Lleida TV Airs Moros i Cristians Fiesta

Lleida Televisió carried live coverage on Sunday, May 17, of Lleida’s Festa de Moros i Cristians, a two-day annual celebration centered on a parade through the city center and a staged battle later in the evening. The broadcaster scheduled the desfile de lucimiento for 6:30 p.m. local time and the battle for 9:30 p.m., according to Segre. The program was part of the 30th edition of the festival, which city and festival organizers said drew six comparsas and about 700 participants over the weekend. ### What exactly did Lleida Televisió show? Segre reported on May 17 that Lleida Televisió was broadcasting the festival live, beginning with the desfile de lucimiento at 6:30 p.m. and continuing with the battle at 9:30 p.m. The report said the comparsas would pass through the center of Lleida before the confrontation between the two sides. (segre.com) The same report named Jordi Sebastià as the on-air narrator and said Judit Montoy would provide live segments from the Seu Vella, the hilltop monument that serves as one of Lleida’s most visible landmarks. ### Why was this year’s edition notable? La Paeria, Lleida’s city government, said on May 12 that the 2026 edition marked the 30th staging of the Festa de Moros i Cristians. (segre.com) The city’s festival office described the event as part of the calendar that follows Lleida’s Festa Major. Segre reported on May 15 that the festival has been held since 1996 in its current modern form. (segre.com) The same report said this year’s program would bring together six comparsas and close to 700 participants. ### What happens during the weekend besides the Sunday parade? The city festival office said the weekend’s main set pieces were the Embajadas on Saturday afternoon in Plaça de la Paeria and the Sunday parade and battle. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) The official festival page also said the program included an entry for children and bands on Sunday morning. (segre.com) The festival association, Associació de la Festa de Moros i Cristians de Lleida, said on its website that the 2026 celebration ran on May 16 and May 17. The association said the program for the 30th edition included the Pregó-Concert earlier in May and the Ambassades on Saturday, May 16. ### How large is the event on the streets of Lleida? Surtdecasa.cat said the 2026 edition involved about 700 people, including festers, musicians and members of the processions, returning to the streets for Sunday afternoon’s Entrada de Lluïment. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) That figure matched the participation number reported by Segre ahead of the weekend. (miclleida.org) Lleida’s festival office said the celebration takes place on the weekend after the city’s Festa Major and is built around public events in central locations. The route through the city center and the staging of the battle are the parts most prominently highlighted in official and local media descriptions of the weekend. (surtdecasa.cat) ### Where does the festival fit in Lleida’s local tradition? Femturisme, a Catalan tourism and events site, said the city’s Moros i Cristians tradition has antecedents dating to the 12th century and reached a high point in the 17th and 18th centuries before later changing form. The site said Lleida has since revived the celebration as a city tradition. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) La Paeria’s festival office presents Moros i Cristians as part of Lleida’s spring and popular-culture calendar. In its May 12 notice, the city said the 30th edition had arrived as part of that annual sequence of local festivities. ### What comes next after the live broadcast? The 2026 program published by the festival association listed May 16 and May 17 as the core dates for this year’s edition, making Sunday night’s battle the closing set piece of the weekend. (femturisme.cat) Segre’s television listing said the live coverage ended with that battle after the 6:30 p.m. parade. (miclleida.org) (festeslleida.paeria.cat)