Three days to discover craftsmanship, local flavours and an authentic Mediterranean that needs no filters
There are places you visit. And then there are places you end up photographing because everything catches your eye.
Gata de Gorgos is one of them.
If this summer you’ve seen palm baskets, artisan hats, shops full of natural fibres and corners with that Mediterranean feel that seems made for Instagram, you probably already know what we mean.
But Gata hasn’t just discovered this aesthetic.
It has been living it for generations.
And from 9 to 11 October, all of it will literally spill out into the streets during the 21st Fira Gata al Carrer.
This is a particularly special edition because, for the first time in its history, the fair is expanding to an extra day. Friday 9 October is a public holiday in the Valencian Community, and Gata will start the celebrations from 4:00 pm. Saturday and Sunday will continue throughout the day.
Three days. An entire town out in the streets. And the perfect excuse to make different plans.
What is trending now has been made here for generations
Natural-fibre bags. Palm baskets. Baskets. Hats. Wicker decoration. Palm. Esparto.
Només cal fer una volta per les botigues de la Plaça d’Espanya i la carretera de Gata per entendre per què durant dècades el nom Take a walk through the shops around Plaza de España and along Gata’s main road and you’ll understand why the town has been associated for decades with a simple phrase: “Gata, the home of craftsmanship.”
Long before handmade, natural materials and handcrafted products filled social media, families here were already working with these materials by hand.
And they still are.
Gata has an important hat-making industry, with more than a dozen factories and workshops where pieces are still sewn, pressed, shaped and finished before travelling much further than you might imagine.
ARTISANS AT THE FAIR
During the fair, shops will be open and local commerce will take to the streets. You’ll be able to look, touch, shop and, above all, discover the stories behind many of the objects we now associate with the Mediterranean lifestyle.
Because buying a palm basket is one thing.
Buying one in a place where making baskets is part of the town’s culture is something completely different.
Here, hands still tell stories
The fair also offers something that is becoming increasingly difficult to find: people making things.
For real.
Without an industrial process hidden behind a label that simply says “handmade”.
Throughout the weekend there will be demonstrations, workshops and gatherings dedicated to traditional local crafts.
On Saturday, the Llata Gathering will celebrate traditional palm weaving, while Sunday will be dedicated to the Bobbin Lace Gathering, bringing together dozens of people practising this traditional craft.
Hands weaving palm. Threads crossing one another. Baskets beginning as little more than palm leaves. Techniques passed down from generation to generation.
You can come and watch.
You can ask questions.
You can even learn.
And yes, you’ll probably want to take out your phone too.
But this time, there’s a story behind the picture.
Come hungry
Because if there’s one thing Gata takes just as seriously as craftsmanship, it’s good food.
Here, heritage is something you can taste too.
Butchers and delicatessens with more than a century of history continue making traditional cured meats based on family recipes passed down through generations, using traditional spices and methods.
Sobrasada, blanquet, botifarra, longaniza and other cured meats are part of a gastronomic tradition also linked to the Mallorcan settlers who arrived in these lands centuries ago.
And that story continues to evolve.
Local producers are also recovering and experimenting with cured meats made from sheep raised in the Marina Alta, bringing together gastronomy, livestock farming and the local landscape.
During the fair, you’ll be able to meet them and taste their products directly in the streets.
Wine, craft beer, cheese, coca… and there’s more
Because this is only the beginning.
There will be wines from local producers, including some natural wines; craft beer made in Gata; cheese and cured-meat tastings; honey; local products and proposals made with Blat de la Marina, the region’s traditional wheat, which has been recovered and milled to bring it back into local gastronomy.
And then there are the bakeries.
In Gata, recipes that taste like the village are still alive.
Traditional sweets, bread and, of course, cocas from the Marina Alta, one of those simple dishes that says more about generations of Mediterranean cooking than any speech ever could.
Throughout the three days of the fair, you’ll be able to order them, taste them and keep exploring the streets.
Because here, gastronomy won’t be hidden inside a pavilion.
It will be everywhere.
An entire town transformed into a fair
That is probably the biggest difference with Gata al Carrer.
You’re not coming to enter a fairground. You’re coming to enter Gata.
The shops come out into the streets. Artisans work. Bakeries bake. Bars and restaurants prepare their dishes. There is music, activities, workshops, gatherings and people strolling from one place to another.
The fair and the town blend together until they are practically the same thing.
And that means you can come without rushing.
Take a walk.
Step into a shop.
Find that hat nobody else has.
Taste cured meat made from a century-old recipe.
Have a craft beer.
Discover how palm is woven.
Share some coca.
Take a few photos.
And keep walking.
This 9 October, make different plans
The 21st Fira Gata al Carrer starts a day earlier this year.
And there couldn’t be a better time.
Friday 9 October is a public holiday throughout the Valencian Community, so if you still don’t know what to do, here’s an idea:
- Friday 9 October: 4:00–8:00 pm.
- Saturday 10 October: 10:00 am–8:00 pm.
- Sunday 11 October: 10:00 am–8:00 pm.
- Location: Gata de Gorgos, Marina Alta, Alicante.
- Plan: crafts, gastronomy, shopping, music, workshops, traditions and plenty of Mediterranean spirit.
Come with friends.
Come as a couple.
Come with the family.
Or simply come because you’re looking for somewhere different to spend the day.
There are things Instagram turns into trends.
In Gata, we’ve been making them for generations.
From 9 to 11 October, discover the 21st Fira Gata al Carrer.
Gata is waiting for you in the streets.
