Sants builds excitement for its ‘festa major’ with no pandemic restrictions

The Barcelona neighborhood of Sants is building excitement for its ‘festa major,’ featuring the iconic decorated streets similar to Gràcia’s, and a full programme free of pandemic restrictions.

On Thursday, residents of the neighborhood will finish decorating the streets 48 hours before the start of the ‘festa major’. 

This year’s celebration is one of the most anticipated, after last year the party was reduced from 8 to 5 days due to the pandemic, and the canceled edition in 2020. 

"There is no pandemic and people want to go out and party," says José Antonio Moreno, a neighbor of Carrer d'Alcolea. 

There is some nervousness, however, about the possibility of rain. Heavy showers on Wednesday damaged some of the decorations on the streets such as the plastic and paper beams on Calle Alcolea. 

The Festa Major starts this Saturday afternoon with the dances and performances of the popular culture gangs and a proclamation by the computer scientist Elies Campo. The neighborhood party will last from August 20-28.