Festa Major Maig 2026 — Lleida city festival

La Paeria de Lleida ran its 2026 Festa Major over four days, from Friday, May 8, to Monday, May 11, with events spread across Plaça de la Paeria, Plaça de Sant Joan, the Seu Vella hill, Camps Elisis and Rambla de Ferran. The city’s official programme set out concerts, traditional culture, family activities and festival services, while the municipal festival site carried daily updates during the weekend. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) On May 8, the city said Olympic canoeist Saúl Craviotto opened the celebrations with the pregó, the traditional opening address. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) By May 11, Mayor Fèlix Larrosa said Lleida had lived through a “highly participatory” edition of the festival. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) ### When did the festival take place, and how long did it run? The 2026 programme lists the main festival days as Friday, May 8, Saturday, May 9, Sunday, May 10 and Monday, May 11. The same document also includes a “Després de la Festa Major” section for follow-on activities after the main holiday period. The FestesLleida site described the event as Festa Major de Lleida – Sant Anastasi 2026 and kept the programme and agenda online during the weekend. The city’s homepage for the festival also published dated news items on May 8, May 9, May 10 and May 11 tracking the main public events. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) ### Which parts of Lleida were used as festival venues? The official PDF names Plaça de la Paeria, Plaça de Sant Joan, Casa dels Gegants, Turó de la Seu Vella, the city tourism office, Plaça de Ricard Viñes, Camps Elisis, Rambla de Ferran and Carrer Jaume II among the festival spaces. That spread shows the programme was organized across central civic squares, heritage sites and river-adjacent areas rather than a single enclosure. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) The city’s festival portal also linked the programme with agenda pages and practical information, including nightlife safety material and bus information. Those pages were presented as part of the same Festa Major 2026 package on the municipal site. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) ### What stood out in the 2026 edition? Mayor Fèlix Larrosa wrote in the programme foreword that the 2026 edition marked several anniversaries tied to Lleida’s popular traditions. The text says 2026 marks 15 years since the Moixiganga returned to the Seguici, 75 years since the Gegantona Violant and the Gegant Moro joined the city’s giants, and 325 years since the first documented reference to the ball de bastons in Lleida. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) The same foreword says the city “recuperem” — restored — the Batalla de Flors on Rambla de Ferran and planned a drone show on the evening of the pregó. Those details gave this year’s programme a mix of revived traditional events and newer spectacle-based programming. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) ### Who opened the festival, and what did the city say during the weekend? Saúl Craviotto opened the festival with the pregó on May 8, according to the municipal festival site’s news listing. The city’s May 9 and May 10 updates highlighted music, dance, fire events and traditional culture as the weekend moved through its central days. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) On May 11, the festival page carried a statement from Larrosa saying the city had experienced a “Festa Major altament participativa” that projected Lleida as a cultural capital with identity, tradition and history. That characterization was the mayor’s, published by the city after the event’s closing day. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) ### How did the city describe accessibility and festival services? The programme says Lleida set up quieter spaces with fewer visual and sound stimuli for people with hypersensitivity. It also says the programme incorporated pictograms and an easy-reading version so information could reach more residents and visitors. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) The Festa Major pages also linked to “1000 ULLS - Nits Q,” “Punt Lila-Rainbow” and “Bus Nocturn,” indicating the city grouped safety, inclusion and night transport information alongside the entertainment schedule. ### Where can readers find the full programme now? (festeslleida.paeria.cat) The Festa Major de Lleida programme remains available through the FestesLleida download page, which also links to an accessible, easy-reading version. The city’s Festa Major 2026 resource page continues to host the programme PDF and related festival materials. The municipal site’s archive-style pages also preserve the dated updates from May 8 through May 11, including the opening by Craviotto and the mayor’s closing statement. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) Those pages, together with the downloadable programme, are the city’s main public record of the 2026 edition. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) (festeslleida.paeria.cat) (festeslleida.paeria.cat)