditional street market in the Alameda: 58 stalls of crafts, food and different catering brands. It will have a tunnel of LED lights and 50 artificial snow cannons that will be put into operation every hour. This new attraction is in addition to the two markets held in previous years in Londres Street, behind the MARCO Museum, and in the Calvario pedestrian area.
- With the intention of promoting local commerce, this year Tui will organise a typical Christmas market that will open from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 December on Paseo da Corredoira. It will have 40 wooden stalls with lighting and natural decoration.
- Gondomar , the municipality famous for its doughnuts, will also have a Christmas market this year in Praza da Paradela. Twenty wooden stalls will be set up to sell typical Christmas products.
- Vilagarcía, the capital of Arousa, is another of the localities that this year joins the fashion for traditional markets. The municipality of O Salnés will have a "Christmas Market" reserved for local traders and artisans and open to the public from 20 December to 5 January so that residents can shop.
Ice rinks and giant slides
- Pontevedra. The capital of the Lérez will once again install the giant slide in Praza de España and will offer activities for children every day in the Alameda. The fairgrounds of the capital of the Lérez will once again host the Mundo Nadal fair, from 20 December to 7 January, a fun and cultural event in which young and old can enjoy an ice rink that will be open from 16.30 to 22.30 hours.
- Vigo: The "Tren do Nadal" (Christmas Train) is already installed in Progreso Street in Vigo, this year with Galician Christmas figures. It will run from Monday to Friday from 17:00 to 21:30, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 12:00 to 14:30 and from 16:30 to 22:00. In the Náutico de Vigo area we will once again have an ice rink and a ramp for the more intrepid. Samil will host a second ice rink and a go-kart circuit. Vigo's "NadalBus" will make five different routes throughout the city. It will make six departures from Monday to Friday from Policarpo Sanz from 6.30 p.m. and will increase the frequency to eight on holidays and weekends to meet all the demand.
- Sanxenxo: The epicentre of the children's activities will be the marquee set up in Praza dos Barcos. It will be open from 21 December until 6 January. The programme will include performances by musical groups, workshops, storytelling, inflatables, games and family cinema.
- During the festivities, the council will set up two marquees with daily activities : Eguren Park will be reserved for boys and girls and the Alameda area will be dedicated to younger children.
