Belesar's wine and cherry fest

At the foot of the river Miño, straddling the municipalities of Chantada and O Saviñao, Belesar attracts hundreds of people every year between late May and early June who come to savour the area's famous cherries.

The region’s cherries are certainly as popular with the locals as its grapes. Their fame precedes them throughout the Autonomous Community and the rest of Spain, as the significance of cherry cultivation becomes apparent when considering that Chantada alone is thought to be home to over 6,000 cherry trees (Source: Colectivo Cereixo de Galicia-Cocega, 2016). The climate in Belesar is so favourable that the trees manage to exceed 40 years of age, surpassing the usual age of around 20 years.

But besides the cherry market, the festival's programme usually includes complementary activities such as live music, food stalls and a contest of aturuxos (shouting matches), where locals from both banks of the Miño compete to the cry of ‘Ei, papeiros! Ei, rabudos!’ (Click here for the legend).

Date: between late May and early June