Logroño San Mateo festival

San Mateo is Logroño’s week of festivities in late September, and it doubles as the Fiesta de la Vendimia Riojana, the Rioja grape harvest festival. It is a town festival first, organised by the city council with the local festive groups, the peñas. This page looks at what it offers to eat and drink. The festival takes its name from Saint Matthew, whose feast day is 21 September.

The 2026 Logroño San Mateo festival

The festivities opened with the cohete, the rocket fired on the morning of Saturday 19 September. The 2027 dates had not been published when this page was checked, on 6 October 2026: the city council announces them on logrono.es.

What to eat and drink

• The first must. The heart of the harvest festival is the treading of the grapes and the offering of the first must to the Virgin of Valvanera, patron of La Rioja. In 2026 it took place on 21 September at noon, on the Paseo del Espolón.
• Rioja wine. Logroño sits in the middle of the appellation. Reds made mainly from Tempranillo dominate, labelled Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva according to their ageing.
• Pinchos in the old town. The Calle Laurel and the streets around it are lined with bars, each known for a few small bites: mushrooms on bread, grilled peppers, fried snacks. A common habit is one pincho and a glass per bar, then on to the next.

Practical tips

• Pick your day. The grape treading is the day to plan around for the harvest side of the festival.
• Know the venues. In 2026 the festivities were centred on the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, the Paseo del Espolón, the Avenida de Colón and the Plaza del Mercado, with events in the neighbourhoods too.
• Visit a bodega. Harvest is the busiest time in the wineries: book a tour ahead. This guide compares guided bodega tours in Haro and in Rioja Alavesa, from 22 euros per adult.
• Posters on show. In 2026, the Antigua Estación held an exhibition of 70 years of San Mateo posters, from 10 to 30 September.

Where to stay

The old town and the area around the Espolón put you in the middle of the festival, and that is where rooms go first: reserve as soon as the city council publishes the dates. Bilbao has the nearest large airport. Logroño has a railway station and a small airport with domestic flights.

Saint Matthew’s day, 21 September, anchors the festival in the calendar: in 2026, the festivities ran from the Saturday before to the Friday after it. The city council fixes each year’s dates. Wait for its announcement before you book.