Martes de Campo (Field Tuesday)

The Balesquida festival has centuries of history behind it. Its origins date back to 1232 when Doña Velazquita Giráldez donated her possessions “to the brotherhood of tailors and to the good neighbours and men of Oviedo to distribute among the most disadvantaged in the city”. Since then, the people of Oviedo have celebrated La Balesquida, and Martes de Campo (Field Tuesday), the Día del Bollo, is the star event. Today, the festivity coincides with Pentecost Tuesday.

The festival of La Balesquida is one of the most traditional and ancient celebrations in the capital of Asturias. On the Sunday before Martes de Campo (Field Tuesday), the Heraldo (Herald), also known as ‘La Fama’, a person dressed in white on horseback and accompanied by a retinue, rides through the old quarter to the Town Hall and requests permission to celebrate the festival from the Corporation.