Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Festa Major de Sants
Last week of Aug.
Another week's worth of traditional festivities in
an untouristed neighbourhood, in the streets behind Barcelona Sants station.
SanMiguelMasiMasFestival
masimas.com
.
The quietest summer month gets a shot in
the arm with a music festival bypromoters Mas i Mas that crosses genres, hip-hop to classic-
al jazz, at a variety of venues across the city.
SEPTEMBER
DiadaNacional
Sept11.
Catalannationalday,commemoratingtheeighteenth-centurydefeat
atthehandsoftheBourbons.It'sapublicholidayinBarcelona,andspecialeventsincludethe
city's more radical Catalan nationalists throwing bricks through burger-bar windows, fight-
ingwiththepoliceandshowingtheirpatriotismbysprayinggraffitioneveryavailablespace.
Festes de la Mercè
Sept 24
bcn.cat/merce
.
The biggest annual festival, held around Sept
24 (a public holiday), is dedicated to Our Lady of Mercy, co-patroness of the city, whose im-
age is paraded from the church of la Mercè near the port. It's an excuse for a week of merry-
making, including costumed giants, breathtaking firework displays and competing teams of
castellers
- not to mention outdoor concerts, bicycle races, children's events and even free
admission to city museums and galleries on the saint's day. During the week, the concurrent
alternative music festival, known as BAM (
bcn.cat/bam
), puts on free rock, world and fu-
sion gigs at emblematic old-town locations and at Parc del Fòrum.
Festa Major de Sant Miquel
Last week.
Traditional festivities on the waterfront as Bar-
celoneta celebrates its saint's day with fireworks, parades,
castellers
, music and dancing.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
48H Open House BCN
Oct varies
48hopenhousebarcelona.org
.
Architectural gems, in-
cluding those that are usually closed to the public, open their doors for one weekend.
LEM
ThroughoutOct
gracia-territori.com
.
Experimentalandelectronicmusicandartfest-
ival organized by the Gràcia Territori Sonor collective, with free or cheap concerts, events
and happenings held in Gràcia's bars, cafés and galleries.
Festival Internacional de Jazz
Last week in Oct and through Nov
barcelonajazzfestiv-
and attracts superstar solo artists and bands to the clubs and concert halls, as well as putting
on smaller-scale street concerts.
Tots Sants
All Saints' Day, Nov 1.
When the Spanish remember their dead with cemetery
visits and special meals, it's traditional to eat roast chestnuts (
castanyes
), sold by street
vendors, sweet potatoes and
panellets
(almond-based sweets). It's also a public holiday.