Guide to Barcelona’s best fiestas 2010

Barcelona is a colourful, warm, energetic city that has been transformed in recent years into one of Europe’s favourite short break destinations, with festivals taking place throughout the year. Watch this splendid slideshow of Barcelona during feistas.

As the capital of Catalonia, the city has a proud and distinctive culture, language and cuisine, as well as a huge variety of architectural styles – from historic buildings to strikingly modern constructions, and brightly painted Gaudi designs to darkly Gothic styles. If you are planning to stay longer and see more of Spain, car hire is readily available from offices in Barcelona and airports. For more ideas about where to visit in Spain see out other articles tagged Spain here we focus on the city’s attractions and festivals.

Barcelona Sights

Amongst the city’s year-round sights are Las Ramblas, the city’s main tourist thoroughfare; the medieval maze making up the Gothic Quarter; the redeveloped Waterfront; the work of architect Antoni Gaudí (including the immense and unfinished Sagrada Família, Park Güell and Casa Milà); the Picasso Museum; and, for football fans, the FC Barcelona Museum.

Barcelona Festivals

Barcelona also hosts a number of annual fiestas, many of which are unique to Catalonia and offer an insight into its distinctive culture. Here are some highlights from throughout the year:

La Diada de Sant Jordi

23 April 2010

This is a distinctively Catalan day celebrating the city’s patron saint, Sant Jordi (Saint George).

It’s also known as el dia de la rosa (The Day of the Rose) or el dia del llibre (The Day of the Book) since men traditionally give women a rose, and women usually give men a book in tribute to Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright Cervantes, who died on this day in 1616. It’s a bit like Valentine’s Day, and from a traveller’s perspective it’s an interesting time to be around the Ramblas area, where a huge flower market springs up alongside book stalls where locals buy gifts for their loved ones. Catalonia’s national dance, the sardana, is performed throughout the day in the Plaça Sant Jaume, and a variety of street performers and musicians fill the plazas with their live entertainment.

Festival de Sonar

17-19 June 2010

Sonar is a three-day urban festival showcasing advanced music and multimedia art, including emerging artists and DJs representing the most up to date music and new media trends.

The festival takes place on 17-19 June 2010 and is split into ‘Sonar by Day’ activities (in the CCCB and MACBA venues), including technology fairs, and ‘Sonar by Night’ (Fira Gran Via M2 L’Hospitalet), including many music events. You can find out more or buy tickets at http://2010.sonar.es/ (there is an English language choice at the bottom).

Festival de Sant Joan

23 June 2010

This midsummer Solstice festival is a lot of fun, taking place on 23 June mainly around the beach. There are fireworks, bonfires and lots of partying – and you may also find restaurants serving special festival dishes such as Coca de Sant Joan.

Grec Festival de Barcelona

June-August 2010

This three month long music, dance, theatre and circus festival is one of Barcelona’s top events. Held every year between June and August at venues all over the city, the fiesta features a whole host of lively performances.

For further schedule details and tickets visit the official website

Festa Major de Gracia

Around 15 August (TBC)

This week-long annual Catalonian celebration in the second half of August sees Barcelona’s neighbourhoods compete with one another to present the most beautifully-decorated streets. Festooned with lights and elaborate coloured decorations, it’s a great time to explore the city – and there’s also live music, fireworks, all-night parties and lots of drinking.

http://www.festamajordegracia.cat/

Festes de la Merce

22 – 26 September 2010 (TBC)

Barcelona’s biggest annual festival brings together several events including human tower competitions (featuring groups of castellers), firework displays, live music, and processions featuring giant wooden figures. All the festivities are accompanied by plenty of Cava-drinking, celebrating the national drink of Catalonia.

St Patricks Festival Dublin

Dublin has a well-deserved reputation for being a lively, fun-loving city, and it’s a great destination to enjoy a spot of culture and a great deal of craic.

St Patrick’s Day in March sees the city is warming up for its annual festival, when for six days residents and visitors alike enjoy a huge celebration of all things Irish.

