A Fair Starring Melons

Many of Mallorca’s fiestas are linked to specific types of food, and if you’re on the island over the first weekend in September this year, you can see how a small town celebrates one of its most cooling and thirst-quenching crops of the summer.

Vilafranca de Bonany is in the fertile area known as Pla de Mallorca and is famous for being the birthplace of singer-songwriter Tomeu Penya and for the melons grown in the fields around it. Since 1970, Vilafranca has marked the melon harvest with a weekend of events and this year, the fun happens on the 6th and 7th of September, with something for all the family.

On Saturday evening, the main street through Vilafranca is closed to traffic for the Firó Nocturn, which includes a night market selling artisan-made goods, food-and-drink stalls, and entertainment. There’s usually a children’s lantern parade on this evening, with lanterns carved from melons.

Sunday is the main day for the ‘Firo del Meló’, which has plenty of interest for all, including tastings of different types of melon, exhibitions, demonstrations, and, of course, the annual competition to find the heaviest melon. You may be surprised to see how large melons can grow – and learn how many varieties of this juicy fruit are available.

A visit to Vilafranca’s Melon Fair will give you an authentic taste of the traditional agricultural life of small-town Mallorca.