La Nava celebrates 62nd annual Peach Festival in Huelva

The town of La Nava, located in the Huelva province of Spain, is celebrating its 62nd annual Peach Festival (Fiesta del Melocotón). The event draws hundreds of visitors from the surrounding region, Extremadura, and Portugal to a village of approximately 270 inhabitants.

The festival centers around a traditional peach punch. While the main ingredients—peaches, white wine from Condado, soda, cinnamon, and sugar—are known, the complete recipe remains a secret known to only one person in the village. The celebration follows a specific ritual, beginning with ‘la pelá’ (peeling) and continuing with ‘la plantá’ (the maceration process).

The festival's origins date back to the 1950s and 1960s, linked to the local mining history of the María Luisa mine. During that era, workers supplemented their income through peach cultivation. The tradition of sharing the punch for free with the community began in 1964.