Annual appointments
The International Music Festival Serranía de Cuenca (FIMUC) is an essential cultural event held every August in Beteta. The festival celebrates its first edition in 2005 and has had the artistic direction of Carlos Checa since 2008, the festival seeks to bring quality music to the public, standing out for its unique natural environment and its contribution to cultural tourism in the region. Each year the Cultural Association FIMUC, with the support of the City Council of Beteta and public and private sponsors organizes three days of festival where access to concerts is free until full capacity is reached.
The festival has featured artists of national and international renown who are leaders in music in various modalities. The concerts, which include classical, lyrical and contemporary music, including gospel, are held in emblematic spaces such as the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción and the Plaza de la Iglesia, in an environment that combines culture and nature.
The Beteta Bike Xtreme is one of the most challenging and exciting MTB races in the province of Cuenca. Since its inception in 2018, this race has grown to become a benchmark for mountain biking, offering participants the opportunity to ride through some of the most impressive landscapes of the region. The organization is in charge of the Beteta City Council and has a valuable team of volunteers who ensure the safety and smooth running of the event.
The event, to be held in June, includes two demanding routes of 60 km and 100 km, with cumulative elevations of up to 2,200 meters. Both start and finish in the Plaza Mayor of Beteta and cross the municipalities of El Tobar, Santa María del Val, Lagunaseca, Masegosa, Valsalobre, Peñalen and Carrascosa de la Sierra, standing out for their technical nature and their closeness to the natural environment, far from the asphalt. This combination of technical demand, impeccable organization and unique landscapes makes it an unmissable event for MTB lovers.
The Festival of the Gancheros del Alto Tajo is an annual event that celebrates and preserves the memory of the gancheros, an extinct trade, which consisted of transporting the wood extracted in the areas of the upper course of the Tagus, directing the loose trunks of the felled pines across the river, until they reached Aranjuez.
The festival , held for the first time in 1984, is organized by the Asociación de Municipios Gancheros del Alto Tajo, with the aim of keeping this tradition alive and transmitting it to future generations, attracting every year visitors interested in the history and culture of the region. The celebration takes place during the last weekend of August in the municipalities of Peralejos de las Truchas, Poveda de la Sierra, Peñalén, Taravilla and Zaorejas.
In 2021, this event gained important international recognition by being declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, highlighting its historical value and its contribution to the preservation of rural traditions.
The Jornadas Nacionales Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo is an annual event that pays tribute to the figure of this outstanding Baroque painter, son-in-law and disciple of Velázquez. Its first edition was held in Beteta in 2024, consolidating the municipality as a cultural reference. This conference is included in the program of activities of the Centro Cultural del Mazo, a new museum space for cultural promotion.
The program includes a wide range of activities, highlighting the Speed Painting Contest. This contest invites to capture the landscapes and corners of Beteta and its surroundings, promoting the participation of both professional and amateur artists, all under the evaluation of a jury formed by leading figures of painting in Cuenca, which ensures an exceptional artistic and professional level. The days also offer workshops on various painting techniques, exhibitions, conferences and gastronomy.
In the 1960s, French paleontologists found remains of an ankylosaur, an unpublished dinosaur in the Lower Cretaceous of the region, in the Hoz de Beteta. The site also contains fossils of plants, invertebrates, eggshells, crocodiles, turtles and fish.
The first finds are kept in the Natural History Museum of Paris, while the most recent ones are in the Museum of Paleontology of Cuenca, where the prehistoric past of Beteta can be better known.
Every June, the Paleontological Days explore life 126 million years ago with informative activities, workshops and exhibitions, bringing the latest discoveries and the rich local paleontological heritage to the public.
Beteta’s cultural summers have established themselves over the years as an essential event for locals and visitors, with a varied program that promotes creativity and the enjoyment of cultural heritage. Open-air concerts, reading days, book presentations, gastronomy and talks on history allow to discover and share knowledge. In addition, micro-storytelling contests, painting and film workshops, photography and art exhibitions, and film screenings enrich the offerings. These activities turn the summer into a meeting place, promoting culture in a privileged natural environment.
