Strolling around the Gràcia Festival

Like every year, I couldn't miss the traditional walk around the Gràcia district to see the street decorations of their main Festival. Although I must admit that this year I've been quite busy and didn't have time for just one single stroll to cover all the locations and I had to divide my visits in three parts (lukyly, I leave relatively closeby!).

The first time I went with my grandmother. My grandfather just passed away some weeks ago, so all the family has joined to take care of her and make her stay active and make her feel loved. So I decided to take her for a short walk. Of course, she's 90 years old and she couldn't walk for too long, but we managed to see a few of my favorite streets.

The second time I was by myself. I needed to do some grocery shopping in the neighbourhood, but being August most of my favorite stores were closed and I had to walk around the area much more than usual... The good thing is that I got to see some more streets this time.
And finally, I covered the rest of the streets with my boyfriend Oriol (it's good to have some "dating time", in between all my other commitments!).

I hope you enjoy the selection of pictures from this year!

By the way, Gràcia is one of my favorite local districts to explore in my Neighbourhood tours! Come see Barcelona from the local's point of view with me!


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To know more about my tours, visit Foreverbarcelona.

La Mercè Festival starts!

La Mercè (our Lady of Mercy) is the main patron saint of Barcelona, and we celebrate her day on September 24th. That is, tomorrow is a bank holyday!

And the city will be celebrating the whole week.
There will be night concerts every corner in the squares of the Gothic Quarter, Castellers (human towers) tomorrow at 12.30 at Plaça Sant Jaume, Correfoc (fire run) on the 26th starting at 20.30 in front of the Cathedral and continuing towards the Old Port, the Piromusical (music and fireworks show) on the 27th at 22h in Plaça Espanya, and much more.

The City Council has an English website on the festival, but it's not too complete...
To check out the full program you'll have to use the Spanish or Catalan versions and trust your language skills or get help from some online translator...

Festa Major de Gràcia has started!!!

My favorite event in the year, the Festa Major de Gràcia (Gràcia Festival) has started!
This morning I joined many other locals strolling around the streets to see the decorations prepared by the neighbours and took lots of pictures to show you. I loved them even more than last year!

It'll be easy for you to move around the area if you can get one of the free programs available at the desks of each street: Page 33 has a map where the decorated streets are marked in red and the other party locations are shown in green:

The problem is that the program is only in Catalan, so I made a selection of what could be interesting for you (there'll be lots of disco, salsa, jazz and music going on everynight aswell):

DANCING:
* Sardana dancing, the Catalan circle dance: Fri 21st late afternoon at Verdi st.
* Folkdance shows and stick dancing: Tue 18th at 6pm at Joan Blanques (upstreet) and Perla st. Wed 19th at at 10.30pm at Plaça del Sol.

TRADITIONS:
* Castells, the breathtaking Human Towers: rehearsals on the 18th at 10.30 and the 20th at 20.30, and show on the 22nd at 6pm, always at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*
* Correfoc, the firerun: Fri 21st at 10pm at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*, children's correfoc on the 21st at 6.30pm starting at Plaça Trilla.
* Fireworks: Night from the 21st to the 22nd, at 00.30 in Plaça Vila de Gràcia*
* Parades ("cercavila"): Sun 16th at 10.30 starting at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*

MUSIC:
* Grallers and Tabalers, traditional drummers and fluters: Wed 19th at 10.30pm at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*, Fri 21st at 8pm at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*
* Havaneres i rom cremat, sailors songs and flamed rhum drinking:
- Sun 16th: 6pm at Plaça del Poble Romaní, latenight at Tordera street, and 11pm at Plaça Joanic.
- Mon 17th: at 11pm at Providència st. andJoan Blanques (downstreet), and at 11.30pm upstreet.
- Tue 18th: 10.30pm at Llibertat st. and Placeta Sant Miquel, 11.30 pm at Fraternitat st.
- Wed 19th: 6pm at Plaça Rovira i Trias, latenight at Progrés st., 10pm at Puigmartí st., 10.30pm at Passeig de Sant Joan.
- Thu 21st: 7.30pm at Mozart street, and 11.30pm at Berga st.

