Barcelona's Festes de Gràcia: creating more inclusive local celebrations 

The Barcelona neighborhood of Gràcia will see its streets filled with decorations and celebrations from August 15 to 21 for its local street festivities, known as its 'festa major'. 

This year's program aims to be more inclusive for everyone by adapting activities with a new focus.  

The Festes de Gràcia are the traditional celebrations that take place every August in Barcelona's Gràcia neighborhood, characterized by elaborately decorated and very crowded streets. 

The Festes date back to 1817, when on August 15, the day of the Assumption, a procession was held in honor of the Virgin Mary. Locals decorated streets and balconies to look like ballrooms, and in time, the celebrations became more festive than religious. 

A so-called ‘party committee' was founded in 1956 to coordinate all the celebrations and events taking place on each street. 

One of the most eye-catching characteristics of the festival is the decorations on the streets, 'guarnits' in Catalan. This year there will be 23 streets with decorations, all created by the residents of each street out of recycled materials and each with a different theme. 

"A walk through the ocean," an homage to Joan Miró, and Japan are among the themes for decorations this year.  

On Carrer Progrés, the winners of last year's competition, the theme is focused on the history of videogames.

Laia, a resident of Carrer Tordera, explained to the Catalan News Agency that the decorations have been in the works for a long time now and have come together thanks to the "support of everyone and their talent, regardless of their age." 

Residents of each street work began working on the decorations months ago, something which helps to build a "sense of community," says Marta Soteras, one of the residents at the street Fraternitat de Baix. This street will focus its decorations on paper sculptures. 

Building a celebration for everyone 

The local celebrations in Gràcia have seen controversy in the past years due to the increasing numbers of tourists that visit, while locals protest that there are fewer spaces for them in their own neighborhood.  

In the past summers, various graffiti reading "Tourist Go Home" and "Let's defend de celebrations, Attack the tourists" have appeared.

In addition, the noisy, and sometimes restless, nights have also been a recurring complaint from some. 

That is why this year there will be a "quiet night" on August 18, an initiative promoted by the city council to promote better coexistence with locals. 

All the streets have agreed on this day to "lower the volume" of the activities, but it will not be completely silent. 

The aim is for people who don’t usually participate in activities to take part. The council is also promoting more inclusive activities for vulnerable communities to get involved. 

That is why every morning there will be adapted visits around the decorated streets for people with high sensitivity and reduced mobility. 

In addition, there will be no fire-based activities as local associations have not come to an agreement. 

One of the local associations of the neighborhood decided to leave the cultural coordination group earlier in January due to discrepancies.  

There has been no agreement despite a mediation process, therefore the council has not given the authorization for fire activities to be performed.