As every year to close the summer, Barcelona celebrates the popular festival of “La Mercè”, dedicated to the patron saint of the city. Four intense days (from 22 to 25 September) to enjoy tradition, culture, concerts, gastronomic events, fireworks and a great atmosphere on the streets of the city.
You will find here a guide to discover the greatest festival in Barcelona, which this year brings their shows and activities to more neighborhoods than ever and will have a French flavor, as the guest city this year will be Paris.
Music for all audiences
The festival of “La Mercè” features other festivals, two of the most important ones are the BAM (Barcelona Acció Musical) and Mercè Música, which include a wide range of free outdoor concerts by artists of national and international renown.
Among others, the stages will be located on the Cathedral Square, the Parc del Forum, the beach of Bogatell or the Avinguda Maria Cristina. It will host a total of 88 concerts offered by more than 70 bands and soloists.
An eclectic proposal that will turn Barcelona into a great music showcase where will shine artists like Love of Lesbian , Bebe, Manu Chao , Fangoria, Lloys Cole, Juan Magan, Kiko Veneno or la Gran Pegatina.
Tradition and technology
Another fundamental pillar of La Merce is the exaltation of the Catalan popular culture: castellers (human towers), correfocs (fire shows on the streets), gegants (giants), sardanes (popular dance) or trabucaires (group armed with blunderbusses that only makes noise). All this elements combine art and tradition and they are an ideal way to know the idiosyncrasies of the city and its people.
Linking past and future, La Mercè 2016 puts his focus on the innovation and new technologies through projections and audiovisual shows in some of the most emblematic buildings of the city.
In this sense, the factory Fabra i Coats, the Ciutadella Park and the CCCB will be virtually connected, as if they were a single space, so that the activities generated in each building will be able to be seen simultaneously as a single complete show.
Theater & Circus in the streets
For its part, the Mercè Arts de Carrer (MAC) has an artistic proposal that includes street theater, dance, circus, charangas (brass bands) and traveling shows.
The Castle of Montjuïc and Ciutadella Park are two of the main stages of the MAC (where will perform more than 40 companies), from which we highlight the exhibition “Des Bâtisses Soeurs aux Villes éphémères” of Olivier Grossetête, an original production in which the public helps to build bridges and towers up to 23 meters with cardboard boxes.
In addition, Passeig de la Circumval·lació (near to the zoo) will become a huge urban canvas, that street artists from Barcelona and other places will fill with the color of their graffiti.
Completing the range of cultural activities Picasso Museum, Maritime Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art and the Virreina Museum, among others, will open their doors for free on different days of the festival.
Fireworks to end the celebrations
The fire is another essential element of the catalan celebrations. In addition to the exciting correfocs (fire shows on the streets), which may surprise you anywhere in the city, the International Pyrotechnic Festival will flood Barcelona sky of light and beauty.
Additionally, as in every edition, the Piromusical in avinguda de Maria Cristina will close the celebrations with one of the most touching moments of the Festival of La Mercè.
A great show that this year will pay tribute to two pop music icons of the 20th century who recently died, Prince and David Bowie. It will be handled by Pirotecnia Igual, responsible for the fireworks on the ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.
Join the two million people who are expected to participate in La Mercè, and live this great festival as one of the locals. See also the full program and do not hesitate to ask our staff!