FOOD
* Food tasting/eating/sharing:
- Paella: Sunday lunch at Progrés street. Wed 19th at 3pm at Llibertat st.
- Sardines: Wed 19th at 2pm at Providència st.
- Butifarra (pork sausage): Sun 16th at 2pm at Placeta Sant Miquel, 3pm at Llibertat st. Tue 18th at 9.30pm at Providència st. Fri 21st at noon at Puigmartí st.
- Hot chocolate: Mon 17st at 6pm at Plaça Rovira i Trias. Thu 20st at 11.30am at Mozart st., and at 6pm at Bruniquer st. and Llibertat st.
- Ratafia liquor (tasting followed by outdoors siesta!): Mon 17th at 3pm at Perla st.
- Pa amb tomàquet (Catalan tomato bread): Tue 18th at 3pm at Llibertat st.
- Snails ("cargols"): Sun 16th at 8pm at Plaça Manuel Torrente.

IMPORTANT NOTE 1: Never trust Spanish and Catalan punctuality, everything starts usually much later than announced.

IMPORTANT NOTE 2 - SAFETY RULES FOR THE FIRERUN: Dress coton clothes that cover entirely your body (long sleeves and pants), cover your neck and hair with coton shawls, wear comfortable running shoes and make sure your ankles are covered aswell. Gun powder reacts to water: do not throw water to firerun participants. Safety above all: respect the indications of the devils (firerun staff).

IMPORTANT NOTE 3: Night events must be over by 3am. After that time please respect the neighbours rest.

IMPORTANT NOTE 4: Plaça Rius i Taulet changed name this year and it's now called Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia, but you'll still find the former name in many maps (and it's likely many locals don't even know about that name change!).

IMPORTANT NOTE 5: Two sections of Joan Blanques street participate in the Festival with different decoration and different activities. To make the difference, locals talk about "Joan Blanques de dalt" for the section that is upstreet and "Joan Blanques de baix", for downstreet.

Enjoy the Festival of Gracia!

For last year's articles go:
The Gracia Festival has started!
Lower Joan Blanques won the Gracia Streets Competi...

The Piromusical, a fabulous end to the Merce Festival

Mercè Piromusical 2008

As every year, the Piromusical (a show that includes music, fireworks and the water movements of the Montjuic Magic Fountain) has been the perfect end for the festivities of the city, the Merce Festival.




I went to Montjuic with some friends and really enjoyed it. We got there two hours before the start of the show, knowing that there would be a huge crowd and we wanted to get a good spot from where we could see the fountain.

It was great, and I strongly reccomend it to anyone being in town next September!
Here are some pics and videos!

Coming soon: La Mercè, Barcelona Main Festival!

September 24th is the day of Our Lady of Mercy, patron saint of Barcelona, and the city will be celebrating it for over a week, from Sep 19th to 28th.

The program of the Festival activities in online in the city council web but... unfortunately only in Catalan so far! The only info in English I could find was in this link.

So in order to help you, I've selected a few of the most important events that could be of interest for anyone:

DANCING:
* Sardana dancing, the Catalan circle dance:
- Sat 20th at 6pm in Plaça Sant Jaume.
- Fri 19th at 7pm in front of the Cathedral.
- Teams competition on Sun 21st at 11am in front of the Cathedral.
- Sun 21st at 1pm in front of the Cathedral.
- Tue 23rd at 6pm in Plaça Sant Jaume.
- Wed 24th at 7pm in Plaça de la Mercè.
* Bastoners, Catalan stick dancers: Sat 20th from 11am in Plaça Sant Jaume, at noon there'll be a parade from there to the MACBA.

TRADITIONS:
* Castells and Falcons, the breathtaking Human Towers: Sun 21st from 11.15am in Plaça Sant Jaume. Wed 24th at 12.30am in Plaça Sant Jaume.
* Trabucaires, blunderbass bandits parade: 10am from the Cathedral towards Plaça Sant Jaume.
* Giants folk parades: Sat 20th at noon in Plaça Sant Jaume towards the port. Wed 24th at 11am in Plaça Sant Jaume towards Raval.
* Correfoc, the firerun: Fri 19th, the parade introducing the Fire Monsters will start at 9.30pm in Plaça Sant Jaume. The adults firerun takes place on Sat 20th starting in front of the Cathedral at 20.30 with the "Hell Gate". The children firerun will take place on Sat 20th at 6.30pm in front of the Cathedral.
* Fireworks: international competition in Barceloneta beach on Fri, Sat & Sun at 10.30pm. Big Piromusical on Wed 24 at 10pm in Montjuïc.

