I can hear the noise before I even reach the Plaza Almijara. The DJ is already warming up the crowd, and the air is filled with laughter and excited conversation.

The sound hits me like a wall as I come around the corner from Calle San Antonio. The square is filled with people dancing, drinking and digesting lunch, all doing their best to out shout the conversation on the next table, Spanish ferias are never quiet, and this is no exception. The three restaurants have every table filled with families, waiting, along with everyone else for the foam fun to begin.

The excitement is palpable, for some people – me included – this is the best event in the four-day-long party that is the Cómpeta Feria. It is certainly the one looked forward to by a lot of youngsters (including me!), but there is something for all ages.

Older people sit at tables having enjoyed a meal with their loved ones, the teenagers are already bouncing along to the DJ’s set and little ones are stripping down to swimsuits and goggles ready to spend the afternoon running in and out of a massive sea of foam that will reach far above their little heads.

At just past 4 pm the bubble canon starts and the cheers and squeals erupt, echoing off the buildings in this beautiful town. There is a slight breeze blowing and the foam heads towards the tables full of late lunchers relaxing in the shade of numerous umbrellas. Nobody minds. The bar serving mojitos sets up a fan to send the bubbles away from the drinks and carries on serving, the angle of the canon is adjusted a bit and the foam starts to pile up in its allocated space.

The square is filled with dancing people, young and old, laughing and singing along to the music, and simply enjoying life. The feeling of good will is wonderful to experience with so many nationalities communicating in a mixture of a dozen languages, and not a lot of it making much sense to the listener, straining to hear above the joyful noise.

But that’s not all…..

The Calle Rampa is a steep, sloping street that runs from the Plaza Almijara down to the Avenida de Constitucion. On foam party day a water slide is laid from the top to the bottom. All you need is some form of inflatable and a sense of fun and adventure.

I manage to borrow a rubber ring and queue up for my turn. There are people of all ages waiting to hurtle down this slide and I try and calm my nerves, if small children and teenagers can do it then so can I. In all my years of living in this lovely place, I have never taken the plunge before – but here goes!

Tentatively sitting myself down on my inflatable ring, I try desperately not to start sliding before I’m ready, but once I am set to go the attendant gives my leg a gentle pull and I’m off and away, spinning and turning all the way down, egged on by the cheers, shouts, and whistling crowd, and all too soon I’m splashing safely into the water pool at the bottom.

Exhilarated and laughing I climb back up the hill to the square. My clothes will be soaking wet for the rest of the afternoon but who cares – so will everybody else’s. Now if that’s not worth another foamy mojito – I don’t know what is!