Jijona Christmas Fair 2026
The 2026 Christmas Fair is an event held annually since 2009 in Jijona (Alicante) and receives over 100,000 visitors each year, surpassing its numbers year after year.
Also known as the Nougat Fair, this annual event is held just 20 km north of Alicante and features more than 30 exhibitors and nougat manufacturers selling their products directly to the public.
All exhibitors show at the Christmas nougat fair a wide variety of handmade products and make them directly available to the public at their stands. Would you like to learn more? Read on to find out everything you need to know about the Jijona Christmas Fair
When is the Jijona Christmas Fair 2024 held?
The Jijona Christmas Fair is held during the first long weekend of December, also called the Constitution holiday weekend.
The dates of the Jijona Christmas Fair are chosen each year depending on how the public holidays (the 6th, Constitution Day, and the 8th, Immaculate Conception Day) align with the weekend.
Therefore, the fair always starts on a different day, but always on the best days of that long weekend.
Nougat fair dates this year
This edition of the 2026 Christmas Fair will be held on December 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. It will start on Friday the 4th and run until Tuesday the 8th. It will last 5 days and will feature more than 35 artisan nougat makers and local businesses, such as bakeries, wineries, and more…
What activities are there during the Christmas Fair?
The Jijona Christmas Fair is not just designed for buying nougats directly from the manufacturer! Dozens of activities are also organized to explore the town, factories, and other attractions.
These activities include tastings (led by Alexis Verdú, technical director of the regulatory council), guided tours of the old town or the castle, musical performances and parades, dance groups, Christmas crafts, nougat-making demonstrations, etc.
All these activities take place either at the Jijona Christmas Fair and Market or just a few minutes away. There are mainly three locations: a large tent in front of the Town Hall, the Xixona local board, the House of Culture, or the Teatret, a completely renovated former convent.
These activities are organized by the Xixona local board as well as local associations such as the “El Trabajo” Artistic-Musical Group, the AECC, and the bakery and pastry vocational program from IES Xixona, and are spread across all days in an extensive program of activities:
Where to park at the Xixona Christmas Fair
During the Xixona Christmas Fair, the town council provides more than 2,000 parking spaces located in different parking areas throughout the city. All of them are located near the main entrance roads to the town and are properly signposted. There are three main areas to park:
- If you are coming from Alicante and take the first entrance to the town, you will find an open lot in front of the main gate of the “Barranc de la Font” park.
- If you are coming from Alicante and take the second entrance to the town, you will find the site of the former “Antiu Xixona” company.
- Within the town is the site of the former El Almendro Nougat factory.
All these parking areas for the Christmas Fair are less than a 10-minute walk from the city center, so parking is no excuse.
In case you cannot find parking, there are two neighborhoods on the outskirts of Xixona. A charming Christmas train and a shuttle bus will transport you from the different areas to the town’s main avenue.
It is important to note that it takes about 15 minutes to walk from the outskirts of Xixona to the town center.
Where to eat at the XIII Jijona Christmas Fair
Although Jijona is the sweetest place in the world, you will also find restaurants and bars where to eat during the Jijona Christmas Fair, many of them on the main avenue. We recommend you to make reservations in advance at any of them since there is a large influx of people and everyone wants to eat at the same time.
One of the options we recommend for eating during the Xixona Christmas Fair is to visit the “Food Trucks” area, which is available while the fair is open. This location offers various outdoor culinary proposals with tables spread throughout the area for open seating. Fast and economical service, the best for Christmas.
In the same food truck area, there is also a small section with attractions, ideal for coming with children so they stay entertained while you eat.
Turrones La Colmena at the Christmas Fair
Turrones La Colmena has participated in every edition of the Jijona Christmas Fair and we have many fond memories and anecdotes from each year. It is impossible to count them all!
During each edition of the Jijona Nougat Fair, The event was a great opportunity to taste nougat and attend workshops of different kinds. The vast majority of these workshops are organized by Jijona merchants themselves, showing visitors how they make their products live.
