The Mallorcan fair season is in full swing now that November has arrived. The fairs are a celebration of harvests and agricultural commerce, and many of Majorca’s towns and villages find some product that their fair is then based on. We have already experienced the Sobradassa (Mallorcan sausage) fair in Campos, and the Llampuga (local dolphin fish) Fair in Cala Ratjada.
This month, get set for a wealth of countryside delicacies, from mushrooms, to honey, and the more famous olives and grapes that are cultivated on Majorca.
The Dijous Bo in Inca, the most important autumn fair on the Island, is held every year usually the third Thursday in November, after the three autumn fairs and the fiesta of Santa Maria la Major. Every year the fair has a massive participation, both by exhibitors and visitors from all over Mallorca, and even from other islands.
The programme of events includes a whole range of cultural and sporting activities that start the previous Sunday with the reading of the proclamation, although the central part of the programme takes place on the Wednesday and especially on Thursday.
Amongst the events organised every year, the morphological contest of the black Mallorcan pig stands out, plus the fair of the mule and the exhibition of autochthonous breeds, which opens on Wednesday afternoon in the Plaza del Bestiar, and the Exhibition of Commerce organised by the Shopkeepers Association of Inca that starts on the same Wednesday in the centre of the city.
The day ends with a “correfoc” by the group of Dimonis d’Alaró and a musical fiesta for the youngsters in the Plaza Verge de Lluc. On Thursday morning, the animal and commerce exhibitions reopen and in the afternoon the programme of events finishes with a fashion show “Inca Ciutat de la Pell”.
Every year, during the third weekend in November, Caimari, a small village in the municipality of Selva, holds the Olive Fair, dedicated basically to promoting the traditional production of oil and olives. The programmed events start on the Friday afternoon with the delivery by the local youngsters of olive branches to all the homes.
The fair opens officially on Saturday at 4 p.m. with the opening of the exhibition that takes place in the centre of the village about oil and other products from Caimari, such as almonds. The walk round the fair includes, amongst other activities, different tastings, also visits to the new and old olive presses belonging to Oli Caimari and the old almond breaker belonging to ca na Bielona. It also includes a visit to the Ethnological Park, in the entrance to the village coming from Palma.
On Sunday morning, with a huge public attendance, the fair opens again. As well as the previous walk round, there are many individual exhibitions, such as the one dedicated to olives, almonds, carobs and fruit trees. These latest editions, as a novelty, have a sheep dog competition on Sunday morning.
Caimari has a long tradition in the production of oil, starting in Roman times and lasting to the modern day. As from the XVI century, principally during the XVIII and XIX centuries, the production, transformation and marketing of the oil and olives became the main wealth of the village.
November Fairs in Mallorca
12th-15th November: Artesan Fair, Pollença
12th-14th November: Fira de sa Carabassa, Muro (pumpkins, marrows, melons etc)
18th November: Dijous Bo, Inca (huge agricultural fair)
20th & 21st November: Olive Fair, Caimari
21st November: Honey Fair, Llubí
27th & 28th November: Gerret Fair, Port de Sóller (gastronomic fair featuring the gerret fish)
27th November: New Wine Fair, Santa Maria del Camí
27th & 28th November: Autumn Fair featuring rice, sa Pobla
28th November: Mushroom Fair, Mancor de la Vall
30th November: Traditional Fair, Llubí
