Fairies Foul and Foulies Fair…
Many are the stories of encantades (enchantresses) and bruixes (witches) woven into the folklore of the Pyrénées-Orientales.
And every October, the little village of Tresserre embraces the darker side of Catalan folklore with the wonderfully witchy Festa de les Bruixes.
Festa de les Bruixes 2026
Friday 16th – Sunday 18th October 2026
Tresserre
The witches are returning to Tresserre for three days of festivities in the heart of the Aspres.
For one weekend, the village celebrates the legends, superstitions and stories surrounding the bruixes that have been passed down through generations of Catalan folklore.
The full 2026 programme is still bubbling away in the cauldron, (now posted below) but the festivities will take place over Friday 16th, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October, with witch-themed artisans taking over the old village centre on the Sunday.
We’ll update this page with the full programme as soon as the witches decide to reveal it.
And before anybody asks: no, this isn’t Halloween.
Witches have been causing trouble around here for considerably longer than pumpkins have.
Festa de les Bruixes 2026 – Programme
Friday 16 October – Cave aux Contes
10.00am – School performance
Lodoïs Doré – Contes d’animaux pas si bêtes
(Tales of Animals Who Aren’t So Silly)
Clever crows, swallows looking for shelter and even helpful pigs feature in these stories, which offer a playful way of talking about our own humanity. A chance to laugh and dream along the way.
7.30pm – Musical aperitif
With Oréa
9.00pm – Storytelling evening
Lodoïs Doré – Pleure pas bonhomme (Don’t Cry, Little Fellow)
An emotional and luminous tale, retold with tenderness, subtlety and humour.
Admission: €8 – free for under-12s
10.30pm – Concert
Oréa
Cave aux Contes courtyard
An extraordinary musical journey with Oréa and her accordion, exploring sounds from around the world.
Saturday 17 October – Espace des Oliviers
7.00pm – Musical aperitif
DJ LFO 51 – tropical atmosphere
8.30pm – Concert
Les Rat’s Cordés
A duo performing French songs, reworked in a festive style to get people dancing. Their repertoire ranges from Brassens, Piaf and Brel to Les Ogres de Barback, La Rue Kétanou and Renaud, with a little Irish set thrown in.
10.00pm – Street performance
La Cremallera Teatre – El Gegant i el Drac de Vímet
(The Giant and the Wicker Dragon)
A lively and musical street parade in the great Catalan tradition.
10.30pm – Concert
Les Barbeaux
Ska, cumbia, hip-hop and Balkan electro. Drawing on their Mediterranean identity, they combine strings, brass, percussion and accordion in a vibrant, energetic sound designed to get the crowd dancing.
Midnight – DJ set
DJ LFO 51 – electro atmosphere.
Sunday 18 October – Espace des Oliviers, Plaça Nova and the Old Village
10.00am – Craft market
11.30am – Catalan skittles competition
Joc de bitlles (traditional Catalan skittles)
With the percussion band Els Senyors del Foc
12.30pm – Catalan barbecue
With a musical journey into the world of country music from the Duo Old Rods.
2.00pm–5.00pm – Children’s workshops
Discover the Secret World of the Witches
La Vieille Rachel and her Cabinet of Curiosities
2.00pm – Percussion band
Els Senyors del Foc
2.30pm – Street theatre
Cie Tout est possible – Les étranges soeurs de la forêt
(The Strange Sisters of the Forest)
They arrive in Tresserre to meet the inhabitants…
3.00pm – Street theatre
La Cremallera Teatre – El Gegant i el Drac de Vímet
(The Giant and the Wicker Dragon)
3.30pm – Percussion band
Els Senyors del Foc
4.00pm – Street theatre
Cie Tout est possible – Les étranges soeurs de la forêt
They have seen many things, witnessed the madness of humanity and suffered its cruelty…
4.30pm – Dance performance
Oriental dance, lyrical dance and hip-hop with Pump’Art
Main stage
5.00pm – Street theatre
La Cremallera Teatre – El Gegant i el Drac de Vímet
5.30pm – Witch Zumba
With Danse Ta Vie
Plaça Nova
6.00pm – Street theatre
Cie Tout est possible – Les étranges soeurs de la forêt
One day, they set off on the road, suitcases full of memories echoing to the sound of their accordions, to take everyone on a great journey to lift the spell from the hearts of humanity.
6.30pm – Street theatre
La Cremallera Teatre – El Gegant i el Drac de Vímet
7.00pm – Percussion band
Els Senyors del Foc
7.30pm – Grand fire finale
Luv Wiew – Nadesh Kanash, Labo M Arts
To the sound of enchanting music, a mysterious woman, guardian of ancient traditions, explores the magic of fire and dance. Half-woman, half-wolf, Luv Wiew invites us to embrace our wild nature and dance beneath the stars.
A fusion of fire dancing and pyrotechnics.
Until then, behave yourselves. The bruixes are watching.
Witches, enchantresses and things that go bump in the Catalan night
Stories of witches and magical beings run deep through Catalan and Pyrenean folklore.
The encantades are generally described as mysterious female supernatural beings or enchantresses, often associated with isolated places, caves, springs and mountain streams.
Their presence can still be spotted on maps today in names such as Cova de les Encantades and Roc de les Encantades.
Then there are the bruixes.
Witches were blamed for all manner of misfortune, from bad harvests and sick animals to storms and general unexplained nastiness. Unsurprisingly, generations of Catalans developed a few tricks to keep them at bay.
Which brings us to the rooftops.
Look up!
Travel around the older villages of the Pyrénées-Orientales and you may spot curious pieces of stone, tile or iron sticking up from rooftops.
These are known as espanta-bruixes, literally “witch scarers”.
In the Roussillon plain, they could take the form of tiles curving upwards from the ends or corners of a roof. Elsewhere they appeared in different shapes and materials, all supposedly designed to discourage an airborne witch from making herself comfortable on your house.
One particularly fabulous version is the cua de gall, or “cock’s tail”, made from terracotta tiles cut and shaped to resemble the feathers of a rooster.
The logic was simple enough.
If you’re a witch flying around the Roussillon looking for somewhere to land, a roof covered in uncomfortable spikes probably isn’t your first choice.
And if it also keeps evil spirits away and brings a little prosperity to the household below, even better.
Examples of these old witch deterrents can still be spotted on buildings around the region today, so next time you’re wandering through an old Catalan village, stop staring at the café terraces for five minutes and look up.
You never know what you might find.
Fancy a career change?
Of course, avoiding witches is all very well. But what if you’ve decided you’d rather become one?
Various Catalan legends contain suitably peculiar rituals for joining the profession, often involving nudity, isolated locations, repeated actions and mysterious incantations.
One particularly colourful version claims that the aspiring witch should head to the beach, remove all her clothes, roll around in the sand seven times, draw three circles and perform the appropriate mysterious mutterings without being seen.
If successful: congratulations, you’re a witch.
If unsuccessful: you’re simply naked on a beach in the Pyrénées-Orientales rolling around in the sand.
Choose your beach carefully.