Attracting 1.5 million people, Dublin’s St Patrick’s Festival is the highlight in the city’s calendar, and is Ireland’s biggest annual event. It showcases both Ireland and Dublin to the world through music, art exhibitions, film, live comedy, street entertainment and various family events. Around the city you’ll stumble across art installations and spontaneous street theatre in unexpected places. The atmosphere is brilliant, the pubs are overflowing, and there’s something to suit most tastes and age groups. And since most of the fun comes free, you don’t have to spend a fortune once you’ve paid for your travel and hotel room.

If you plan to get out and about during the daytime car hire Dublin is readily available and in less than an hour you can find yourself deep in the lush green countryside that Ireland is famous for.

The festival culminates in a massive Festival Parade on 17 March, St Patrick’s day itself and the final day of the festival. Snaking down O’Connell Street and working its way through the city centre, the parade features marching bands, street theatre troupes, pageants, huge puppetry, dancers and live music.

Visitors are able to fly to Dublin from many regional European city airports – Smart Traveller produced this Dublin Airport Guide – or by ferry from Holyhead and Liverpool.

Carnivals in Alicante

Alicante is a truly Spanish Mediterranean city, with a sunny climate, leafy esplanades, outdoor cafés, a seafront promenade, and a calendar of vibrant fiestas. The city lies right at the heart of the popular Costa Blanca holiday resort region, so most visitors arrive here for its sandy beaches – but since the locals know how to throw a good party, it’s well worth timing your visit to include one of the big annual festivals.

Alicante Carnivals (Carnaval) February

Coming up in February there’s the lively 10-day Carnival, or Carnaval, held every year around Ash Wednesday. In 2010, this free fiesta takes place from 11 – 21 February, with the action centred along the city’s main thoroughfare, the Rambla. Year-round, this is a pleasant avenue for a stroll, lined with palm trees, ice cream shops and outdoor cafés. But during the Carnival the Rambla is a real feast for the eyes, with decorated floats, dancing, and marching bands. One of the highlights is Saturday’s Sábado Ramblero, an elaborate carnival costume parade which takes over the street like a grand masquerade ball.

Burial of the Sardine

On Ash Wednesday itself there’s the ‘Burial of the Sardine’, a bizarre event which involves various Carnival fraternities marching through the city in a Funeral Wake to ‘incinerate’ the sardine.

Las Fallas Valencia – March

If you are visiting this Spanish region later in March it is well worth having car hire Spain arranged to drive to and stay in nearby Vallencia which holds a festival Las Fallas which promises fireworks galore!

Every day at 2pm firecrackers rip through the Plaza del Ayuntamiento in an noisy event called la Mascletá. This concert of gunpowder is very popular and involves different neighbourhood groups competing for the most impressive volley, ending with the terremoto, (literally means “earthquake”) as hundreds of masclets exploting simultaneously. While this may not be for the frail or faint-fainthearted, you understand how hearted, the Valencians got their valiant name.

Alicante Fire Festival (Hogueras de San Juan) June

If you’re planning ahead for a trip later in the year, Alicante is probably even more famous for its annual Fire or Bonfire Festival, known in Spanish as Hogueras de San Juan (Bonfires of St. John). As the name suggests, this spectacular, fire-filled fiesta involves bonfires and fireworks galore. A palm-shaped firework is launched into the sky to mark the beginning of the festival on 20 June, and celebrations continue until 24 June. The fiesta’s highlight is the collection of huge papier-maché and wooden sculptures, similar to the artworks created for Valencia’s Las Fallas festival, which are put on display around the centre – before they are finally burnt to the ground. Eventually the fires die down, but the partying carries on for several days and nights afterwards, along the narrow alleyways of El Barrio and right down to the beaches. Finally, there’s a competition to choose the next Belleza del Fuego (Beauty of the Fire), who is crowned the festival’s ‘Queen’ along with six Ladies of Honour. Other Posts with ideas for visiting Alicante and Costa Blanca

• Tera Mitica Theme Park
• Elche
• Mundomar