San Bernabé Fair to move to La Cañada Shopping Center in Marbella

This June the traditional San Bernabé fair, which rings in Marbella's official summer season, will not be held at the usual Arroyo Primero but will move to Marbella's chic La Cañada Shopping Center instead.

Arroyo Primero has been the venue for the fair for the last three years, but complaints from local residents about the noise level during the fair and planned changes for Arroyo Primero have meant that the June fair has had to be moved for 2015.

The town council has put out to tender plans to transform Arroyo Primero into a similar park and boulevard area as the one created in neighbouring San Pedro.

According to a town hall survey, ca. 7,000 local residents were affected by the noise any events staged at Arroyo Primero generated. The tender, allegedly ready to go out at the end of February, will ask for ideas on how best to transform the area into a park and leisure zone that will appeal to as many people as possible.

For this one year, San Bernabé fair will move to an area to a designated site by the La Cañada shopping centre. The owners of the shopping centre are not charging for the event to be held on their grounds. There will be designated areas for young and adult visitors and the commercial zone surrounding the shopping centre is to be extended, but this is still in the planning process.

If all goes as planned, San Bernabé fair will have its own dedicated fairground by next year. It will be situated in the hills to the north of La Cañada. Held in honour of Marbella's patron saint San Barnabé.

Marbella Feria de San Barnabé is a huge event and a must-see tourist attraction, but also a great chance to catch up with friends and neighbours for anyone who visits their Marbella holiday home in the second week of June.

The Feria usually includes a children's day among the more traditional festivities, always an eagerly anticipated event with Marbella's youngest residents, who can look forward to games and activities, bouncy castles, face painting and lots of sweets.