Carrilanas de Esteiro (A Coruña), dates and program

Traveling is not just about enjoying beautiful landscapes, visiting lively cities and pretty towns, or visiting important historical monuments.

From our point of view, above all, traveling is knowing the customs and culture of the places we visit, and in this respect, the popular parties they occupy a prominent place.

Festivals like the one that takes place every July in a corner of the Muros and Noia estuary, In the province of A Coruña de Galicia.

This is the Esteiro Carrilanas, one of the most fun popular festivals of the Galician summer, which is based on the tradition of carilanas, a popular children's game in Galicia.

And so the Esteiro Carrilanas Grand Prix, a festival that was born in 1988, with which it has already celebrated more than 30 years of tradition, and that has earned recognition as Festival of Tourist Interest in Galicia.

Below we are going to give you the keys to attend and enjoy this great popular festival of the Esteiro Carrilanas.

Where is Esteiro in Galicia

mat It is a small town of barely 1.000 inhabitants that is considered a parish of the municipality of Muros to which it belongs.

mat It is located inside the aforementioned Muros and Noia estuary, and not far from places as notable as Finisterre, to the north, and the Corrubedo dunes, to the south.

It is a town on the banks of the estuary, whose picturesque image varies depending on whether the tide rises or falls.

What are the rails?

The festival was born with the purpose of attracting visitors to the town on the occasion of the celebration of the patron saint's day Santa Marina which is celebrated on July 18.

And during the brainstorming that took place among the group of friends who promoted this project, the idea of ​​making a descent of carilanas, that is, wooden children's carts.

This popular children's toy became the protagonist of the party, and in that first edition in 1988 each bar in Esteiro became a team I had to build a traditional carnival, that is, a wooden cart which had to move without any propellant, by gravity itself.

What is the Carrilanas de Esteiro Grand Prix like?

As the years went by, that initial brainstorming it has become a big festive celebration that meets every year during the third week of july to more than 30.000 visitors.

The axis of the celebration is the race that takes place in the Cuesta de O Maio, a steep and winding descent 3 kilometers long that has to cover all the wooden rails participants, without any motor and only with the impulse of the force of gravity.

Anyone can participate in the Gran Prix Carrilanas de Esteiro, with the only requirement is to have a wooden carousel that complies with current regulations.

For this reason, every year they participate in it. teams, both mat as from the surrounding towns, in the categories children, slow carlanes and fast carlanes.

The wooded area surrounding the route is filled with the public attending the different competition days.

Thus, you can attend the training sessions on Saturday morning, the timed test on Saturday afternoon to establish the starting order, or the final test on Sunday morning, the Grand Prix in which the 20 fastest runners participate.

The Esteiro Carrilanas They also transcend a mere festive competition, since during the dates of their celebration in this Galician town and others nearby in the Muros and Noia estuary takes place a Music festival in which several Galician artists and groups participate.

Other festive events are a craft market y pasacalles.

During your stay you can also visit the Carrilanas Museum, which was opened in 2012 and where the best bolides built in wood.

Esteiro Carrilanas Dates 2021

After the suspension of this year's festive event due to health measures due to the Covid-19, dates of the Carrilanas de Esteiro 2021 They are on July 16, 17 and 18, which you can now write down in your agenda for this party that has the reputation of being one of the most fun in Galicia.

Here you can check the Carrilanas de Esteiro 2021 program.

The best things to see in Ría de Muros and Noia

Tu getaway to Esteiro To enjoy the festival of the carilanas, you can complete it with visits to the Most notable places of the Ría de Muros and Noia.

This way you can visit the traditional fishing village of Muros or historical complex of Noia, with its churches, alleys and arcades.

He too Mount Louro natural area, or the heritage corner of Castro de Barona, whose origins date back to the second iron age, a place that was also occupied by the Romans.

In the section beaches, apart from Esteiro's own, in Walls you count on the Louro beach, considered as one of the best of Galicia, with its environment of lagoons, and the san francisco beach, the busiest for bathers in the area.

En Outes you have the Broña beach, a quiet and sheltered sandy area, and in the municipality of Girl you have the boa beach, divided into two parts, ideal for families, and the Testal beach, where swimmers and shellfish harvesters coexist during low tide.

And in the municipality of Porto do Son you have the Rio Sieira beach, with a lagoon landscape, and if you are fond of nudism, the Area Longa beach, in a secluded environment and with views of the heritage site of the Castro de Barona.

How to get to Esteiro

The small town of mat You find it south of A Coruña and about 50 kilometers west of Santiago de Compostela.