Everything we're tracking that costs nothing over the coming weeks, from neighborhood fiestas and parades to open-air concerts, museum open days and drop-in workshops.
A family visit to the small chapel where Goya painted his dome frescoes in 1798, followed by a workshop. The title plays on Goya's angels, which he painted as women ("ángelas").
Kids see real Goya frescoes up close, in a space small enough to take in at a glance, and Goya himself is buried here. Suits kids who can look and listen for a while; it is not built for toddlers.
Titirimadroño is Madrid's international puppet theater festival, held each fall in Puente de Vallecas. Much of the week is for adults, but the closing weekend is made for families: puppet shows in a park and indoors, a hands-on puppet-making workshop, and play installations built from recycled materials.
Some shows add Spanish Sign Language or live audio description, and every space is wheelchair accessible.
A children's magic show named for the classic card trick (la carta elegida, "the chosen card"), where a kid picks a card and the magician finds it again. It is part of the family show series at Centro Cultural Federico Chueca, Hortaleza's district cultural center, and a low-stakes way to try live magic with kids who have never seen it up close.
Miau Miau is a children's show that mixes theater and music, named for the sound a cat makes in Spanish. Its artwork is a patchwork of four very different cats, a good clue to the characters on stage.
It is part of the Tetuán district's cultural program for families, and a low-stakes way to try live theater with a younger kid who might not sit through a straight play.
A tabletop puppet comedy from Ameztu Teatro, a company from Vitoria-Gasteiz. Kay has always been scared of a future full of chips and algorithms, so on his eighth birthday he decides to build robots himself. Then his machines rebel. Puppets and everyday objects carry a playful story about who is in charge of technology.
It is part of the Titirimadroño puppet festival, and this is its Madrid premiere.
A hands-on family workshop from the Titirimadroño puppet festival, run with the local Asociación Barró. Kids and parents invent creatures and build them as puppets from paper bags, recycled materials and markers, then the puppets join the park as new residents.
It suits families who like making things together. Puppet shows run in the same park the same morning, so it pairs well with a performance.
Each fall, shepherds walk a flock of sheep from Casa de Campo into the city center, down Calle Mayor to Cibeles, where they hand the City Council a symbolic toll of 50 maravedíes. Kids get to see a real flock up close on streets they know from the car or the bus. It is on foot, so it suits kids who can wait for the flock to reach them.
A family show built on magic tricks and laughs, part of the children's program the Arganzuela district runs at its municipal cultural center. It is a seated stage show, so it suits kids who can watch a performance for a while.
The performer has not been named yet, so think of it as an easy neighborhood weekend plan rather than a big production.
A family puppet variety show from Argentine puppeteer Manu Mansilla. A soft-hearted monster from the center of the earth is introduced as a terrifying beast, and a gang member called "Peligro" searches the crowd for new sidekicks.
Mansilla stops to chat with the audience, asks them to believe things, and lets the puppets prove him wrong. It suits kids who like to answer back to the stage.
Italian puppeteer Pamela Mastrorosa (Nina Theatre) opens a box of childhood memories and turns the dolls, clothes, books and toys inside into funny, tender characters.
There are no words, only music, looks and gestures, so kids follow it in any language. She has been known to pull audience members into the story. A gentle first puppet show for preschoolers, and still charming for older siblings and parents.
A humble fisherman and his ambitious wife star in this take on the Brothers Grimm tale, played with puppets, original songs and constant back-and-forth with the kids in the audience.
Face 2 Face Theatre Company performs it in English, pitched so young learners can follow along and join in. Under the laughs, the story is about greed, being poor and forgiveness.
A children's concert with an Amazon rainforest theme, part of the cultural program run by Ciudad Lineal's district cultural centers.
It is a neighborhood show in a municipal cultural center, not a big theater production, which suits kids trying out live music for the first time. Best for families in and around Ciudad Lineal looking for an easy weekend plan.
Flamenco Kids is a flamenco show made for children by guitarist José Luis Montón. Live music, cante, dance and projections tell the story of Quillolandia, a place with blue skies, white sand and a silver sea, and the sea creatures who live there.
The idea is learning through play and rhythm. It suits kids who like songs and stories, and the adults get a proper flamenco show too.
A Halloween gymkhana at La Talaverona, the Las Rozas town hall's environmental education center. Kids and their grown-ups hear some of the eeriest and strangest stories from the natural world, then make something together in a Halloween craft workshop. It is a small guided group, not a party, so it suits kids who like nature and stories more than costumes and crowds.