Almond roasting and live creation of marzipan figurines are great examples of our expertise. We would like to highlight our participation in organizing the Toasted Yolk workshop at the Christmas Fair, where we toast yolk live in front of everyone and then distribute it to the public. We love it!
In this way, we nougat makers will bring the nougat directly to your homes with the same advantages and offers as during the traditional nougat fair. In any case, if you wish to come, our physical nougat shop is open during the fair days, offering the same special prices we have during the fair with more tranquility.
Previous editions of the Christmas Fair
During 2020, as the health situation did not allow our Jijona Christmas fair and exhibition to be held in person, it was organized virtually. Making online purchases of both almond nougat and other sweets.
The organizers developed a website and Virtual Christmas Fair with detailed information and a direct link to the shop of each participating nougat maker. We also set up a ventilated room in our premises to receive in-person visitors, as was customary.
During 2021, an in-person event could already be held, but all exhibitors and visitors of the Jijona Fair had to wear protective masks.
Origin of the Jijona Christmas Fair
More than 100 years ago, a Christmas market for nougats and sweets was organized in the town, but the origin of the Christmas Fair stems from the desire of some 21st-century merchants to sell their products directly to the consumer, as sales had decreased considerably in recent decades due to large retail chains.
After a few years and much hard work, the Christmas and Nougat Fair became a reality and currently receives more than 100,000 people annually, reaching record figures year after year and expanding the number of activities and exhibitors. It is one of the most important Christmas events in the Valencian Community.
Possibly, the most special year was 2020 when, after much effort and waiting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual Jijona Nougat Fair was held, thus avoiding any danger of contagion and enjoying the Christmas spirit from home.
Discounts and offers on nougat during the Jijona Nougat Fair
Turrones La Colmena has participated in the Fira de Nadal de Xixona since its first edition, offering special prices during the event. That is why during the 2024 Christmas Fair we will continue the tradition of offering a “Fair Price” on our product catalog.
- Fair Prices on our entire nougat catalog.
- Special prices on our artisanal pastries.
- In our physical nougat shop, we have the same prices, but you will also be able to taste the products.
Our location at the Christmas Fair 2024
Our stand at the Jijona Nougat and Christmas Fair has always been located at numbers 92, 93, 94, and 95. We have a quadruple booth! To locate it among all the stalls, you should stand in front of the pharmacy, just a few meters from the town hall.
In one of our stands, we have artisanal nougats of all types and flavors, and in our second stand, we have hundreds of chocolate products. And you, what do you like best?
Although we are present at the fair, we are also prepared to welcome you to our home. You will find us at Polígono Industrial Revolta de la Paella. Carretera CV-800 Km.14. Warehouse 6.
We are located before reaching Jijona if you are coming from Alicante. There is room to park and no crowds. You will find more information at the following link to our physical nougat store in Jijona
Nougat Fair: via the virtual form
If all of the above feels overwhelming and you want to buy nougats from the Christmas Fair from anywhere in Spain or elsewhere, we make it easy for you: look on our social media for the discount code associated with the Christmas Fair, which we activate only during the Fair days.
We remind you that the virtual nougat fair allows you to buy the best nougat 100% securely directly from the manufacturer.
Discounts during the Jijona Nougat Fair.
All exhibitors will offer adjusted prices on the town’s main avenue during the event, as during the Christmas Fair you can buy nougats and chocolate with almonds 100% securely directly from the manufacturer.
Posters from previous editions of the Christmas Nougat Fair
Having attended this event organized year after year by the Xixona Business Association: AEX and participating actively in it, having the posters of all the Jijona Christmas fairs displayed on our website brings back very fond memories.
As can be seen, it all started as a very family-oriented event (the same poster repeated 4 times) and gradually began to create what is known today as the largest Christmas Nougat Fair in the world
