St. Anthony
The festival is held the weekend following January 17, St. Anthony's Day.
Sant Antoni
Morella’s festival season kicks off in January with Sant Antoni, a festival that is part of the cycle of les santantonades dels Ports, one of the oldest, most attractive, and most beautiful events in the Valencian Community. You can follow a route of santantonades on Morella through the nearby towns of Forcall, Villores, Herbers, Ortells, Castellfort, Olocau, Vilafranca, Cinctorres, La Mata, Sorita, Portell, and La Todolela, among others. The festivities take place throughout the region during the months of January and February. The festival spans an entire weekend.
 | The festival in Morella is held the weekend following January 17, the feast day of Saint Anthony. It is the quintessential festive event for rural communities—a medieval festival that blends religious and pagan traditions. On Friday, a monumental bonfire is erected next to the towers of Sant Miquel, built from dry pine and holm oak branches and supported by a central pillar—a giant wooden log. |
In the evening, *La Vida del Santo* (The Life of the Saint) is performed at the Apostles’ Gate of the Archpriestal Church. This sacramental play humorously recounts the temptations endured by Saint Anthony. Afterward, the enormous bonfire is lit, providing light and warmth on a cold night, while the demons run about in a boisterous commotion. Afterward, the procession winds through the streets of Morella to the music and lyrics of the traditional Morellan Albades, stopping at the Casa Cofradía de Labradores to sample typical pastries—panoli—accompanied by local brandy and muscatel.
The following day, Saturday, various activities related to rural life—farming, harvesting, the pig slaughter, and sausage-making—are reenacted as the procession winds through the streets of Morell; these include La Llaurà and El Mondongo. “El Contrabando” is also staged, a parody of those encounters between police and smugglers.