Shopkeepers in Malasaña, Chamberí and Arganzuela turn their streets into trick-or-treat routes on Friday, October 30. Kids in costume go from shop to shop, look for the poster on the door, and ask for candy.
All three are free and need no sign-up for families. Chamberí's map is live and fills in as shops join. Malasaña and Arganzuela publish their shop lists in the last week before Halloween.
Imagina, the Alcobendas youth center, runs a Halloween weekend with a different event for each age group. The Feria de los Monstruitos has games, workshops, face painting, a photocall and a monster dance. A separate session of stories and songs suits babies. Older kids get a haunted-fair walk-through and a special-effects makeup workshop.
Terroríficos is a Halloween comedy show from the company Miedo Pasajero. A witch sets out to be the meanest witch of all and brews a potion to frighten every kid in the room, but nothing goes to plan and she gets laughs instead of screams. The great Wizard of the Night arrives to help.
It suits kids who like the costumes and spooky mood of Halloween but aren't ready for real frights.
A circus show starring Iro, a caped vampire in a top hat and fangs, put on by the Arganzuela district at the Casa del Reloj cultural center, a short walk from Madrid Río.
It lands on Halloween, so kids can come in costume and turn it into a morning out with the river park afterward.
A walk-through haunted passage set up for Halloween night by the theater company Tatira Teatro. Kids make their way along a themed route with sound, lighting and special effects, where costumed, made-up actors wait with surprises and jump scares.
It suits kids who like a good fright and are happy holding a grown-up's hand the whole way. A child who hates the dark or loud surprises may want to skip it.
Hábitat Madrid is the city's season of nature activities, run from environmental centers in three big parks. Kids plant in a family vegetable garden, track animal prints, build bird feeders and join bird walks, all led by environmental educators. Each session has a set age range and needs booking, so it suits families who plan a few weeks ahead.
This year's Day of the Dead altar at Casa de México honors the composer Agustín Lara, shown seated at his piano. The scene is a mountain cemetery in Michoacán on the night families visit their dead, with candles, orange marigolds, copal, food, music and monarch butterflies. Skeleton figures keep it colorful more than spooky, and it suits kids who like to look closely at small details.
Royal Guard sentries in gala uniform, two on foot and two on horseback, swap posts to a fife and drum outside the Royal Palace. Once a month the full ceremony fills the Plaza de la Armería with lancers, halberdiers and cannon. Kids who like horses and marching bands will enjoy it.
Guided walks on the Segovia side of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, around the pine forests and rivers of Valsaín. Saturday walks go with a nature guide, and some Sundays bring themed outings led by specialists, from old drove roads to river wildlife.
Groups are small. Routes range from easy riverside strolls to longer hikes, so pick by distance and difficulty.
The city's puppet theater sits inside El Retiro park: an outdoor stage with bleachers and floor space for kids up front. Each weekend a different company plays, from Madrid to Argentina, with marionettes, hand puppets and music. The Halloween weekend brings a variety show with a dancing skeleton and a skateboarding witch. Shows are short and in Spanish.
Ánima Fest is a new festival bringing Mexico's Day of the Dead to central Madrid, run by REM with the Mexican state of Querétaro. Its big moment is the parade: giant catrinas, the elegantly dressed skeleton figures of the holiday, with monumental floats and more than a hundred artists.
It suits kids who like costumes, color and big street spectacle, and families curious about one of Mexico's biggest holidays.
More than 40 stalls of toys old and new: Playmobil, LEGO, Star Wars figures, Scalextric, model trains, Nancy dolls and the Madelman and Geyperman figures Spanish parents grew up with.
Most buyers are collectors, so it suits a kid with a favorite set or saga in mind, or a parent hunting a childhood toy. Kids who are not into toys will tire fast.
A guided visit through the Museo de Historia de Madrid that looks at one thing: the sky over the city. Kids compare how photographers, painters and writers caught its light, colors and clouds, with games and chances to share their own take along the way.
Then everyone paints their own view of the Madrid sky on a wooden postcard to take home. Suits curious kids who like to make something.
Periplo Marionetas, a Madrid puppet company, brings a Halloween variety show to the open-air puppet theater in El Retiro park. Short acts mix music, improvisation and comedy: a dancing skeleton, a pianist from beyond the grave, a sneaky spider, a skating witch and a duel of "little" titans.
