Barcelona’s La Mercè is one of the biggest annual celebrations of the year and is held in honour of the Virgin of La Mercè, one of the city’s two patron saints.
Throughout the year each neighbourhood in the city holds its own mini festival, but then in September they all come to celebrate together as one.
The festival began in its current form in 1902, when the city put together a series of non-religious special events and shows to celebrate its patron saint. Over the years the festival has continued to grow and now draws in more than a million people.
This year it’s being held from September 23rd to the 28th with the 24th being Día de la La Mercè. This is a public holiday in Barcelona meaning schools, offices and most large supermarkets will be closed. Restaurants and bars remain open.
On this day many museums and cultural attractions also have free open days. Be aware that some of the big ones such as Sagrada Família hold prize draws for free tickets which take place several weeks in advance.
The programme for the festival can be very overwhelming as there are so many different events and performances spread throughout the city during these few days. This year there will be approximately 450 of them, most of them for free.
Traditional culture events
If you’ve never been to a Catalan festival before then it’s best to stick to the traditional cultural side of the festival which features elements such as castellers (human towers), gegants (parades of giants) and correfocs (fire runs), where people dressed as devils spray fire through the streets. These mostly happen around Plaça de Sant Jaume, La Rambla and near the Cathedral. Find out about the events here.
This part kicks off with an opening parade on the 23rd at 7pm around Palau de la Virreina, La Rambla, Carrer Ferran and Plaça Sant Jaume featuring the city’s giants, as well as mythical beasts, devils and drummers.
BAM concerts
For music fans there is a whole music programmed during the festival called BAM. This year it will include 100 free concerts. They will be held in various venues including Plaça de Catalunya, the Teatre Grec, Moll de la Fusta, Rambla de Raval and the Antigua Fábrica Estrella Damm.
It includes gigs for all different tastes from pop and folk to electronic, indie, soul and hip-hop. Bands range from local to Spanish and even international. See the BAM programme here. Most of them you can just turn up to, but there may be a few you have to register for in advance.
MAC street theatre
The third element of La Mercè is the MAC Festival. This is street theatre and arts part of the festival. It typically includes a lot of contemporary dance acts, as well as innovative street theatre from around the world. There’s also a circus element with clowns, acrobats and theatre for kids. The main venues this year are Parc dels Auditoris, Parc de la Trinitat, Parc de l'estació del Nord and the Port Olímpic. For those of you with kids, the majority of events for them will be held at the Port Olímpic.
Each year, Barcelona invites a guest city from somewhere in the world to participate and host some events. This year the host city will be Manchester in the UK. It’s the first time, Barcelona has invited a city from the UK.
Useful tips
Our advice is to study the programme carefully to see what you want to see and know what times they’re on. Don’t try and see everything as you’ll be running all over the city and won’t be able to enjoy what you do see for fear of missing the next. Some events (apart from the concerts) are repeated throughout the festival so if you don’t make it to one, chances are you can see it again another day.
Alternatively, you could simply wander around the Gothic Quarter and see what you come across as there’ll be lots of cultural events going on there.
If you live in Barcelona, use this as a chance to get free entrance to museums and other buildings typically closed to the public on the 24th. Also take advantage of a few of the music and street performances in the evenings when you’re not working.
This year the authorities have tried to spread the events out this year to avoid overcrowding, as well as host them in places many tourists wouldn't typically visit.
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