Barcelona’s Festa Major de Sants: streets filled with color, music, food and fun

As summer comes to its end and those who have been on holiday begrudgingly return to their usual work routines, Barcelona’s Sants neighborhood holds onto a few last days of fun in the form of the Festa Major de Sants community street festival.

Held in honor of the former village’s patron saint, Saint Bartholomew, the annual celebration takes place from August 24 to September 1, shortly after the more well-known neighborhood festivities take place in Gràcia.

Not to be eclipsed by Gràcia’s fame, Sants’ ‘festes’ also come with a number of activities including concerts, guided tours, community meals, traditional human towers or even circus acts that are open to all.

One of the highlights is that residents decorate many of the neighborhood’s streets, each according to a theme, from the movies to the liberation of Paris or fantasy escape rooms, turning a stroll through Sants into an adventure through its residents’ creative imaginations.

Like many other districts, Sants has openly declared itself to be against sexist behavior, and in an attempt to prevent violence against women, it has hired a group of people trained in how to intervene in the event of sexual violence to wander the streets at night and assist those in need as well as created a specialized assistance point. This comes after the outrage following the multiple reported assaults that took place during Gràcia’s festivities.

More positively, however, Sants’ ‘festa major’ is an opportunity to bring the community together as a whole to celebrate, and both young and old make this neighborhood’s party possible.

With only a few days of celebrations left, be sure to join the fun before it’s over!