A lively municipality
Events in Rialp
Rialp is culture all year round. The municipality keeps its intangible heritage alive through events that combine tradition and local life.
The most traditional
Carnival Calderada
On Carnival Tuesday, the Calderada is prepared, a meal organised jointly by the Town Council and volunteers to keep this tradition alive. It consists of a type of escudella highly valued by the whole population and kept alive since the early 20th century, with very few variations.
In 2025, the Associació Calderada de Rialp was created, belonging to the Federació d’escudelles, ranxos i sopes històriques de Catalunya (FERSCH), taking part in annual gatherings with the main aim of preserving this local meal.
Rialp Trades and Crafts Fair
The Rialp Trades and Crafts Fair highlights traditional trades and local craftsmanship. It is held on the first Sunday of June. A fair with trade demonstrations, craft workshops, performances, talks, stalls…
Music Festival of the Town of Rialp
In 2025, it marks twenty-five years since it began. Every summer in Rialp, the Associació Rialp Musical brings culture to the village with a varied and high-quality programme. Its venue is the parish church of Mare de Déu de Valldeflors.
Traditional dances
Rialp also keeps its traditional dances alive, such as the Ball dels Rigodons, the Passa and the Esquerrana, danced at Carnival, during the town festival and on the patron saint’s day of Sant Cosme i Sant Damià.
The Esbart Dansaire de Rialp passes on, generation after generation, the technique and steps of these dances.
Holy Week
Every Holy Week, religious events are held from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, with the Stations of the Cross through the village streets on Good Friday standing out.
Other notable celebrations
- Saint John’s Eve and lunch in Colinos, on 23 and 24 June
- Patron saint’s festival of Sant Cosme i Sant Damià, on 26 September.
The activities organised by the Town Council, promoted by the different departments and the various associations of the municipality — the Women’s Association, the families’ association of Montsent de Pallars School, the Cassigalls Association, the senior citizens’ association Valldeflors de Rialp… — fill the year with a wide range of cultural and folkloric events.
The most festive: Town festivals
Each village, through its neighbourhood associations, the Rialp Festival Committee and always with the support of the Town Council, organises its own town festival and the aplecs of Caregue and Roní.
The most sporting
Rialp Summer Agility Cup
International agility competition. Participants from all over Europe and the United States compete on obstacle courses that test the connection between dog and handler. Every year, the event attracts many visitors and fills the stands of the sports venue.
Summer sports camps
Several football camps for boys and girls are held at the municipal facilities, such as the Pep Summer Camp, combining sport, values and shared experiences.
Rialp Matxicots Race
Rialp Matxicots is a trail running event that reached its 15th edition in 2025.
It includes different races (60, 30 and 15 km) through spectacular landscapes in the Aigüestortes National Park and the Alt Pirineu Natural Park.
A children’s version, Rialp Matxixics, is also organised for participants aged 3 to 16.
