Virgin of Lourdes
The fiestas of Las Arboledas take place, like those of El Hurtado, in honour of the Apostle St. James.
However, on the Sunday following the feast of the Virgin of Lourdes (at the beginning of February), homage is paid to the Patron Saint by celebrating a breakfast with chocolate, churros, sandwiches and a performance by a folk group, after the Sunday mass.
Carnival
This year, the procession will be made up of 10 groups, five from Cieza, Los Ramos, Cabezo de Torres and Murcia, and the other five from Archena, including a batucada, and will travel along Antonete Gálvez and Daniel Ayala avenues, ending in the car parks of the old Miguel Medina, where there will be a party and dance.
The Councillor for Festivities, Anselmo Campuzano, and representatives of the Cultural Association Cruz de los Espejos, organisers of the parade, this afternoon presented the poster and the carnival programme.
Holy Week
Easter Week in Archena was declared a Festival of Regional Tourist Interest in 1995. The Cabildo Superior de Cofradías is made up of twelve Cofradías and Hermandades, which organise all the processions.
Corpus Christi
The feast of Corpus Christi as such was instituted by Bishop Robert of Thorete in Liège-Belgium in 1246 at the request of Blessed Juliana, but it did not become generalised until Pope Urban VI designated it for the Thursday following the Holy Trinity, by means of a Bull, 18 years later.
Virgin of Health
The proclamation of the Virgen de la Salud as Patron Saint of Archena took place once the carving was recovered at the end of the Civil War. This was possible because it had been hidden in the summer of 1936 in the crypt of the hermitage. The festivity was then moved from the day of the Ascension, when it was traditionally celebrated, to the current dates, the Sunday after Corpus Christi.
Moors and Christians
It is held on the last weekend of June, as it is the closest holiday to St. John the Baptist, the former patron saint of Archena and current patron saint of the most historic parish church in the town.
The idea is to represent, by means of a Theatrical Embassy, the delivery of the Town Charter by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, owner of these lands since the Christian Reconquest, to the Mudejars who were still living in this town (in the year 1462).
Virgin of Carmen
Fiestas of the Providencia "El Fútbol" neighbourhood, in honour of the Virgen del Carmen.
Santiago Apostle
The fiestas of El Hurtado are held in honour of Santiago, patron saint of the neighbourhood, and are attended by all its inhabitants, maintaining the affectionate, intimate and close relationship of its people.
San Juan the Evangelist
Fiestas del "Otro Lao", en Honor a San Juan Evangelista
The Polvorín
En ella se conmemora un hecho luctuoso: la explosión de un polvorín militar que ocasionó muy importantes daños materiales.
Pero el pueblo de Archena ha transformado este acontecimiento en festivo, celebrando la ausencia de víctimas o desgracias personales tras una explosión de tal magnitud que fue percibida en un radio de veinte kilómetros y destrozó cristales y estructuras.
Virgin of the Rosario
In the hamlet of La Algaida, several festivities are held throughout the year, highlighting its patron saint festivities in honour of the Virgen del Rosario, these were formerly held on the third Sunday in October. After a popular vote it was decided to bring them forward as rainfall was common at this time of year. Today they are held in the third week of September, although the patron saint's day is 7 October.
Sacred Heart of Jesus
This hamlet is connected to three beautiful villages: Archena, Lorquí and Molina del Segura. It is a small village, nowadays there are few residents during the year but in mid-August when we celebrate our festivities is when all the neighbours come who for one reason or another live outside. These celebrations are questioned by our elders who lived here in the 50's, back then a few musicians got together, there was dancing, nougat, sugared almonds and some drinks were sold and even a heifer was brought out.