Sagardo Apurua, the Basque cider festival in Donostia / San Sebastian.

Get to know the culture and history of Basque cider in the heart of the capital of Gipuzkoa, Sagardo Apurua.

The natural cider association of Gipuzkoa celebrates year after year Sagardo Apurua, a festival, which invites visitors to learn about the culture and history of Basque cider along with the tasting of the new cider.

Txalupas in the Urumea river

Sagardo apurua begins with the arrival of the new cider from Astigarraga, capital of the Basque cider, to Donostia by the Urumea river, crossing the valley of the cider until arriving at the height of Tabakalera where the barrels are unloaded that later are transferred in a cart pulled by oxen until the square of the constitution, neuralgic center of Sagardo Apurua. As you can see, this event summons 3 sectors of great importance of our town, all of them represented in the way that the barrels of sagardo (Basque cider) make from Astigarraga to Donostia, thus, Sagardo Apurua counts on the presence of sailors, villagers and producers of natural cider of Gipuzkoa.

Find out the answer to all your questions about Sagardo Apurua in the following lines, don’t miss it!

Sagardo Apurua in the streets of Donosti

What does apurua mean? Apurua is the term formerly used to refer to the tasting of Basque cider that took place with neighbors, relatives and local people before the cider was marketed, an invitation to taste the new cider. A word that was recovered a few years ago coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the burning and destruction of the city of Donostia / San Sebastian by Anglo-Portuguese troops.

Apple must, Sagardo Apurua

What is Sagardo Apurua’s Objective? In the not too distant past, the city of Donostia had more than 100 sagardotegis (Basque cider houses) distributed throughout the city, unfortunately, most of them have disappeared making the cider culture lose presence in the capital of Gipuzkoa, an evil, that the association of natural cider of Gipuzkoa wanted to remedy by creating this great festival called Sagardo apurua.

Ox cart, Sagardo Apurua

What does Sagardo Apurua offer us? During the 4 days of the event, visitors and inhabitants of the city have the opportunity to learn about the culture and history of Basque cider through the full program of activities and experiences that take place in the Plaza de la Constitución, a square in which the old Basque farmhouse of Igartubeiti is recreated.

Shows in Sagardo Apurua

What products can we find in Sagardo Apurua? As it is logical, in this event the protagonist is the Basque cider, but next to it we find many of the typical products of our land as:

• Basatxerri (Products from free-range pigs in the Basque mountains)
• Idiazabal D.O. Cheese.
• Apple derivatives.
• Lurlan (products from Basque farmhouses).
• And many more!

Ekobasatxerria

What do Basque cider houses and the music of our land have in common? Several of the typical instruments of our land such as the txalaparta or the kirikoketa were created in our sagardotegis as a result of the noise generated by the wood hitting each other in the process of making cider, which is why this event never lacks musical performances of the Basque Country, such as bertsolariz.

Basque musicians

• Basque Government
• HAZI
• Donostiako Udala
• Donostia Festak
• Donostia Tourism
• Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa
• Department of Tourism of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa
• Hotel Association of Gipuzkoa
• Txerrizaleok Elkartea
• Artzai Gazta
• Lurlan
• Behemendi
• Urki ur Kirolak
• Federation of Bola and Toca of Gipuzkoa
• Irizar School of Hotel Management
• Diameter 200
• Barmans Association of Gipuzkoa
• Hotel Association of Gipuzkoa
• San Telmo Museum
• Albaola
• Urumea: Sagardoaren Ibaia

Albaola, Itsas kultur faktoria

Donostia smells of Basque cider again, are you going to miss it? See you in the next edition of Sagardo Apurua, stay tuned to our social networks!