barcelona festivals and concerts:

Barcelona is the best city in Europe to party. There are many festivals and concerts in Barcelona:

Festes de la Mercè

The best festival in the city, this is held over a fun-packed
week at the end of September. Gegants and capgrossos
(giants and fatheads) lumber through the streets, firebreathing
dragons charge through packed crowds for
the city’s biggest correfoc (fire-run) and, down on the
beach, there are dazzling nightly firework spectacles. At
the Maremagnum complex overlooking the port, Catalan
wine- and cava-producers set out their stalls – for a
small admission fee, you can try and buy a spectacular
array of local wine and food. As part of the Festes de la
Mercè, the Festa de les Arts a Carrer (Festival of Street
Theatre) keeps the streets humming with activity, and
the BAM (Barcelona Acció Musical) festival puts on
(usually) free outdoor concerts of alternative music.

Festa Major de la Barceloneta:

The delightfully old-fashioned barri of Barceloneta
celebrates its own neighbourhood festival around the
end of September (dates vary) by transforming its
narrow streets into magical stages, hung with bizarre
canopies made of all kinds of unusual junk. The festa is
kicked off with a bang by the lumbering figure of Bum
Bum, who takes to the streets firing a miniature cannon
and scattering sweets. There are live bands and dancing,
a huge paella competition and parades of Catalan
folkloric figures (giants, dragons and fatheads).

International Jazz Festival

Big names from the jazz world converge in Barcelona
for this festival, held throughout November. The city’s
finest venues – including L’Auditori (p97) and the Palau
de la Música Catalana (p92) – host the main events, but
there are scores of concerts across the city and free
performances in the Parc de la Ciutadell.

Fira de Santa Llúcia

The feast day of Santa Llúcia on the 1st of December
marks the official beginning of the Christmas season,
and the start of the Christmas market. The expansive Plaça Nova in front of the Cathedral is crammed with
stalls selling handmade gifts and decorations. Most are
filled with typical figures made for nativity scenes,
including the curious Catalan figure of the cagoner,
who wears a scarlet beret and squats, bottom bared,
with a blissful expression.

Cavalcada de Reis

This is one for the kids: traditionally, the Three Kings
bring gifts for good children on 6 January. Every year on
the evening of 5 January, the Three Kings arrive by boat
in the Port Vell and set off on a parade up Las Ramblas
and around the city, scattering sweets as they go. It’s a
theatrical affair, with live camels and elaborate floats.

Calçotada

Train to Valls (75 mins) from Barcelona Sants
Barcelonins are enthusiastic foodies: bolets (wild
mushrooms) throw them into ecstasies, but the humble
calçot (a cross between a leek and an onion) generates
quasi-religious fervour. Between January and March, city
folk descend on the rural market town of Valls, home of
the calçot, to enjoy the Calçotada. This traditional feast
honours the tasty vegetable, which is roasted until black
(peel off the outer leaves before eating), and served up
in newspaper with a romesco (tomato and garlic) sauce.
The Calçotada has become a fixture at restaurants in
Valls, and the town’s festivities are at their height on the
last Sunday of January.

Carnaval

Carnaval (usually February, but dates vary) is opened by
Sa Magestat Carnestoltes (the Carnival King), followed
by the exuberant Gran Rúa (Grand Parade) with prizes
for the winning float. Typical Catalan sausage butifarra is
handed out, and markets host larderos (“feasts of fatty
foods”). The fun ends on Ash Wednesday, the first day
of Lent, when the effigy of the Carnival King is
ceremonially burnt, and the curious and ancient
ceremony of the Enterrament de la Sardina (Burial of
the Sardine) takes place on the beach. Feb/Mar

 

In conclusion , there are plenty of festivals and concerts in Barcelona all year.