History of the Re-enactment
Archive, photos and videos
The eight editions of the Re-enactment, from 2013 to the present, with their photo and video galleries.
Since 2013
Eight editions, one story
From a village initiative to a Festival of Tourist Interest of Aragón (Fiesta de Interés Turístico de Aragón): how the Re-enactment has evolved edition by edition.
201313 to 15 September - Founding edition
ACURBA launches the re-enactment on the initiative of Santiago Dufol.
201412 to 14 September - The format takes shape
Second edition, with the medieval market and theatrical performance now established as a weekend format.
201511 to 13 September - Medieval encampment expanded
Historical talk by professor and writer José Antonio Adell on the Aragonese legacy of the Holy Grail.
20162 to 4 September - Searching for the ideal date
Unlike other editions, the 4th was held on the first weekend of September rather than the third, showing that it took a few years for the date to become fixed.
201715 to 17 September - Declared a Festival of Tourist Interest of Aragón
The Official Gazette of Aragón published the designation on 5 July 2017, following a proposal by Bailo’s then mayor, Joaquín Jiménez. Talk by Ana Isabel Lapeña.
201814 to 16 September - Last annual edition
Talk by historian José Luis Corral on his novel El Batallador and a performance by Los Titiriteros de Binéfar. The effort of organising the festival every year leads ACURBA to consider a change of pace.
2019 - 2022The move to a biennial event and the pandemic
In 2019, the ACURBA assembly agrees to move to a biennial schedule so as not to exhaust its volunteers, with a 7th edition planned for September 2020. The pandemic forces its cancellation; ACURBA marks the occasion with a symbolic event on the town hall balcony. The return is delayed until 2023.
202315 to 17 September - The Grail returns to Bailo
After five years away, the re-enactment returns with a procession of more than 40 people and good attendance despite uncertain weather. Talk by Ana Segura Anaya, co-author of Reinas, Damas y Señoras.
202513, 20 and 21 September - Expanded to two weekends
The procession grows with new characters, such as ensign Daco Garcés and the jester Ciresio: some are documented in the sources and others are fictional additions made for the staging. Horseback jousting and a fire show are also added. See the full programme for the 8th edition here.
About the biennial calendar
You will notice that the festival is described as “biennial”, but 2023 and 2025 are odd-numbered years: the original 2019 plan was to hold it in even-numbered years, but the cancellation of 2020 because of the pandemic shifted the restart to 2023, and since then the actual pattern has been odd-numbered years.