It is spooky in a silly way, a good pick for kids who like Halloween costumes more than real scares.
Millions of LED lights turn streets, plazas and buildings across Madrid into one big Christmas trail. Designer displays, giant fir trees, glowing nativity scenes and bulbs drawn by first and second graders in a school contest give kids plenty to hunt for. Gran Vía, Calle Alcalá and Plaza Mayor are the classics.
A huge nativity scene inside the Real Casa de Correos, built every year by Madrid's volunteer nativity makers. Last year's walk-around version held about 500 figures under a ceiling of starry lights, and choirs sang live through December. Kids lean over the rails to spot scenes from shepherds to the Three Kings' parade.
Madrid, Navidad de Encuentro turns Matadero, the old slaughterhouse arts center by Madrid Río, into a Christmas village. The hook for kids is the fake snow that falls on Plaza Matadero every evening. Around it sit an ice rink, play installations by street-theater companies, craft workshops, storytelling and classic Christmas films at Cineteca.
Each edition picks a theme. Last year's was books and storytelling.
Belenes, the nativity scenes Spanish families build every Christmas, turn up all over the city in museums, palaces, convents and public buildings. The big ones are whole miniature towns, with rivers, mills and market stalls around the stable and hundreds of handmade figures. Kids get absorbed hunting for small scenes, like the washerwoman at the river. One or two in an afternoon is plenty.
Plaza de España turns into a Christmas village each winter: a 600 m² rink of natural ice under the Edificio España, about 40 wooden stalls of handmade gifts, and a food corner with chocolate con churros and German mulled wine. Families often browse and snack first, then decide on a skating turn. Double-blade skates strap onto small kids' shoes, so even preschoolers can try the ice.
Many of Madrid's districts hold their own Three Kings parade in the days around the big one on the Castellana: floats, the Kings waving from the top, and candy thrown to kids at the curb. Some end with a reception where children meet the Kings or hand over their letters. Crowds are usually smaller than downtown, so small kids get a front-row view closer to home.
City Hall turns its own building into a Christmas stop. Under the glass roof of the Galería de Cristal there's an ice rink, with skates in the ticket and walkers for kids finding their feet. In the old post office hall next door, the city's big nativity runs from the cave to a waterfall and lake. Both are indoors, so it holds up on a cold or rainy day.
Madrid's main square fills with red wooden stalls every Christmas, a market that has run for more than a century. Families come for nativity figures, moss and tiny accessories for their home belén, plus ornaments and toys. Kids head straight for the joke-shop stalls, piled with wigs, masks and gag gifts. Just off the square, a vintage carousel turns in Plaza de Santa Cruz.
A few days a year, Spain's parliament lets the public in for free. Visitors climb the steps between the bronze lions and follow a set route: an original copy of the 1812 Constitution, the domed Hall of Lost Steps, then the Hemicycle, where the 350 deputies debate and vote.
It suits school-age kids who have heard of parliament and want to see where it happens.
Each Halloween, Madrid's district cultural centers, youth centers and libraries put on free activities for kids: costume contests, scary storytelling, craft workshops, face painting, sports gymkhanas and haunted passages for teens. Most are small and local, so check your own district first.
Each fall Mercado de Prosperidad, a neighborhood food market, dresses up for Mexico's Day of the Dead with papel picado, an altar, mariachis and a photocall. Last year the stalls also ran a tapa-and-drink route, and the nights brought a DJ and a Ramones tribute band. Daytime is the gentler slot for kids; late evenings lean toward a grown-up party.
Every Christmas since 1979, the facade of El Corte Inglés on Calle Preciados has turned into a giant animated set: more than 25 moving characters, lights, and the Cortylandia song most Madrid parents can still sing. The story and characters change every year. You watch from the street, so it fits easily into a walk past the lights around Sol, and toddlers on shoulders get the best view.
Madrid's feast of Saint Anthony, patron saint of animals. Neighbors bring their pets to the Iglesia de San Antón to be blessed, then the Vueltas parade loops the nearby streets with police dog units and mounted Guardia Civil.
Kids also come for the panecillos, small saint's buns sold at the church. It suits animal-loving kids of any age, with or without a pet.
Mi Jardín Ibérico is an eco garden and plant nursery on the edge of San Agustín del Guadalix that runs a Halloween pumpkin carving workshop most falls. Families get a pumpkin, carving tools and face templates, carve it together and take it home. Between turns there are garden paths to wander and a hen house to visit.
Everything we're tracking that costs nothing over the coming weeks, from neighborhood fiestas and parades to open-air concerts, museum open days and drop-in workshops.
A family visit to the small chapel where Goya painted his dome frescoes in 1798, followed by a workshop. The title plays on Goya's angels, which he painted as women ("ángelas").
Kids see real Goya frescoes up close, in a space small enough to take in at a glance, and Goya himself is buried here. Suits kids who can look and listen for a while; it is not built for toddlers.
Titirimadroño is Madrid's international puppet theater festival, held each fall in Puente de Vallecas. Much of the week is for adults, but the closing weekend is made for families: puppet shows in a park and indoors, a hands-on puppet-making workshop, and play installations built from recycled materials.
Some shows add Spanish Sign Language or live audio description, and every space is wheelchair accessible.
A children's magic show named for the classic card trick (la carta elegida, "the chosen card"), where a kid picks a card and the magician finds it again. It is part of the family show series at Centro Cultural Federico Chueca, Hortaleza's district cultural center, and a low-stakes way to try live magic with kids who have never seen it up close.
Miau Miau is a children's show that mixes theater and music, named for the sound a cat makes in Spanish. Its artwork is a patchwork of four very different cats, a good clue to the characters on stage.
It is part of the Tetuán district's cultural program for families, and a low-stakes way to try live theater with a younger kid who might not sit through a straight play.
A tabletop puppet comedy from Ameztu Teatro, a company from Vitoria-Gasteiz. Kay has always been scared of a future full of chips and algorithms, so on his eighth birthday he decides to build robots himself. Then his machines rebel. Puppets and everyday objects carry a playful story about who is in charge of technology.
It is part of the Titirimadroño puppet festival, and this is its Madrid premiere.
A hands-on family workshop from the Titirimadroño puppet festival, run with the local Asociación Barró. Kids and parents invent creatures and build them as puppets from paper bags, recycled materials and markers, then the puppets join the park as new residents.
It suits families who like making things together. Puppet shows run in the same park the same morning, so it pairs well with a performance.
Each fall, shepherds walk a flock of sheep from Casa de Campo into the city center, down Calle Mayor to Cibeles, where they hand the City Council a symbolic toll of 50 maravedíes. Kids get to see a real flock up close on streets they know from the car or the bus. It is on foot, so it suits kids who can wait for the flock to reach them.
A family show built on magic tricks and laughs, part of the children's program the Arganzuela district runs at its municipal cultural center. It is a seated stage show, so it suits kids who can watch a performance for a while.
The performer has not been named yet, so think of it as an easy neighborhood weekend plan rather than a big production.
A family puppet variety show from Argentine puppeteer Manu Mansilla. A soft-hearted monster from the center of the earth is introduced as a terrifying beast, and a gang member called "Peligro" searches the crowd for new sidekicks.
Mansilla stops to chat with the audience, asks them to believe things, and lets the puppets prove him wrong. It suits kids who like to answer back to the stage.
Italian puppeteer Pamela Mastrorosa (Nina Theatre) opens a box of childhood memories and turns the dolls, clothes, books and toys inside into funny, tender characters.
There are no words, only music, looks and gestures, so kids follow it in any language. She has been known to pull audience members into the story. A gentle first puppet show for preschoolers, and still charming for older siblings and parents.
A humble fisherman and his ambitious wife star in this take on the Brothers Grimm tale, played with puppets, original songs and constant back-and-forth with the kids in the audience.
Face 2 Face Theatre Company performs it in English, pitched so young learners can follow along and join in. Under the laughs, the story is about greed, being poor and forgiveness.
A children's concert with an Amazon rainforest theme, part of the cultural program run by Ciudad Lineal's district cultural centers.
It is a neighborhood show in a municipal cultural center, not a big theater production, which suits kids trying out live music for the first time. Best for families in and around Ciudad Lineal looking for an easy weekend plan.
Flamenco Kids is a flamenco show made for children by guitarist José Luis Montón. Live music, cante, dance and projections tell the story of Quillolandia, a place with blue skies, white sand and a silver sea, and the sea creatures who live there.
The idea is learning through play and rhythm. It suits kids who like songs and stories, and the adults get a proper flamenco show too.
A Halloween gymkhana at La Talaverona, the Las Rozas town hall's environmental education center. Kids and their grown-ups hear some of the eeriest and strangest stories from the natural world, then make something together in a Halloween craft workshop. It is a small guided group, not a party, so it suits kids who like nature and stories more than costumes and crowds.
