Programme of cultural events marking the 2026 Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony

The Princess of Asturias Foundation has put together a broad-ranging programme comprising sixty-five cultural activities to mark the Princess of Asturias Awards, now in their forty-sixth year. Under the title “Awards Week”, the programme will take place between 14th and 24th October in Avilés, Cadavéu (Valdés), Gijón, Granda (Siero), Langreo, Mieres, Oviedo and Villaviciosa.

The programme will kick off on 14th October in the parish of Cadavéu with an astronomical observation and a concert under the stars, activities inspired by the career of 2026 Princess of Asturias Laureate for Concord Christina Koch. The Foundation thus reaffirms its commitment to rural areas in what will be the fifth time that an “Awards Week” event is held in a place that has received the Exemplary Town of Asturias Award, which is conferred by the institution.

This edition includes concerts, film screenings, exhibitions, art installations and workshops, as well as activities related to astronomy, among other offerings. The Laureates will participate in meetings with the public, meetings with experts in their respective fields and activities with pupils from various educational centres.

Awards Week

“Awards Week” is a cultural programme of free activities designed by the Foundation that is open to the public and includes the participation of the Princess of Asturias Laureates in a variety of events during the days leading up to the Awards Ceremony to be held at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo. Since 1996, the Foundation has organized activities of this kind in diverse locations in Asturias aimed at making the Laureates and their contributions to the world of science, culture or any other field in which they work better known to society at large. 

This year’s programme has counted on institutional collaboration by Spain’s Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, the Ministry of Defence, the Government of the Principality of Asturias, the Principality of Asturias Regional Parliament, Oviedo, Gijón and Avilés City Councils, the University of Oviedo and the Cajastur Foundation. 

Taking the Floor

Now in its 11th edition, the “Taking the Floor” cultural programme for schools comprises seven activities that seek to make the merits and careers of the Laureates better known to the educational community. On this occasion, in addition to including schools in the Principality of Asturias the programme has once again been extended to invited schools from other parts of Spain. Since its launch in March 2015 up until the 2025 edition, the programme has registered more than 64 960 participations by primary, secondary, baccalaureate and vocational training students from 287 schools in the Principality and other regions of Spain.

TICKET REGISTRATION PROCESS

Registration to attend the events will open in three stages:

• At 10:00am on Saturday 10th October for the activities that will take place between 15th and 18th October, and for Patti Smith’s concert on 20th October.  
• At 10:00am on Saturday 17th October for the events taking place between 19th and 24th October (except for the event with Leo Messi on 22nd October), and for Patti Smith’s concert on 21st October. 
• At 10:00am on Sunday 18th October for the event with Leo Messi on 22nd October. 

An online queuing system will be enabled to access the platform in all three registration phases.

As in previous years and due to the major interest generated by the events of “Awards Week”, the Foundation reminds those who have obtained tickets for the events and will be unable to attend that they should communicate this fact in advance via the established channels so as to make these tickets available once again to the public. If we are not informed of non-attendance at least TWO HOURS IN ADVANCE, the Foundation will cancel the rest of the tickets the same holder has obtained for other activities in the programme.