MUSIC:
* Grallers and Tabalers, traditional drummers and fluters: Wed 24th parade starting at 8am in Plaça de la Mercè towards Plaça Sant Jaume.
* Havaneres, sailors songs: Fri 19th at 9pm at Portal de la Pau. Tue 23rd at 9pm at Portal de la Pau.
* Folk/pop/rock/fusion/modern/etc. concert stages: Plaça del Rei, Plaça Reial (except Mon, every day from 8.45pm), Plaça Catalunya (Fri, Sat, Tue at 10pm), Plaça dels Àngels (Fri, Sat, Tue from 8.45pm), Parc del Fòrum (Fri, Sat, Tue from 10pm).

FOOD
* Food tasting/eating/sharing:
- Fried fish: Tue 23rd at 9pm in Portal de la Pau (included in the Havaneres concert).
- Rice: Wed 24th at midday in the Nova Icària beach.

RELIGION
* Our Lady of Mercy procession: Sun 21st starting at 5pm from the Church of Mercy towards the Cathedral and back.
* Mass: Wed 24th at 10.30am at the Churh of Mercy.

OTHER ACTIVITIES AND CELEBRATION POINTS
* Plaça Catalunya: permanent fair of local associations with their performance showcase.
* Old Port: family activities, workshops and folk performances (Fri, Sat, Sun).
* Ciutadella park: family activities, workshops, outdoor cinema and concerts.
* Montjuic castle: family activities and circus (Sat, Sun, Wed).
* Passeig Lluís Companys: african and arabic folk and concerts from the evening of Thu 25th to the 28th.
* Airplane acrobatics during the mornings of the 27th & 28th by the beaches.

IMPORTANT NOTE 1: Never trust Spanish and Catalan punctuality, everything starts usually much later than announced.

IMPORTANT NOTE 2 - SAFETY RULES FOR THE FIRERUN: Dress coton clothes that cover entirely your body (long sleeves and pants), cover your neck and hair with coton shawls, wear comfortable running shoes and make sure your ankles are covered aswell. Gun powder reacts to water: do not throw water to firerun participants. Safety above all: respect the indications of the devils (firerun staff).

Today is September 11th, National Day of Catalunya - La Diada

Today Catalunya celebrates its National Day.

On September 11th, 1714 Barcelona surrendered under the Borbon troops after months of seige. After the defeat followed a time of repression of the Catalan culture, and a new fortress (Ciutadella) was built to control Barcelona. The heroes that died trying to protect the city were buried in the Fossar de les Moreres (Mulberry cemetery) beside Santa Maria del Mar church.

Very few nations in the world choose a defeat day as their National Day, but to us, this is a reminder of how proud we are of what we are. It is not a day for happy celebrations nor fireworks, it is a memorial day for those who have suffered throughout our history to defend the Catalan land and traditions, a day to honour our heritage and think about what we want for our future...
It is also a day when politicians will organize meetings to convince everyone they are the "true" representative of Catalan people.

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Anyway... today there'll be lots of Senyeres (Catalan flags) hanging from the balconies in every town. Welcome to La Diada!

Lower Joan Blanques won the Gracia Streets Competition!

Hi!



The prizes for the Street Decoration Competition of the Gracia festival are out!
The first price was won by Lower Joan Blanques and their tailors workshop. Second was the Joy of Life of Upper Joan Blanques, and Third the Mexican Figthers of Verdi street!
You still have some days to enjoy them!

The Gracia Festival has started!

The Gracia Festival has started and you can see my pics and comments in my Picasa Album!

The neighbours are proud of their artwork decorating the streets, and they have prepared extended programs of outdoors activities for the next days: games and workshops for kids, friendly meals, pensioners activities, traditional dancing, songs and parades, and lots of concerts of all kind of music.

