Approximate date: the organiser has not confirmed it yet.
Festival de los Patios de Córdoba 2027 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
All the information
About the event
The patios open their doors for two weeks. It is the festival that brings the most people to the city and the one for which accommodation sells out first.
Key points
- Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2012
- Usually held in the first half of May
- Free visits to all the patios
- San Basilio and Alcázar Viejo, the busiest
A festival recognised by UNESCO
The Festival de los Patios is the festival that brings the most people to Córdoba and, since 2012, Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The idea is simple and that is why it works: for two weeks, dozens of residents open the patio of their home, whitewashed and laden with flowerpots, for free so that anyone can come in and see it. Behind it is a municipal contest that has been held since the 1920s, with categories for old architecture, modern architecture and singular patios. What you visit is not a museum but lived-in homes whose owners are right there.
When the patios open in 2027
The festival takes up the first half of May. In 2026 it ran from 4 to 17 May, with the patios open from 11 am to 2 pm and from 6 pm to 10 pm. The 2027 dates are not confirmed: the likelihood is that it will again take up the first two weeks of May, and the City Council publishes the calendar, the list of patios and the opening times in spring. It is worth keeping an eye out because accommodation for those nights sells out before that of any other date in the year. Booking for that May window and adjusting your itinerary afterwards is the sensible way to organise it.
Which neighbourhoods have the most patios
San Basilio and the Alcázar Viejo are the neighbourhoods with the highest concentration of patios and the best starting point, because they are right beside the Alcázar and the Mezquita-Catedral and can be covered on foot. After that there are routes through Santa Marina, San Lorenzo, La Magdalena and the Judería, somewhat more scattered but far less crowded. Each area has its own character: those in San Basilio are communal courtyards, with a shared well and washing trough, while in other neighbourhoods grand houses abound. The City Council publishes an official map with the routes each year.
How to avoid the queues
Visits are free, but the prize-winning patios attract long queues, especially at the weekend and mid-morning. The two strategies that work are getting up early and leaving the best-known ones for the end of the evening, when the crowds thin and the light improves for photos. Weekdays are considerably quieter than Saturdays. Bring water and a hat: May in Córdoba is already hot, and you end up walking several kilometres between one neighbourhood and another.
The contest's five routes
In 2026, 53 patios competed, all with free entry, spread across five routes: Santa Marina and San Agustín (the so-called Ruta Carbonell), San Lorenzo, San Pedro and Santiago, Judería and San Francisco, and San Basilio. The San Basilio route was the most visited and the San Pedro route the one that grew most. The municipal contest, held since 1921, awards prizes in four categories: old architecture, modern architecture, singular patio and convent patios. The reasonable thing is to choose one or two routes per visit and not attempt all five in a day.
How many people go and when to go
The 2026 edition recorded 956,288 visits, and Saturday 16 May set the single-day record, with 95,000. That figure explains the queues: weekends account for a good share of the public. On weekdays, and at the start of each session, at 11 am or 6 pm, the wait is considerably shorter.
Patios you can visit all year round
There are patios outside May too. The Palacio de Viana has twelve, in different architectural styles, and can be visited all year round with a ticket. Turismo de Córdoba also runs a programme of patio visits throughout the year. During the festival, the City Council publishes an official map with images of each patio and NaviLens codes, which a mobile phone reads aloud for people with visual impairments.
Dates from 2027 to 2030
The Festival de los Patios is held in the first half of May, just after the Cruces and before the Feria, for about twelve days. That calendar is repeated in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030. The specific dates and the list of patios taking part in each contest are published by Córdoba City Council in the preceding months.
