Córdoba in May: the festivals one by one, with 2027 dates
In 2027: wine fair 22 to 25 April, May Crosses 28 April to 2 May, Patios 3 to 16 May and the Feria 22 to 29 May. Nearly everything is free.
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The 'Mayo cordobés', Córdoba's festival month, actually starts in April. The calendar approved by the City Council for 2027 puts the Montilla-Moriles wine fair from 22 to 25 April, the Battle of the Flowers on 25 April, the May Crosses from 28 April to 2 May, the Patios from 3 to 16 May and the Feria de Nuestra Señora de la Salud from 22 to 29 May.
The Crosses, the Battle of the Flowers, the Patios and entry to the fairground are free. The wine fair is held in an enclosed venue and its entry conditions are announced with each edition. Between the Patios and the Feria there is almost a week with no big festival, a good moment to see the monuments with fewer people about.
The dates come from the city governing board's decision of October 2026. Timetables, maps and programmes for each festival are published a few weeks ahead. Details checked in November 2026.
Practical information
- Wine fair 2027
- 22 to 25 April
- Battle of the Flowers 2027
- 25 April
- May Crosses 2027
- 28 April to 2 May
- Patios 2027
- 3 to 16 May
- Feria 2027
- 22 to 29 May
- Fairground
- El Arenal, by the river
Cata del Vino Montilla-Moriles (wine fair)
This is the event that opens the season. More than twenty wineries from the Montilla-Moriles designation of origin pour their wines in an enclosed venue, with plates of local food and live music. The 2026 edition, the fortieth, ran from 23 to 26 April. The fair began in 1983.
The council's page gives no ticket price or opening hours. They are announced each year by the organisers, with the wine's regulatory council as promoter, so check before you go. Decide in advance how you are getting home: fino, the dry white poured here, is at least 15% alcohol.
Batalla de las Flores (Battle of the Flowers)
A parade of flower-covered floats travels along the Paseo de la Victoria and the people on board throw carnations to the crowd, who throw them back. It is organised by the city's federation of social clubs, the Federación de Peñas Cordobesas. It takes place around midday, between the last Sunday of April and 1 May. In 2026 it was on 26 April at 12:00, and in 2027 it will be on 25 April.
It is free. With children it works well if you arrive early enough for a place at the front, on either side of the avenue.
Cruces de Mayo (May Crosses)
Religious brotherhoods, clubs and neighbourhood associations put up crosses covered in flowers in squares and street corners, dressed with potted plants and embroidered Manila shawls. Beside each cross there is a bar serving local food and wine, with music playing. In 2026 there were more than seventy, from 29 April to 3 May.
The council has run a competition since 1925 in three categories: historic centre, modern districts and enclosed venues. The cross in Plaza de las Tendillas is the council's own and hosts the dance schools' contest.
Looking at the crosses is free and you pay only for what you eat and drink. By day families go and you can see them at leisure. At night, especially on Friday and Saturday, the ones in the centre get packed and it is hard to move. The council leaflet with a map of every cross comes out in April.
Fiesta de los Patios (Patios Festival)
For two weeks residents open the courtyards of their homes for free and compete in a council contest. UNESCO declared it Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012. In 2026, 53 patios took part on five routes, open from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 22:00, and they received 956,288 visits.
In 2027 it runs from 3 to 16 May, alongside the competition for decorated window grilles and balconies. If you can choose, go on a weekday. On Saturday 16 May 2026 the patios logged 95,000 visits in a single day.
Feria de Nuestra Señora de la Salud
The fair is set up at El Arenal, an open site of more than thirty hectares beside the Guadalquivir, where it moved in 1994 from the Victoria gardens. It begins at midnight with fireworks and the switching on of some three hundred thousand light bulbs. The entrance gate changes every year and echoes the arches of the Mezquita.
Córdoba's 'casetas', the marquees where people eat, drink and dance, are open to everyone without an invitation, which is what visitors from elsewhere appreciate most. By day the mood comes from the parade of horses and carriages, which takes over the grounds from 13:00 to 20:00, and from the casetas with sevillanas dancing. At night the funfair, known as the Calle del Infierno, takes over.
In 2026 it ran from 22 to 30 May. The 2027 calendar sets it from 22 to 29 May.
Getting to El Arenal
The council recommends public transport. Aucorsa, the municipal bus company, sets up a ticket office on the fairground, and its fair routes and times can be checked on its website nearer the date.
Inside the grounds three road trains run, with stops behind the entrance gate and in front of the council's own caseta. There is free reserved parking for people with reduced mobility and a paid public car park on the far side of the A-4 motorway. While the horse parade is on, no vehicles circulate on the main avenues.
Tips for planning the trip
On the Crosses and Patios weekends the city fills up, so book accommodation months ahead. If you come by car, leave it outside the old town and walk.
By May the midday heat is already strong. The patios close from 14:00 to 18:00 for a reason. Bring water, a hat and comfortable shoes, because the old town is cobbled.
The fair has accessibility measures that few people know about: casetas with ramps and adapted toilets, wheelchair spaces on the road trains and, in the 2026 edition, lower music in the funfair on Monday and Tuesday from 16:00 to 21:00 for children with autism spectrum disorder.
