This Firday 13th July Leiva starts its festival in honor to the Virgin of Carmen. Although the most of the events are programmed from that day and until Monday 16th, has been prepared a competition of brisca that will be held the days 11th and 12th July at the gates of the Social Hall. Precisely this place will welcome one of the protagonist events of these festival, as during these days can be viewed the exhibition “Memoriam. Our people of Leiva 2012”.

This exhibition, that will be inaugurated on Friday 13th at 10p.m. by the Mayor of Mazarrón, Ginés Campillo; it is a photography exhibition of  strong ethnographic character whose author is Juan Francisco Belmar. It makes a round of more than a century of history  from sixteen pictures  of some neighbors over 70 years of Leiva . Besides of the pictures, the exhibition has  130 images, some of the early last century, and dedicates a special memory to Juan Segura, known as Juan 'Silensio', that in the fifties earned a living walking the fields  with his camera.

The Friday night also will have from 22:30 h. the reading of the proclamation that this year will be made by Francisco García Romero, an agricultural engineer  that during his childhood and adolescence lived in Leiva. It will be also the the night of the election of the Queen of the Festival, Infantile Queen and Queen of the Third Age. The music also will be present with the Rondalla of Mazarrón and the performer of the spanish song Laura Muñoz.

On Saturday the traditions will take over of this beautiful small local area with the XII meeting of  gangs, in which will participate the gangs of Morata, Marina de Cope and El Esparragal of Puerto Lumbreras; and an evening of  trovos that will have the presence of prestigious troubadours as  Pedro López Martínez “Cardoso I”, Pedro López Gregorio “Cardoso II”, Francisco Javier “El Floristero” and José Antonio Guerrero “El Andaluz”. The trovera evening will be entertained  by the guitarist Tomás García and it will finish with the show of  the artist Frank Cano where “She is he”. That night also will have a contest of crumbs for which the festival committee  will provide to the participants all the viand.

Sunday is the day of the championships with contest of petanca, contest of chicken stick and run of  tapes to horses. At   2p.m. also can enjoy of a big paella to which are invited all citizens that want to join to the  party. At night will take place, from 21:30 h., the performances of the dancing school “Antonio Jara” and of the  popular “Luisos” that, sure, return another day to spread to the attendees with their musci and art.

On 16th July, day of the patroness, the events starts at 7p.m. with the mass in honor to the virgin of Carmen that will takes place in the hermitage of Leiva. To close the festival the night will have the show of magic of the artist “Magic Dexter” and the performance of Ricki “El andaluz chico” and his dancers. The festival will finish with a raffle to benefit to the festival that also will celebrate the rest of the days that compose the full festive program of this year.