Madrid bids farewell this Sunday, August 16, to the Fiestas de la Virgen de la Paloma of 2026. After four days of celebration in the Centro district, La Latina faces the last hours of a program that combines traditional Castilian culture, popular contests, neighborhood activities, and free concerts.
The main attraction of the day will be Miss Caffeina, who will perform at 9:30 PM in the Jardines de Las Vistillas. At the same time, those who prefer another venue can head to the plaza de la Paja, where Karavana will perform. The two concerts will concentrate a good part of the nighttime programming before the DJs take over.
The fiestas de La Paloma are celebrated this year from August 13 to 16 and close the traditional calendar of summer festivities in the center of the capital, after the celebrations of San Cayetano and San Lorenzo. The City Council of Madrid indicates that all activities of La Paloma are free access.
La Paloma program today, Sunday, August 16
The day begins at noon with one of the most traditional plans of the program. At 12:00 PM, the plaza de la Paja hosts a traditional vermouth, before giving way, at 1:00 PM, to the children's contest of drinking from a jug.
In the afternoon, neighborhood activities will continue. Between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM, Calle Calatrava will be the scene of a vermouth with poetry reading and the first Castilian Water Party organized by the Association of Entrepreneurs and Hoteliers of La Paloma. After that, between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM, there will be a distribution of lemonade.
At 7:00 PM, the adult contest of drinking from a porrón will also arrive at the plaza de la Paja, one of the popular activities included in the municipal program.
Calle Tabernillas joins the programming at that same hour with a Puerto Rican plena workshop, scheduled between 7:00 PM and 7:45 PM.
Traditional music before Miss Caffeina and Karavana
Before the two big concerts of the night, the stages will recover the most traditional sounds of Madrid.
The Agrupación Castiza El Orgullo de Madrid and the Agrupación de Madrileños y Amigos Los Castizos will perform together at 7:30 PM in the plaza de la Paja. Half an hour later, at 8:00 PM, Elena Rodríguez will offer her traditional performance in the Jardines de Las Vistillas.
At 8:45 PM, the plaza de la Paja will also host the awards ceremony for the contests held during the day.
What time does Miss Caffeina perform at La Paloma
Miss Caffeina will start her concert at 9:30 PM in the Jardines de Las Vistillas. The band is one of the main names on this year's festival lineup and stars in the last great musical night of La Paloma.
The concert is free, like the rest of the official programming organized by the Centro district, and will take place on one of the two large stages of the festival.
Miss Caffeina's performance culminates a programming at Las Vistillas where during the last days Celtas Cortos, Los Refrescos, Modestia Aparte, and DePol, among other artists, have also performed.
Karavana also performs at 9:30 PM
Attendees will have to choose, because Karavana will start at exactly the same time.
The group will perform at 9:30 PM in the plaza de la Paja, located a few minutes walking from Las Vistillas, which divides the main musical offer of the night between the two stages.
The official programming thus confirms two simultaneous performances for the closing of the festival: Miss Caffeina in Las Vistillas and Karavana in the plaza de la Paja.
Schedules for La Paloma today, August 16
- 12:00 PM: traditional vermouth in the plaza de la Paja.
- 1:00 PM: children's drinking contest in a pitcher in the plaza de la Paja.
- 5:00-7:00 PM: vermouth and poetry reading on Calatrava street.
- 5:00-7:00 PM: Castiza Water Party on Calatrava street.
- 7:00 PM: adult drinking contest in a porrón in the plaza de la Paja.
- 7:00-7:45 PM: Puerto Rican plena workshop on Tabernillas street.
- 7:00-8:00 PM: lemonade distribution on Calatrava street.
- 7:30 PM: El Orgullo de Madrid and Los Castizos in the plaza de la Paja.
- 8:00 PM: Elena Rodríguez in the Jardines de Las Vistillas.
- 8:45 PM: awards ceremony in the plaza de la Paja.
- 9:30 PM: Miss Caffeina, in the Jardines de Las Vistillas.
- 9:30 PM: Karavana, in the plaza de la Paja.
- 11:00 PM-1:00 AM: DJ El Pulpo, in the Jardines de Las Vistillas.
- 11:00 PM and from 12:15 AM to 1:00 AM: DJ Tama, in the plaza de la Paja.
The fair will continue until one in the morning
The concerts of Miss Caffeina and Karavana will not mark the end of the night. At 11:00 PM, DJ El Pulpo will take the stage at Las Vistillas and will keep the music going until 1:00 AM.
In the plaza de la Paja, DJ Tama will also start at 11:00 PM. His session will be divided into two parts, with music at 11:00 PM and again between 12:15 AM and 1:00 AM, according to the official program of the City Council.
This Sunday marks the final touch to thirteen days of popular festivities in the Centro district, from the beginning of San Cayetano on August 4 until the farewell of La Paloma on August 16. During these weeks, the streets of Lavapiés and La Latina have hosted concerts, processions, chotis contests, children's activities, and the traditional Madrid verbenas.
With Miss Caffeina and Karavana as the protagonists of the last Sunday, Madrid closes one of its most recognizable festive cycles of the summer before the music of the two DJs extends the last verbena of La Paloma past midnight.