Barcelona Guide - Festivals and bank holidays

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Make the most of your holiday and experience a true Spanish festival.


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5th Jenuary
The Procession of the Three Wise Men, inaugurates the year´s festivities.
 
February
Carnival is celebrated with many parades, and fireworks set off by the Colles de dracs.
 
3th March
The festival of Sant Medir, celebrated in the Gràcia district with a procession, including the tossing of candy to spectators.
 
23th April
Festival of Sant Jordi (St. George), also known as the day of roses and books. Stalls throughout the city offer books and roses for sale. Declared World Book Day by UNESCO in 1995.
 
May
The poetic Jocs Florals (plays of the flowers) and the festival of Sant Ponc in Calle del Hospital.
 
June
The Corpus Cristi festival, with parades including giants and carnival figures with gigantic heads. The fountain of the Cathedral´s cloister is the site of the traditional l’ou com balla (Dancing egg).
 
Nights of 23th and 24th of June
Summer solstice on the eve of Sant Joan (St. John), it is a night of bonfires and fireworks in the squares and streets. Tradition says you should party all night and watch the sunset on the beach in the morning
 
End of June
The festival of Grec, which includes open-air concerts and dance performances. Especially good in the Greek Theatre of Montjuïc.
 
15th August
The Assumption festival is celebrated in the area of the Gràcia Quarter. The festivities last for one week, during which neighbors decorate the streets with sculptures and recycled materials. By night, several bands play on the main streets and squares.
 
24th September
The Fiesta de la Mercè, patroness of Barcelona. This is a time of big celebrations with four days of musical performances, parades including giants and figures with gigantic heads, fireworks, cultural and sport events, and open-air dancing in various places in the city. Particularly interesting are the performances of Sardanas, the national dance of Catalonia.
 
13th Dicember
The start of the expositions of Christmas cribs, regarded as very romantic by lovers.
 
31th Dicember
New Years Eve in Barcelona begins like a Carnival party with people wearing masks in the streets, who - like everywhere in Spain - try to eat 12 grapes during the last 12 seconds of the finishing year. This tradition is said to bring good luck in the upcoming year.
 
11th September
Catalonia´s national day, a somber festival of floral offering to national heroes, in memory of resistance and eventual the fall of Barcelona to Bourbon forces in 1714.