What to do for Barcelona's La Mercè festival 2024

Barcelona's largest public street festival kicks off this Friday with a program full of activities.

From September 20 to 24, La Mercè will take over the Catalan capital, filling its streets and squares with music, art, performances and joy.

In just four days, there will be 130 concerts, 54 popular culture performances and 80 street shows in around 20 venues.

If you walk through almost any corner of Barcelona during these days, you are likely to stumble upon a concert, puppet show, parade, theater performance, and much more. And the best part is that it's all completely free.

Each year, a different city from around the world is chosen to share the festivities with Barcelona, and this year's partner is Casablanca. Artists from Morocco will take part in various activities throughout the weekend.

Illustrator Carme Solé Vendrell will be present to kick off the festivities on the opening day, Friday, September 20. From then on, the party will go on for four days.

Here's how to get the most out of La Mercè, Catalonia's biggest 'festa major.'

Popular culture 

No 'festa major' in Catalonia is complete without the traditional 'correfoc' - the 'fire run' with devil costumes and lots of pyrotechnics and firecrackers.  

This year, the traditional 'correfoc' will take place on Saturday at 8:30pm on the iconic Passeig de Gràcia boulevard. 

The traditional 'gegants', literally 'giants' in Caalan, as well as various mythical beasts will also be present in many places and days as they celebrate their 600th anniversary.

‘Castellers’ – traditional human towers – also take pride of place at La Mercè, with Saturday and Sunday reserved for special activities.

Saturday afternoon will see different groups from various neighborhoods hold ‘casteller’ meetings, while Plaça Sant Jaume at 12 noon on Sunday will see a convergence of many. 

Lastly, the fireworks are back with a bang. The popular 'Piromusical', a special fireworks show set to music, rounds out the festival on Tuesday night at 10pm.

This year's Piromusical will be built around selection of songs chosen by singer Rosalía. 

The best place to watch the fireworks is the area around Plaça Espanya and the road leading to the MNAC, Avinguda Maria Cristina.

Music 

Concerts are a central part of the Mercè celebrations. Around 130 different groups will perform over the four days, most of them from Catalonia, but also from other parts of the world.   

Fourteen stages are set up around the city to enjoy the performances, with some iconic spaces chosen to be part of the festival.   

The venues where you can enjoy the concerts are Plaça Catalunya, Teatre Grec, Jardins del Doctor Pla i Armengol, Rambla del Raval, Avinguda de la Catedral, Avinguda Maria Cristina, Antigua Fàbrica Estrella Damm, Bogatell Beach, Plaça Major de Nou Barris, Fabra i Coats, Ronda Sant Antoni and Zona Universitària. 

Among this year's highlights are Oques Grasses, one of the most successful Catalan bands, and Figa Flawas, one of the most exciting new urban pop groups. Both will perform on Friday evening on the beach stage in Bogatell.

Other headliners include Maria Jaume, Mama Dousha, Sexenni, Guillem Roma, Los Ganglios, Ginestà, Buhos, Stay Homas and Els Catarres, among many others.

One of the musical highlights will be the concert by the Maalem Hassan Boussou and Raúl Rodríguez Ensemble, specially produced for La Mercè, in which the rhythms of qraqebs and guembri will blend with the chords of flamenco and Iberian percussion.

It will take place on Saturday at 10pm at Avinguda de la Catedral in the Gothic quarter. 

You can find more information about all the concerts and activities here.