Christmas in Vitoria-Gasteiz 2026: a practical guide

When do Vitoria's Christmas lights come on in 2026?

2026 date: not announced. In 2025 the City Council presented the programme in mid-November; check its Christmas page.

2025 for reference (City Council press releases):

• Switch-on: Friday 28 November at 18:00 in Plaza de España (also called Plaza Nueva), with a music-and-light show, street theatre and hot chocolate. The square and the City Hall façade were lit up.
• Lights: about 1,100 light features, 270 arches over more than 30 streets, canopies of lights on stretches of Calle San Prudencio and Calle San Antonio, and decorations on the San Miguel balcony, the Villa Suso Palace, La Florida park and the Artium square.
• Big wheel and carousel: a 30-metre big wheel and a vintage carousel were added in Plaza de la Virgen Blanca in 2025. Whether they return in 2026 is not confirmed.

The City Council does not publish the daily times the lights go on and off.

The La Florida nativity scene

This is the great Christmas classic in Vitoria: a nativity scene with life-size figures spread across La Florida park, set up every December since 1962. According to the City Council, it is usually open from the early-December long weekend until after Epiphany, and the scenes move around each year. Donations collected in the grotto, which holds the Holy Family, pay for restoring the figures.

2025 for reference: it opened on 5 December at 16:00 and could be visited until 7 January, 10:00 to 21:30. The grotto opened 10:00 to 14:30 and 16:00 to 21:30, and the blessing was on 24 December at 13:00. Guided visits are available: ask at the Tourist Office in Plaza de España.

A few metres away, in the gardens of the Zulueta Palace, 2025 saw the debut of Horra!, a 5-metre-high farmhouse with Olentzero and Mari Domingi where children leave their letters. It was open from 5 to 25 December, 10:00 to 21:30.

Olentzero and Mari Domingi: 24 December

Olentzero, the Basque charcoal burner who brings presents, and his companion Mari Domingi parade through Vitoria on the afternoon of 24 December, a Thursday in 2026. The 2026 programme has not been published.

2025 for reference (City Council):

• 10:00 to 15:00: reception for children at City Hall, in Plaza de España, with traditional Basque music (trikitixa accordion, alboka and txalaparta).
• 18:00: parade from the Iparralde Civic Centre along Portal de Legutiano, Francia, La Paz, Olaguíbel and Mateo Moraza streets to Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, with four floats, giants and big-heads and joaldunak bell-ringers.
• 19:00: songs from the San Miguel balcony above Virgen Blanca. Access to the square was via Plaza de España or Calle Postas.

Ice rink, Christmas market and tourist train

• La Florida ice rink (confirmed for 2026). The City Council awarded the contract on 25 September 2026: natural ice, at least 700 m² and a children's area. It will open at least from 11 December 2026 to 6 January 2027, with minimum hours of 10:30 to 14:30 and 16:00 to 22:00; on 24 and 31 December, afternoons only 16:00 to 20:00. There will be late sessions from 22:00 to midnight aimed at young people. This year there will be no ice slide (City Council release). 2026 prices are not out; in 2025 an hour cost €5.70 for over-16s and €3.55 for younger skaters, with 10% off online.
• Christmas market. In 2025 the market run by the AENKOMER traders' association opened on 5 December on Paseo de La Florida, opposite the Ignacio Aldecoa House of Culture. 2026 dates and hours are not published.
• Gasteiztxo tourist train. In 2025 it ran at Christmas for the first time, from 14 December to 5 January, leaving Plaza de la Virgen Blanca at 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 17:00, 18:00, 19:00 and 20:00 for a tour of about 40 minutes through the medieval quarter and the Ensanche. For 2026, ask at the Tourist Office.
• Children's Christmas Park (PIN). In 2025-2026 it ran at the Palacio Europa from 26 December to 4 January, for children up to 14, 11:00 to 14:00 and 16:30 to 20:30, at €3 for the morning session and €3.50 for the afternoon.

Ardoaraba: wine and pintxos over the December long weekend

Ardoaraba, Álava's wine and food fair, takes place in December; the City Council has not yet given the 2026 dates. 2025 for reference (City Council): 5 to 8 December, with 39 wineries and 125 wines from Rioja Alavesa and Álava txakoli (a light white wine), tasting marquees in Plaza de España, Plaza de la Provincia and Plaza de los Fueros, and a €22 voucher book with 28 points to redeem at the marquees, bars and restaurants.

There is also music in the streets: in 2025 the Álava choir federation gave 24 concerts from 22 December to 2 January, at 19:30 in squares such as Plaza del Arca and Plaza de Santa Bárbara, and daily at 20:30 in Plaza de los Celedones de Oro.

New Year's Eve in Vitoria-Gasteiz

Basque public TV, EITB, has broadcast the New Year chimes from Plaza de España in Vitoria-Gasteiz, with the City Council's support. 2025 for reference (City Council): a public event with music and fireworks, with grapes and party bags handed out from 23:00 (in Spain you eat one grape on each of the twelve chimes). Whether it happens again in 2026 has not been announced.

For families, in 2025 the giants and big-heads troupe set off on the 31st at 17:00 from Musiketxea, stopped around 18:00 in Plaza de Santa Bárbara and ended with a dance in Plaza de España around 19:00.

Transport: the Gautxori night bus runs on Fridays, Saturdays and the eve of public holidays, 23:00 to 6:00. 31 December 2026 is a Thursday and the eve of a holiday; check the special New Year's Eve timetable on the TUVISA website.

Three Kings Parade 2027

It will be on Tuesday 5 January 2027. Times and route are not published. 2026 for reference (City Council):

The parade followed Francia, Paz, Ortiz de Zárate, Florida, Ramón y Cajal, Micaela Portilla and Lascaray streets and Avenida de Gasteiz to the junction with Beato Tomás de Zumárraga. On that last stretch the volume is turned down for people with autism or hearing sensitivity. In Spain the Three Kings, not Santa, are the traditional gift-bringers on the night of 5 January.

Museums, shops and public holidays

• Public holidays: 8 December (a Tuesday in 2026), 25 December, and 1 and 6 January.
• Provincial Council museums (Fine Arts, BIBAT, Arms and Natural Sciences): according to their 2026 calendar, they close on 9, 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January; on 7, 8 and 26 December and 2 and 6 January they open 11:00 to 14:00 only, and on 5 January 10:00 to 14:00. On other days, normal hours and free entry. More details on our free museums in Vitoria page.
• Ataria (Salburua wetlands): closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 and 6 January.
• Shops: the Basque Country does not set a calendar of authorised Sunday and holiday opening days (Ministry of Trade). On public holidays expect most places to be shut and check each shop's hours.

Practical tips

• Early-December long weekend: the nativity scene, Ardoaraba and the ice rink all overlap and the city fills up. If you are going then, book accommodation early and with free cancellation.
• Getting there: if you fly into Bilbao, there is a direct bus from the airport to Vitoria; see our airport to Vitoria guide.
• What else to see: for the rest of your visit, our guide to what to see in Vitoria in 1, 2 or 3 days. Besides the Tourist Office's guided tours, there are tours and free walking tours of the medieval quarter on Civitatis.
• What's on: concerts, theatre and matches on your dates are in the Vitoria events calendar.