The Rough Guide to Barcelona 8 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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Some things you might have missed …
If you look beyond the big-name acts and the major annual celebrations, there’s a whole
world of off-the-radar festive fun in Barcelona, with some events just putting a toe in the
water and others growing more elaborate with each year. February’s Minifestival
(W , for example, provides a neat suburban counterpoint to the
bigger city music fests, highlighting international indie acts that you’ve definitely never
heard of. In May, Loop (W , the international fair and festival for
video-art, attracts hundreds of artists from dozens of countries. September sees the
ever-improving Asia Festival ( W , with dance, theatre, music,
DJs, children’s activities, performance art and workshops showcasing the culture of
Asia and the Pacific Region. By October, digi-heads and Second Lifers are ready for
Artfutura (W , the digital culture and creativity festival, while alterna-
tive Christmas shopping is best done at Drap-Art (W , the Festival of
Creative Recycling, which puts on its annual bash and market at the CCCB (W www
) and FAD (W ).
patron saints, the Virgin of Mercè, and
celebrated for a week around this date
(Sept 24 is a public holiday). Highlights
include costumed giants, breathtaking
firework displays, and competing teams of
castellers – see colour section for more.
During the week, the concurrent alternative
music festival, known as BAM ( Wwww.bcn
.cat/bam), puts on free rock, world and
fusion gigs at emblematic old-town
locations and at Parc del Fòrum.
Festa Major de Sant Miquel/Barceloneta Last
week Traditional festivities on the waterfront
as Barceloneta celebrates its saint’s day
with fireworks, parades, castellers, music
and dancing.
October
LEM Throughout Oct W www.gracia-territori
.com Experimental and electronic music and
art festival organized by the Gràcia Territori
Sonor collective, with free or cheap
concerts, events and happenings held in
Gràcia’s bars, cafés and galleries.
Festival de Tardor Ribermúsica Third week
W Wide-ranging four-day
music festival held in the Born, with free
concerts in historic and picturesque locations.
Festival Internacional de Jazz Last week in Oct
and through Nov Wwww.theproject.cat The
biggest annual jazz festival in town has been
going for four decades and attracts
superstar solo artists and bands to the
clubs and concert halls, as well as putting
on smaller-scale street concerts.
Festival Opera Butxaca Last week in Oct and
through Nov W
The “Pocket Opera Festival” showcases
new Catalan and European operas in
chamber and medium format, with perform-
ances in the smaller theatres and spaces at
the Liceu, TNC, L’Auditori and other venues.
November
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.
Wintercase Barcelona End of Nov W www
Gloom-mongers, mullets and
guitar-merchants celebrate at this one-night
indie music showcase, with similar one-night
gigs also held in Madrid, Valencia and Bilbao.
December
Fira de Santa Llúcia Dec 1–22 For more than
200 years the Christmas season has seen a
special market and crafts fair outside the
cathedral. Browse for gifts or watch the
locals snapping up Christmas trees, Nativity
figures and traditional decorations.
Nadal/Sant Esteve Dec 25–26 Wwww.bcn.cat
/nadal Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day
are both public holidays, which Catalans
tend to spend at home – the traditional gift-
giving is on Twelfth Night (Jan 6). Each year,
there’s a Christmas Nativity scene erected in
Plaça de Sant Jaume, Barri Gòtic, which
stays there for the whole of Dec and 1st
week in Jan.
FESTIVALS AND HOLIDAYS
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