Oviedo looks beautiful all year round, so just imagine what it is like at Christmas, when its monuments are illuminated, performances pop up throughout the streets to surprise locals and visitors alike, and Campo San Francisco Park, with its attractions, becomes a favourite meeting place for children. The city dresses up for Christmas, and what we love most is how strongly local traditions feature in its festive programme.

The Christmas Market stalls stretch across Plaza Porlier, Plaza de Alfonso II El Casto and the surrounding streets, offering handicrafts, Christmas products and traditional sweets. There are also areas where you can sit down and sample some of the delicacies on sale, as well as children’s activities and workshops where little ones can marvel at magic shows, laugh along with clowns and stilt walkers, and even learn a little balloon modelling.

In Asturian, amagüestu refers both to the act of roasting chestnuts and to a gathering where people come together to eat them, which is precisely what happens during this celebration, held between late October and early November. Oviedo has made room for this tradition, which is especially popular with children, and usually includes a children’s amagüestu as part of its Christmas programme. There is always plenty of sweet cider —a type of non-alcoholic must— and, of course, roasted chestnuts.

If this jolly fellow spends the night of 24 December delivering presents, it is only right that he should also enjoy his moment in the spotlight. In Oviedo, he gets exactly that with a parade through the city streets that same afternoon. Riding in his sleigh and accompanied by his elves, music heralds his arrival.

Here, the royal emissary is none other than His Royal Highness Prince Aliatar. This character is particularly associated with Asturias and was created by a journalist from Oviedo as a gift for his grandson, who had been born on 4 January in the middle of the last century. Today, he is an established part of the city’s Christmas traditions and is responsible for collecting children’s letters in the days leading up to the arrival of the Three Kings.

In the days leading up to 5 January, the Three Kings arrive in Oviedo and hold a special reception for children. Then the Grand Three Kings Parade begins, featuring numerous participants dressed in beautifully crafted costumes, marching bands and oriental-inspired floats, along with countless details that transport us to the ancient royal courts of the Middle East. Pure magic.

During the festive season, seafood becomes even more prominent in Asturian cuisine, with dishes such as shore crab bisque and pixín soup (monkfish) appearing on local tables. For dessert, as well as the turrón, polvorones and marzipan made by hand in the city’s bakeries and pastry shops, do not leave without trying Oviedo’s famous carbayones. These traditional pastries are made with puff pastry, almonds, sugar, egg and syrup.

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