Barcelona Christmas Festival announces program full of music, dance, and circus

The Barcelona Christmas Festival starts on December 20 and will consist of more than 300 performances. 

The program includes music, theatre, dance and circus throughout 11 days. 

Plaça Catalunya will become a stage for the performing arts, hosting 25 different shows, 13 of which will be premiered in Barcelona. 

On two nights the festival will reach the streets of other neighbourhoods, as the group Sound de Secà will play in Nou Barris, Sant-Andreu and Sants-Montjuic. 

"As always, we want it to be multidisciplinary, eclectic, and for the festival to reach all audiences and ages," Anna Lleó, head of festivals at the Barcelona Institute of Culture said. 

The festival will be divided into four different sections: family mornings, circus and dance afternoons, concert evenings, and show nights. 

In the mornings, four small pieces forming one show called 'Christmas Seasons' will be showcased, representing different visions of Christmas.  

The afternoons will combine circus and dance shows from 5pm onwards. This section will feature international artists such as Luuk Brantjes as well as Catalan companies such as Bucraá circus. 

The musical evenings will cover diverse genres from traditional songs, to groove and jazz. Among the artists playing are Alidé Sans and Sergi Carbonell.  

At night, the festival will put on bigger shows, such as 'Natal' by Animal Religion. This show, which deals with friends remembering their past, will mix acrobatics performances, dance, and electronic music. 

The stage design and decorations of the festival this year were designed by Carles Piera who chose to include many windows in his conception to symbolize openness to the world.  

These windows "serve to let people look inside, but also to observe what is outside, which in this case will be theatre," he explained during the festival's presentation.