Sabina around here: discover the most musical Úbeda

Every city has its own soundtrack. There are places that sound like old bells, like trams that no longer exist, like harbor sirens that call to the soul… But Úbeda, in September, sounds like Sabina. And it’s no coincidence: it’s fate.

When the street verses of the most rebellious and melancholic singer-songwriter in Spanish music return to their land, the city is transformed. It becomes a stage, a verse turned into stone, a chord that resonates between the Renaissance arches. The streets of the historic center vibrate with nightly guitars, the squares are filled with young voices singing as if it were the last time, and the corners whisper well-known lyrics under lampposts that have seen too many stories pass by.

Because every year, between the end of August and the beginning of September, Úbeda pays tribute to Joaquín Sabina – its most illustrious and wayward son – with a festival that is much more than a cultural cycle: it is a declaration of love, a confession at midnight between city and artist.

Welcome to “Sabina por Aquí”

What is “Sabina por Aquí”?

It is not just a typical festival. It is an intimate experience, one of those that are lived with the heart in the throat and nostalgia dancing in the chest. For more than a decade, the event has brought together musicians, poets, illustrators, students and Sabinero devotees around the musical and literary legacy of the bard from Úbeda.

Organized by the “Peor para el sol” association in collaboration with the “Huerta de San Antonio Foundation” and the City Council of Úbeda, the festival features concerts that get under your skin, exhibitions that speak without words, workshops where songs are born, contests for young creators hungry for verse, talks that unravel mysteries, and encounters with artists who have drawn inspiration from Sabina’s legacy.

And all of this is happening at the Church of San Lorenzo!

The main stage: San Lorenzo, temple of art

The Church of San Lorenzo is the beating soul of the festival. Restored and converted into a cultural center, this Gothic-Renaissance building combines respect for the ancestral stone with a bohemian air perfect for hosting intimate recitals, exhibitions that tell stories and acoustics that make your skin crawl.

On warm August nights, the courtyard becomes an open-air poetic-musical forum, lit by candles that flicker like hearts in love and lanterns that keep secrets. Inside, the voices resonate with magical, almost heavenly acoustics. The walls, which once heard prayers and confessions, now collect verses that speak of heartbreak, of bars at dawn and of cities that are too small for big dreams.

This is where each edition is inaugurated with the solemnity of someone who knows that they are celebrating something sacred, and where the prizes of the young artist contest “Creating that is gerund” are awarded.

Who participates?

Over the years, “Sabina por Aquí” has had exceptional guests: consecrated singer-songwriters who carry the weight of a thousand songs, musicians from the independent scene who still believe in magic, poets who write with blood, illustrators who draw melodies, music critics who know how to read between the lines, actors who live by telling true lies… All of them have a common link: their reverential respect for the figure of Sabina.

Además, el festival apuesta por el talento emergente, esos jóvenes que llevan guitarras como quien lleva cicatrices, con conciertos de autor, batallas de versos que son duelos a muerte poética y talleres de composición musical donde nacen las canciones del mañana. También se programan actividades educativas y charlas con investigadores y biógrafos del artista.

Among the names that have passed through these stones we find artists who understand that music is the territory of the soul, not the algorithm.

Sabina: from Úbeda to the world

Many know it by heart, but few feel it as deeply as the people of Úbeda: Joaquín Sabina was born here, in Plaza 1º de Mayo, on a cold February morning in 1949. There is a childhood that hurts, a rebellious spirit that sets one free, and a nostalgia that both kills and heals.

His relationship with the city has been complex – as so often happens between genius and cradle – but Úbeda has always waited for him with open arms and a heart on tenterhooks. And although Sabina does not always attend physically, “Sabina por Aquí” makes him present, sings in his ear, draws his soul, studies him with the devotion of a doctoral thesis and feels him as he feels a family member who has not come home for a long time.

Typical program of “Sabina por Aquí”

Although it varies each year as moods vary, the festival is usually structured around:

Concerts at the Church of San Lorenzo.

Poetry recitals and jam sessions that last until dawn says enough

Round tables with cultural journalists, editors who smell of ink and musicians who know that life is four chords and a story to tell

Sabinero art exhibitions (posters that are declarations of love, illustrations that sing, photography that freezes eternal moments)

Songwriting and urban poetry workshops for those who still believe that words can change the world

Literary routes through Sabina’s Úbeda, following in the footsteps of a rebellious child

Young talent awards because the future also deserves its opportunity

Check the official program a few weeks before: each edition brings surprises that are worth it.

Úbeda, the City That Sounds Like Sabina: 2 Places That Inspire Songs

If you want to get the full experience, don’t limit yourself to the scheduled concerts. Explore Úbeda with a Sabin-like ear, with a soul ready to hear what the stones whisper. Here are three spots where you can hear (and feel) what isn’t written in any tourist guide:

Plaza 1º de Mayo

Where it all began, where the first verse was written without anyone realizing it. Stroll leisurely through this square, listen to the echo of a child’s footsteps—a child who dreamed of guitars—and realize that every journey, no matter how long, has a starting point.

The Mirador del Salvador

Go up at sunset, when the sun says goodbye to the Jaén countryside, and contemplate the infinite horizon. It is easy to imagine young Joaquín dreaming of escaping, guitar in hand and dreams in his backpack. Here we understand the verses that speak of flight… and also back.

Why come to “Sabina por Aquí”?

Because it is unique: there is no other festival like it in Spain, nor does it need to

Because it mixes music, art and heritage with the authenticity of someone who does not need impostures

Because if you love Sabina, now is your chance to enjoy his legacy.

Because there is no better tribute to an artist than to do it in his own city, among streets that still keep the echo of his steps as a child

Practical tips

Dates: August 29–September 14 (check the official website to confirm, as artists are unpredictable)

Tickets: some activities are free as the air you breathe, others require prior registration

Accommodation: book in advance, it’s high season and music lovers invade the city

Clima: agosto en Úbeda es caluroso de día, pero las noches son suaves y perfectas para disfrutarla bajo las estrellas

Getting Around: Úbeda is a city best enjoyed on foot.

Live it, share it, feel it

Úbeda is not only a golden stone and eternal Renaissance. In August, it is a song that echoes, it is a crying guitar, it is verse that walks through the cobblestone streets. And you are invited to feel it, to live it, to sing it as if it were the first time.

Share your experience with the hashtag #SabinaPorAquí, tag @turismodeubeda and be part of the collective tribute to an artist who turned melancholy into an anthem.

Are you ready to discover the most musical Úbeda? Because if they give us a choice, we stay… “over here”.

#SabinaPorAquí #ÚbedaSuena #TurismoExperiencial #FestivalSabina