Shopkeepers in Malasaña, Chamberí and Arganzuela turn their streets into trick-or-treat routes on Friday, October 30. Kids in costume go from shop to shop, look for the poster on the door, and ask for candy.
All three are free and need no sign-up for families. Chamberí's map is live and fills in as shops join. Malasaña and Arganzuela publish their shop lists in the last week before Halloween.
Imagina, the Alcobendas youth center, runs a Halloween weekend with a different event for each age group. The Feria de los Monstruitos has games, workshops, face painting, a photocall and a monster dance. A separate session of stories and songs suits babies. Older kids get a haunted-fair walk-through and a special-effects makeup workshop.
Terroríficos is a Halloween comedy show from the company Miedo Pasajero. A witch sets out to be the meanest witch of all and brews a potion to frighten every kid in the room, but nothing goes to plan and she gets laughs instead of screams. The great Wizard of the Night arrives to help.
It suits kids who like the costumes and spooky mood of Halloween but aren't ready for real frights.
A circus show starring Iro, a caped vampire in a top hat and fangs, put on by the Arganzuela district at the Casa del Reloj cultural center, a short walk from Madrid Río.
It lands on Halloween, so kids can come in costume and turn it into a morning out with the river park afterward.
A walk-through haunted passage set up for Halloween night by the theater company Tatira Teatro. Kids make their way along a themed route with sound, lighting and special effects, where costumed, made-up actors wait with surprises and jump scares.
It suits kids who like a good fright and are happy holding a grown-up's hand the whole way. A child who hates the dark or loud surprises may want to skip it.
Hábitat Madrid is the city's season of nature activities, run from environmental centers in three big parks. Kids plant in a family vegetable garden, track animal prints, build bird feeders and join bird walks, all led by environmental educators. Each session has a set age range and needs booking, so it suits families who plan a few weeks ahead.
This year's Day of the Dead altar at Casa de México honors the composer Agustín Lara, shown seated at his piano. The scene is a mountain cemetery in Michoacán on the night families visit their dead, with candles, orange marigolds, copal, food, music and monarch butterflies. Skeleton figures keep it colorful more than spooky, and it suits kids who like to look closely at small details.
Royal Guard sentries in gala uniform, two on foot and two on horseback, swap posts to a fife and drum outside the Royal Palace. Once a month the full ceremony fills the Plaza de la Armería with lancers, halberdiers and cannon. Kids who like horses and marching bands will enjoy it.
Guided walks on the Segovia side of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, around the pine forests and rivers of Valsaín. Saturday walks go with a nature guide, and some Sundays bring themed outings led by specialists, from old drove roads to river wildlife.
Groups are small. Routes range from easy riverside strolls to longer hikes, so pick by distance and difficulty.
The city's puppet theater sits inside El Retiro park: an outdoor stage with bleachers and floor space for kids up front. Each weekend a different company plays, from Madrid to Argentina, with marionettes, hand puppets and music. The Halloween weekend brings a variety show with a dancing skeleton and a skateboarding witch. Shows are short and in Spanish.
Ánima Fest is a new festival bringing Mexico's Day of the Dead to central Madrid, run by REM with the Mexican state of Querétaro. Its big moment is the parade: giant catrinas, the elegantly dressed skeleton figures of the holiday, with monumental floats and more than a hundred artists.
It suits kids who like costumes, color and big street spectacle, and families curious about one of Mexico's biggest holidays.
More than 40 stalls of toys old and new: Playmobil, LEGO, Star Wars figures, Scalextric, model trains, Nancy dolls and the Madelman and Geyperman figures Spanish parents grew up with.
Most buyers are collectors, so it suits a kid with a favorite set or saga in mind, or a parent hunting a childhood toy. Kids who are not into toys will tire fast.
A guided visit through the Museo de Historia de Madrid that looks at one thing: the sky over the city. Kids compare how photographers, painters and writers caught its light, colors and clouds, with games and chances to share their own take along the way.
Then everyone paints their own view of the Madrid sky on a wooden postcard to take home. Suits curious kids who like to make something.
Periplo Marionetas, a Madrid puppet company, brings a Halloween variety show to the open-air puppet theater in El Retiro park. Short acts mix music, improvisation and comedy: a dancing skeleton, a pianist from beyond the grave, a sneaky spider, a skating witch and a duel of "little" titans.
