Fiestas de la Vendimia (Jerez Sherry Festival) is one of the wine festivals that anchors the Andalusia calendar, drawing both local visitors and international wine travellers each year. It is held at Plaza del Arenal in Jerez de la Frontera, in the heart of one of Spain's most distinctive wine areas. It has been running since 1948, with a long unbroken local tradition behind it.
Jerez's annual Vendimia is the oldest documented harvest festival in Spain (running since 1948) and the most internationally visible Sherry-focused event. The programme includes the formal opening ceremony with the blessing of the first must on the steps of the Cathedral of Jerez (la Pisa de la Uva), each year dedicated to a different country (the 'Country of Honour'), the coronation of the Vendimia Queen, classical music concerts in Sherry bodegas, the Concurso de Saca de Mosto (must-drawing competition), parades through the historic centre, equestrian events at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, and tastings at participating bodegas (Tio Pepe/Gonzalez Byass, Lustau, Sandeman, Williams & Humbert). Harvest and grape festivals — fiestas de la vendimia, festas das vindimas, weinlesefeste — are some of the longest-running celebrations in their regions, with many running uninterrupted for a century or more. Programmes typically combine grape-stomping demonstrations, traditional music, parades of allegorical floats, food stalls offering regional specialities, and tastings of the area's wines. The events have strong local character and are often as much community celebrations as wine programmes, with town councils, parish committees and local producer associations sharing the organisational load. Many festivals incorporate religious elements — blessings of the harvest, processions to the parish church — that connect the wine calendar to the liturgical year. The event is organised by Ayuntamiento de Jerez de la Frontera, which sets the tone and direction of the programme each year.
Andalusia in southern Spain is the home of Sherry — fortified wine produced in the Jerez-Xeres-Sherry and Manzanilla de Sanlucar de Barrameda DOs. The Sherry triangle, formed by Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar de Barrameda, has been producing fortified wines since Phoenician times on the distinctive white albariza chalk soils. Montilla-Moriles in Cordoba province produces similar oxidative wines from Pedro Ximenez. Other Andalusian wine areas include Malaga (sweet wines from Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel) and Sierras de Malaga.
The 2026 edition is scheduled for September 5-13, 2026. Entry is free, with optional paid tasting passes or guided sessions available on site. Full programme, ticketing and updated information are published on the official site at https://www.jerez.es. Visitors are advised to check directly with the organiser for the latest schedule, as festival programmes are sometimes updated close to the event date.
Andalusia is reached via Seville, Malaga or Jerez airports. The Sherry triangle of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar de Barrameda is concentrated within a 30 km radius of Jerez airport. Cordoba (and the Montilla-Moriles area to the south) sits inland on the AVE line between Madrid and Seville. Andalusian cuisine pairs the wines with salmorejo, gazpacho, fritura malaguena (fried fish), Iberico ham, manzanilla-poached prawns, and the chacinas cured meats of the inland mountain villages.
