It’s no secret that Gran Vía is a dream come true for any musical lover. The Lion King, Aladdin, Cinderella… this avenue has seen more fairy tales come to life than a library. But not all family outings in Madrid have to take place in the city center and then head back home. This season, Alcalá de Henares and San Lorenzo de El Escorial offer the perfect concerts for a day out close to home, featuring the soundtracks of their (and our) childhood.
They’re called Candlelight: Disney Journeys, and both destinations are less than an hour from Madrid. These are the classic Saturday getaways that kids will talk about at school afterward—and for which there are only two dates (one per city), scheduled for January 2027.
The program features some of the best-known songs from Disney movies past and present, and they’re presented in true Candlelight style: with thousands of candles lighting up every corner.
Live Disney concerts less than an hour from Madrid
16 January 2027 19:00
La Vega del Henares
16 January 2027 19:00
Real Colegio Alfonso XII Agustinos
Elton John, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Alan Menken: Who Wrote Each Song in the Program?
Presented under license from Disney Concerts, Candlelight: Disney Journeys lasts approximately one hour and features songs from Disney and Pixar films performed live by a string quartet in a warm, inviting atmosphere.
And while it’s almost impossible not to know every lyric to the songs in the repertoire, we don’t always know who composed them. And in this case, some of the most recognizable composers in animated film are behind them. Songs like Be Our Guest from *Beauty and the Beast* or If You’re Going to Arabia from *Aladdin* were written by Alan Menken, while others like I’ve Got a Friend from *Toy Story* or Welcome to New Orleans were written by Randy Newman.
Phil Collins’ music is also featured with I’m So Strange from *Tarzan*, as well as lyrics by Elton John and Tim Rice for The Circle of Life from *The Lion King*. The newest generation is represented by Lin-Manuel Miranda, writer of the Madrigal family in *Encanto* and co-writer—alongside Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina—of the songs from *Moana*, such as “You’re Welcome.”
Classical music in a monastery and a country estate by the Henares River
La Vega del Henares and the Real Colegio Alfonso XII are the two venues chosen in Alcalá de Henares and San Lorenzo de El Escorial, respectively.
La Vega del Henares in Alcalá de Henares
In the case of Alcalá de Henares, the Vega del Henares is located on what was once the grounds of an 18th-century Trinitarian convent. It’s a private estate spanning more than 500 hectares that still preserves the 18th-century Santa María Chapel and can only be accessed via a private bridge over the Henares River. Parking is available on the estate itself.
📍Madrid-Barcelona Highway, Km 33, N-II, Alcalá de Henares
The Real Colegio Alfonso XII in San Lorenzo de El Escorial
The historic venue chosen in San Lorenzo de El Escorial is an Augustinian school that occupies part of the Royal Monastery of El Escorial. The Alfonso XII Royal College was founded at the initiative of the monarch himself in 1875, and ten years later, management of the school was handed over to the Augustinian Order. Since the late 20th century, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
📍Av. de Juan de Borbón y Battenberg, 2