It is spooky in a silly way, a good pick for kids who like Halloween costumes more than real scares.
Millions of LED lights turn streets, plazas and buildings across Madrid into one big Christmas trail. Designer displays, giant fir trees, glowing nativity scenes and bulbs drawn by first and second graders in a school contest give kids plenty to hunt for. Gran Vía, Calle Alcalá and Plaza Mayor are the classics.
A huge nativity scene inside the Real Casa de Correos, built every year by Madrid's volunteer nativity makers. Last year's walk-around version held about 500 figures under a ceiling of starry lights, and choirs sang live through December. Kids lean over the rails to spot scenes from shepherds to the Three Kings' parade.
Madrid, Navidad de Encuentro turns Matadero, the old slaughterhouse arts center by Madrid Río, into a Christmas village. The hook for kids is the fake snow that falls on Plaza Matadero every evening. Around it sit an ice rink, play installations by street-theater companies, craft workshops, storytelling and classic Christmas films at Cineteca.
Each edition picks a theme. Last year's was books and storytelling.
Belenes, the nativity scenes Spanish families build every Christmas, turn up all over the city in museums, palaces, convents and public buildings. The big ones are whole miniature towns, with rivers, mills and market stalls around the stable and hundreds of handmade figures. Kids get absorbed hunting for small scenes, like the washerwoman at the river. One or two in an afternoon is plenty.
Plaza de España turns into a Christmas village each winter: a 600 m² rink of natural ice under the Edificio España, about 40 wooden stalls of handmade gifts, and a food corner with chocolate con churros and German mulled wine. Families often browse and snack first, then decide on a skating turn. Double-blade skates strap onto small kids' shoes, so even preschoolers can try the ice.
Many of Madrid's districts hold their own Three Kings parade in the days around the big one on the Castellana: floats, the Kings waving from the top, and candy thrown to kids at the curb. Some end with a reception where children meet the Kings or hand over their letters. Crowds are usually smaller than downtown, so small kids get a front-row view closer to home.
City Hall turns its own building into a Christmas stop. Under the glass roof of the Galería de Cristal there's an ice rink, with skates in the ticket and walkers for kids finding their feet. In the old post office hall next door, the city's big nativity runs from the cave to a waterfall and lake. Both are indoors, so it holds up on a cold or rainy day.
Madrid's main square fills with red wooden stalls every Christmas, a market that has run for more than a century. Families come for nativity figures, moss and tiny accessories for their home belén, plus ornaments and toys. Kids head straight for the joke-shop stalls, piled with wigs, masks and gag gifts. Just off the square, a vintage carousel turns in Plaza de Santa Cruz.
A few days a year, Spain's parliament lets the public in for free. Visitors climb the steps between the bronze lions and follow a set route: an original copy of the 1812 Constitution, the domed Hall of Lost Steps, then the Hemicycle, where the 350 deputies debate and vote.
It suits school-age kids who have heard of parliament and want to see where it happens.
Each Halloween, Madrid's district cultural centers, youth centers and libraries put on free activities for kids: costume contests, scary storytelling, craft workshops, face painting, sports gymkhanas and haunted passages for teens. Most are small and local, so check your own district first.
Each fall Mercado de Prosperidad, a neighborhood food market, dresses up for Mexico's Day of the Dead with papel picado, an altar, mariachis and a photocall. Last year the stalls also ran a tapa-and-drink route, and the nights brought a DJ and a Ramones tribute band. Daytime is the gentler slot for kids; late evenings lean toward a grown-up party.
Every Christmas since 1979, the facade of El Corte Inglés on Calle Preciados has turned into a giant animated set: more than 25 moving characters, lights, and the Cortylandia song most Madrid parents can still sing. The story and characters change every year. You watch from the street, so it fits easily into a walk past the lights around Sol, and toddlers on shoulders get the best view.
Madrid's feast of Saint Anthony, patron saint of animals. Neighbors bring their pets to the Iglesia de San Antón to be blessed, then the Vueltas parade loops the nearby streets with police dog units and mounted Guardia Civil.
Kids also come for the panecillos, small saint's buns sold at the church. It suits animal-loving kids of any age, with or without a pet.
Mi Jardín Ibérico is an eco garden and plant nursery on the edge of San Agustín del Guadalix that runs a Halloween pumpkin carving workshop most falls. Families get a pumpkin, carving tools and face templates, carve it together and take it home. Between turns there are garden paths to wander and a hen house to visit.