Barcelona festivals and events: Critics’ Choice

Where: various venues
When: Jan 5, 5pm-9pm
Website: www.bcn.cat/nadal
Epiphany is the big Christmas event here, and is marked by the Kings’ Parade. Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar arrive aboard the Santa Eulàlia boat at the bottom of La Rambla before beginning a grand parade around town with a retinue of acrobats, circus clowns and child elves. The route is published in the newspapers, but normally starts at the lower entrance of Ciutadella, running up C/Marquès de l’Argentera and Via Laietana. Later that night, children leave their shoes out on the balcony stuffed with hay for the kings’ camels; in the morning, they’re either full of presents or edible sugar coal depending on their behaviour the previous year. The following day (Jan 6) is a holiday.

Where: Sant Antoni
When: Jan 17 feast day (Jan 25, 2020; 2021 date TBA)
St Anthony’s day, naturally enough, also marks the ‘festa major’ of the district (starting before the feast day and going on for a week); all the usual ingredients of music and ‘gegants’ here include a monstrous, symbolic, fire-breathing pig – the form the devil took when tempting the saint. Anthony is patron saint of animals, and on his feast day it’s still the custom to bring pets to the church of St Anthony to be blessed. Afterward, horsemen ride three circuits (‘tres tombs’) in a formal procession from Ronda Sant Antoni, through Plaça Catalunya, down La Rambla and along C/Nou de la Rambla.

Where: all over Barcelona
When: Feb 7-9 & 12, 2020 (2021 dates TBA)
Website: santaeulalia.bcn.cat
The city’s blowout winter festival is in honour of Santa Eulàlia (Laia), who met her end at the hands of the Romans after enduring terrible tortures. Barcelona’s co-patron saint, she is a special favourite of children. Her feast day kicks off with a ceremony in Plaça Sant Jaume, followed by music, traditional ‘sardana’ dancing and parades, with Masses and children’s choral concerts held in the churches and Cathedral. In the evening, the female giants gather in Plaça Sant Josep Oriol, then go to throw flowers on the Baixada de Santa Eulàlia before a final boogie in Plaça Sant Jaume. The Ajuntament and the Cathedral crypt (where she’s buried) are free and open to the public, as are more than 30 museums. The festival closes on Sunday evening with ‘correfocs’ (fire runs, for adults and children) centred around the Cathedral.

Where: Fòrum area
When: Apr 26 – May 5, 2019 (2020 dates TBA)
Website: www.fecac.com
A pale imitation of Seville’s grand Feria de Abril, this week-long, sprawling and joyously tacky event is still a whole heap of fun, especially for fans of fried squid and candy floss. The rows of decorated marquees are a sea of polka dots, as young and old twirl on and off the stages, and onlookers glug manzanilla sherry and scarf some of the greasiest food imaginable. It’s great for children, and there’s a funfair.

Where: Ateneu Barcelonès, Casa de l’Ardiaca, Cathedral cloisters, Museu Frederic Marès, all in Barri Gòtic
When: June 11-14, 2020
Tel & website: Institut de Cultura 93 301 77 75/barcelonacultura.bcn.cat
L’Ou Com Balla (the ‘dancing egg’) is a local Corpus Christi tradition dating from 1637: a hollowed-out eggshell is set spinning and bobbing in apparent perpetuum mobile on the spout of various fountains garlanded for the occasion with flowers. The Sunday Corpus Christi procession leaves from the Cathedral in the early evening; on the Saturday, there’s free entry to the Ajuntament, the Palau Centelles behind it and the Museu d’Història de Barcelona, along with ‘sardanes’ (circle dances) at 7pm outside the Cathedral.

Where: all over Barcelona
When: night of Jun 23
In the weeks leading up to the feast of St John, the streets become a terrifying war zone of firecrackers and cowering dogs. This is a mere warm-up for the main event – on the night of June 23 there are bonfires and firework displays all over the city, but especially the beach, running until dawn. Cava is the traditional tipple, and piles of coca – flat, crispy bread topped with candied fruit – are consumed. Special metro and FGC trains run all night, and the 24th is a much-needed holiday.

Where: various venues
When: Jun-Aug
Tel & website: 93 413 24 00/www.barcelona.cat
This series of free, al fresco concerts runs throughout the summer months in some of Barcelona’s loveliest parks. It comprises two cycles; there’s jazz from June to August on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10pm in Ciutadella Park in front of the fountain and, in July, young musicians perform a varied classical concert programme from Thursday to Saturday in various parks. There are also performances by the municipal band, who boost the programme on occasional Thursdays with crowd-pleasers from Gershwin, ‘West Side Story’ and the like.

Where: various venues
When: all of July
Tel & website: 93 316 10 00/www.barcelona.cat/grecNamed after the Greek amphitheatre (Teatre Grec) that forms such an integral part of its programming, this is the major cultural festival of the year. It brings together dozens of shows from around the world, encompassing dance, music, theatre and circus. Increasingly there are performances in English, with Catalan surtitles.

Where: all over Gràcia
When: Aug 15-21, 2020
Tel & website: 93 459 30 80/www.festamajordegracia.cat
The main event at Gràcia’s extravagant festa major is its street competition, where residents transform some 25 streets into pirate ships, rainforests and Jurassic landscapes. The festival opens with giants and castles in Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia, and climaxes with a ‘correfoc’ and a ‘castell de focs’ (castle of fireworks). In between, there are some 600 activities, from concerts to ‘sardanes’ and bouncy castles.

Where: all over Barcelona
When: Sep 20-24, 2019 (2020 dates TBA)
Website: www.bcn.cat/merce
This five-day event in honour of the patron saint of the city, Our Lady of Mercy (La Mercè), opens with giants, dragons and ‘capgrosses’ in Plaça Sant Jaume. It’s followed by more than 600 events including ‘sardanes’ and ‘correfocs’ (a tamer version for children, followed by the biggest and wildest of the year on the Saturday night). Other highlights include dazzling fireworks displays, mapping projections, free concerts, street theatre, and a heap of activities for children. The pressure on the centre has been eased of late: many events are now staged up at Montjuïc Castle or in the former textile factory, Fabra i Coats, in Sant Andreu. Even so, around 100,000 people descend on the Barri Gòtic to watch the final parade.

Where: Pla de la Seu & Avda de la Catedral
When: Nov 29 – Dec 23, 2020
Tel & website: 93 402 70 00/en.firadesantallucia.cat
Dating from 1786, this traditional Christmas fair has expanded to more than 300 stalls, selling all manner of handcrafted Christmas decorations and gifts, along with mistletoe, poinsettias and Christmas trees. The most popular figure on sale for Nativity scenes is the curious Catalan figure of the ‘caganer’ (literally, ‘the shitter’), a small figure crouching over a steaming turd with his trousers around his ankles. Kids line up for a go on the giant ‘caga tió’, a huge, smiley-faced ‘shitting log’ that poops out pressies upon being beaten viciously by a stick; smaller versions are on sale at the stalls. There’s also a Nativity scene contest, musical parades and exhibitions, including the popular life-size Nativity scene in Plaça Sant Jaume.