As every year, Verdi and Joan Blanques will surely compete for the first prize of the Street Decoration Contest: don't miss them!

Gracia 2008

Mornings and afternoons are the best time to stroll around the streets to discover their settings (get a Festival Program in Plaça Rius i Taulet where you'll find a map of decorated streets). But nightime is the best moment to enjoy the local life: the streets packed with people walking from concert to concert, from ballroom to ballroom, and glaring amazed at the wonderful crafts that will be lit at night.

Here I offer you a list of really local activities (for salsa, disco, rock, jazz and other shows I reccomend you check out their program or just walk around the neighbourhood):

DANCING:
* Sardana dancing, the Catalan circle dance: Thu 21st at 6pm in Passeig de Sant Joan.

TRADITIONS:
* Castells, the breathtaking Human Towers: Sun 17th at noon in Joan Blanques (downstreet).
* Correfoc, the firerun: Thu 21st starting at 10pm in Plaça Trilla and finishing in Plaça Rius i Taulet.
* Fireworks: Thu 21st at midnight in Plaça Rius i Taulet.


MUSIC:
* Grallers and Tabalers, traditional drummers and fluters: Wed 20 in Plaça Rius i Taulet at 5.30pm (parade finishing at 9pm in Joan Blanques (downstreet).
* Havaneres i rom cremat, sailors songs and flamed rhum drinking:
- Sat 16th. at 6pm in Plaça del Poble Romaní.
- Sun 17th. at 11pm in Llibertat st.
- Mon 18th at 11pm in Providència st.
- Tue 19th at 10.30pm in Passeig de Sant Joan.
- Wed 20th at 10pm in Puigmartí st.
- Thu 21st at 6pm in Plaça Rovira.
- Thu 21st at 11pm in Joan Blanques (upstreet).

FOOD
* Food tasting/eating/sharing:
- Paella: Sun 17th at 2pm in Providència st.
- Sardines: Tue 19th at 2pm in Placeta de Sant Miquel and Providència st.
- Butifarra (pork sausage): Tue 19th at 9.30pm in Providència st.
- Rice: Thu 21st at 1pm in Plaça Manuel Torrente.
- Hot chocolate: Wed 20th at 11am in Joan Blanques (upstreet).

IMPORTANT NOTE 1: Never trust Spanish and Catalan punctuality, everything starts usually much later than announced.

IMPORTANT NOTE 2 - SAFETY RULES FOR THE FIRERUN: Dress coton clothes that cover entirely your body (long sleeves and pants), cover your neck and hair with coton shawls, wear comfortable running shoes and make sure your ankles are covered aswell. Gun powder reacts to water: do not throw water to firerun participants. Safety above all: respect the indications of the devils (firerun staff).

IMPORTANT NOTE 3: Night events must be over by 3am. After that time please respect the neighbours rest.

Enjoy the Festival of Gracia!

Gracia district festival in August!

Are you coming to Barcelona in August! You are lucky! You'll hit one of the most special festivals in town: the Festa Major de Gràcia!

This year it takes place between Aug 15th to 21st, and during this days many streets in the Gracia district will be decorated by their neighbours and there will be lots of daytime activities as well as night ballroom, dancing and concerts in the evenings. It is really worth having a walk to discover what great artists those people are!

I'm afraid their website is in Catalan only, but you can see some pictures of last year's decoration here:
http://www.festamajordegracia.cat/album/carrers-guarnits-2007
And some videos here: http://www.festamajordegracia.cat/node/recorreguts-virtuals

See you in the Gracia Festival!

Castellers, the Catalan Human Towers

One of the most famous Catalan traditions are the Castellers, Human Towers.
You might have read about them in your guidebooks, but sometimes it is hard to find their performances unless you hit a major local festivity...

However, summertime is Castellers season, and if you are ready to drive out of town you might have the chance to see it (most of the times, they take place during the weekends).

If you have a facebook account, I reccomend you join this group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5362054345 where you'll get an English calendar of performances and more info about this exciting tradition.
Otherwise, there is this online agenda , but it is written in Catalan (although it's easy enough to understand the dates, times and name of the town): http://www.webcasteller.com/ca/agenda.php

In the meantime, enjoy my video here: