If you’re looking for the perfect plan to escape the daily grind during this long weekend in August, enter San Pedro into your GPS and start the engine because this weekend—August 15, 16, and 17— this town, less than two hours from Buenos Aires, is celebrating the National Ensaimada Festival, and your taste buds won’t want to miss it.
San Pedro: The Town 2 Hours from Buenos Aires That’s Celebrating the National Ensaimada Festival This Long Weekend
San Pedro is the capital of the ensaimada, and this long weekend it’s celebrating with a festival that’s free and open to the public, where you can eat as many ensaimadas as you can handle in every variety you can imagine. If you don’t even know what an ensaimada is or how to get to San Pedro, we’ll tell you everything right here.
San Pedro is just 165 kilometers from Buenos Aires, and in addition to a beautiful public promenade along the banks of the Paraná River, this weekend—August 15, 16, and 17—it’s hosting the 22nd edition of its National Mallorcan Ensaimada Festival right there, a food festival with free admission that combines live music and tons of sweet puff pastry.
2026 Ensaimada Festival: What You’ll Find This Year in San Pedro
During the three days of the long weekend (Saturday, August 15; Sunday, August 16; and Monday, August 17, 2026), San Pedro comes alive with a festival of flavors and popular culture organized by the Municipality and the Agrupación Mallorca.
If you go to this year’s festival, you’ll be able to enjoy plenty of outdoor activities, top-notch homemade cuisine, and live shows:
- “The Great Ensaimada”: The festival’s highlight, where local pastry chefs make a giant ensaimada live in front of the audience.
- Gastronomic Courtyard and Community Stalls: Stalls featuring traditional Balearic and Creole cuisine, craft beer, and food trucks.
- Live shows and music: Traditional dance performances from the Balearic Islands and top-notch bands.
- Artisans’ Fair and Kids’ Area: a fair featuring regional entrepreneurs and a play area in case you’re traveling with kids.
What Is an Ensaimada? The History of a Classic Dessert
The ensaimada is one of the oldest gems of Spanish pastry-making, originating in Mallorca in the 17th century. Its name comes from the word saïm, which in Catalan or Mallorcan means lard—the key ingredient that gives it its flaky texture.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigrants from Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza chose San Pedro as their new home, bringing with them their customs and, of course, their most traditional recipes, which they continue to prepare to this day.
Basic Recipe: How to Make an Authentic Ensaimada at Home
If you can’t wait or want to recreate the magic in your own kitchen, here’s a traditional recipe:
Ingredients:
- 500 g of 0000 flour.
- 2 eggs.
- 100 g of sugar.
- 20 g of fresh yeast (or sourdough starter).
- 150 ml of warm water.
- 150 g of good-quality lard (or soft butter).
- Filling of your choice: Dulce de leche or pastry cream.
- Powdered sugar for dusting.
Step by Step:
- The Dough: Dissolve the yeast in warm water with a pinch of sugar. In a bowl, mix the flour, the remaining sugar, the eggs, and the yeast mixture. Knead rhythmically for 10–15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let it rest until it doubles in size.
- The Stretched-Out Ghost: I divided the dough into small balls. I rolled out the dough on a clean, oiled countertop using a rolling pin and my hands until it was as thin as tracing paper (almost transparent).
- The saïm touch: Generously brush the entire surface of the dough with soft lard.
- Shaping: Roll the dough into a long rope. Then, on a greased baking sheet, coil the rope into a spiral (snail shape), leaving space between each coil because it will rise.
- Baking: Let it rise in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
- The perfect finish: Let it cool, fill the middle with plenty of dulce de leche, and sprinkle the top with a generous dusting of powdered sugar.
How to Get to San Pedro This Long Weekend
If you want to get to San Pedro by car, take the Pan-American Highway (North Access) and continue on National Route 9 until the turnoff for San Pedro at km 153. It’s approximately 165 km (a 1-hour, 45-minute drive). And since you’re already there, make the most of your visit by strolling along the waterfront, taking photos from the lookouts overlooking the Paraná River cliffs, visiting the historic bakeries in downtown, and buying a crate of San Pedro’s famous navel oranges.
- 📍 Where it is: San Pedro Municipal Public Promenade (on the riverbank).
- 🗓️ When: From Saturday, August 15, to Monday, August 17, 2026.
- 🎟️ Admission: Free.
