Monkey Week SON Estrella Galicia

Monkey Week SON Estrella Galicia 2026 takes place from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 November in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz), with 67 artists announced on its official website and passes on sale on DICE from €27.81. It is the 18th edition of the festival and the second since it returned to the town where it was born, after nine years in Sevilla.

This is not a festival of big stages. Monkey Week works as a showcase circuit: short concerts spread across venues around the town, designed so that audiences, programmers and press can discover new bands in just a few days. Alongside these sets there are concerts by established names such as Nacho Vegas, Mujeres and Steve Wynn & Chris Cacavas, plus a programme for industry professionals, Monkey PRO.

Monkey Week and Monkey Weekend: two different festivals

The name can be confusing. Monkey Week is the autumn event, the big one, with an industry fair and dozens of showcases. Monkey Weekend is its little summer sibling: two days in June (in 2026 these were the 26th and 27th), also in El Puerto de Santa María and with a much shorter line-up. They share a brand, but the dates, artists and tickets for one are not valid for the other.

How it works: showcases around the town and Monkey PRO

The heart of the festival is the showcase circuit, short performances in which each band presents itself to the public and to those who book concerts. The organisers say Monkey Week introduced this format in Spain, and among the artists who have taken part they mention Nathy Peluso, Hinds, Pony Bravo and Carolina Durante. At night, the programme adds concerts and DJ sets in various venues.

The stages are spread around the town. The official website names venues such as the Monasterio de la Victoria, the Castillo de San Marcos, Bodegas Caballero and the Teatro Pedro Muñoz Seca. In 2025 the activity took over a dozen locations, including wineries, small palaces, music venues and bars, according to El Debate's report. As of 20 October, the festival has not published the breakdown by day, venue or set times, so it is not yet known which night each artist will play.

Monkey PRO is the professional side: talks, workshops, mentoring and meetings. In 2026 it hosts the 4th Congress of Live Music Festivals, organised by the Federación de la Música de España, and a new edition of Suntracks, which puts labels and publishers in touch with music supervisors from film, television, advertising and video games. It has its own accreditation, separate from the public pass.

The 2026 line-up: from Nacho Vegas to Fulu Miziki

The best-known names come from singer-songwriter music and rock. Nacho Vegas presents «Semipreciosuras» in a special concert: his usual band and choir are joined by the voices of the Escolanía Jardín Menesteo. Mujeres arrive with their seventh album, «Es un dolor inexplicable»; Los Nastys return almost eight years after their last album, and Mala Gestión bring «Hacemos lo que podemos». From the United States, Steve Wynn, frontman of The Dream Syndicate, presents his memoir and his album «Make It Right» alongside Chris Cacavas, of Green on Red, in a format that mixes reading and songs.

Roots music is the other main strand. The line-up includes María Terremoto, a flamenco singer from Jerez presenting «Manifiesto»; Lela Soto & David Cordero, who blend cante jondo and electronic music on «Paisajes hondos»; the Vigo duo Fillas de Cassandra, with «Tertúlia», and Asturian artist Lorena Álvarez, with «El poder sobre una misma». The international side looks mainly to Africa: Fulu Miziki, a Kinshasa collective who make their instruments from recycled materials; The Zawose Queens, from Tanzania, and Kenyan artist Kabeaushé.

The rest of the line-up is what gives the format its meaning: emerging bands presented by labels, agencies and institutions, from CERVATANA and Parquesvr to Blaya, Camellos and Lisasinson. This is the full list published by the festival as of 20 October: Adiós Adiós, Amor Líquido, Anadie, Blaya, Camellos, Carmen Lancho, Catenaccio, CERVATANA, Cómo Vivir en el Campo, Construimos Escaleras, Duna, El Diablo de Shanghái, El Virtual, El Zid, Estrellas del Rap Nacional, Fillas de Cassandra, Fulu Miziki, Gazella, Go Cactus, Hadren, Jordi Ganchitos, Kabeaushé, Kara Boi, La Jvnta, Laaza, Las Nietas del Charli, Laura Katze, Lela Soto & David Cordero, Linlin, Lisasinson, Lorena Álvarez, Los Lagos de Hinault, Los Nastys, Magalí Sare, Mala Gestión, Maquina., Maria del Tango, María Terremoto, Mariagrep & Mundo Prestigio, Me Acuerdo de Todo, Memocracia, Meritxell de Soto, Mujeres, Nacho Vegas, Natxo, Nenazas, Nico, Pablo y los Ciervos Dorados, Paco te Quiero, Par.sek, Párpados, Parquesvr, Penny & The Pits, Poster Boy, Rachid B, Rebe, Roy Borland, Steve Wynn & Chris Cacavas, Stivijoes, Stuzzi, Svsto, The Black Wizards, The Zawose Queens, Toldos Verdes, Travo, Troya and Victorias. Maestro Espada, who featured in the first announcement in September, does not appear on it.

Passes, wristband and access to venues

Official sales are on DICE, linked from the festival website, with prices from €27.81 on 20 October. In September the organisers announced three-day passes, weekend passes (Friday and Saturday), a rate for under-25s and a professional accreditation that includes the Monkey PRO activities. According to DICE, the public programme begins on Thursday 19 at 20:30 and runs until the early hours of Sunday 22.

Tickets are exchanged for a wristband at the festival box office, and without it you cannot enter any venue. The wristband does not guarantee a place at every concert either: each venue has its own capacity, and the organisers recommend arriving early for the ones you most want to see. On minors, the sales page contradicts itself: its summary says the festival is for over-18s with ID, but its FAQs allow under-12s in free and 12- to 17-year-olds with a ticket, accompanied depending on their age and with an authorisation form signed at the box office. Anyone attending with minors should confirm with the organisers before buying.

From El Puerto to Sevilla, and back

Monkey Week was born in El Puerto de Santa María, spent nine years in Sevilla and returned to the Cádiz town in 2025, with more than 80 artists from twelve countries. According to El Debate, a lack of support from Sevilla city council and sponsorship problems explain the return. Its night-time programme has featured, according to the festival itself, Swans, Neneh Cherry, The Damned, Triángulo de Amor Bizarro, Niño de Elche and Rocío Márquez.

Anyone wanting to combine two fairs of this kind has Fira Trovam a week earlier, from 12 to 14 November in Castelló, with a similar format; Amor Líquido and CERVATANA play at both. We covered the first line-up announcement in our news story on Monkey Week 2026, and the region's other events are in festivals in Andalusia.