This year’s ‘Grec ‘Festival offers 68 plays, dancing, music and circus performances from July 1st to the 31st, 30 of them from international artists. Ramón Simó, the new director of the event, considers that this year’s Grec is more international, contemporany and multidisciplinary than ever before and its objective is to bring to Barcelona the best shows from Europe and the world.
Lana del Rey, New Order and The Roots star at the three day advanced music festival attended by almost 100,000 people. Visitors from 80 different countries filled the festival with a thousand different colours as Sónar Barcelona was the culmination of the Festival's travels for this year, which have taken it to Sao Paulo, Tokyo and Cape Town.
Sónar 2012 electronic music festival is underway and Barcelona’s CosmoCaixa has invited its visitors to hear the sounds of meteorology at the ‘METEOlab’ exhibition. It is a selection of works by some of the most prominent artists in the field of audible and multimedia contemporary creation, such as Thomas Köner, Chris Watson and Geir Jenssen, all inspired in meteorology and climatic phenomenology.
50 balloons from across Europe will participate in the festival’s next edition, which is held from July 4th to 8th, in the town of Igualada, in the centre of Catalonia. Besides, the European Balloon Festival has renewed its logo after sixteen years and the organisation has created a new website where Facebook and Twitter are linked directly to facilitate interaction between the event and the public.
The festival offers more than 150 proposals in its program, including music, exhibitions, screenings and activities for professionals based around the technology applied to artistic creation. For three days, from June 14th to the 16th, Sonar brings electronic rhythms to Barcelona. This year, the MACBA square, in the centre of Barcelona, will be the venue for Festival’s day programme while the Fira Gran Via, at l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, will be the night venue.
The Enramades of Arbúcies, a small town near Girona, is one of the oldest traditional celebrations in Catalonia. Each year this event takes place from June 7th to 13th. However, the most spectacular day is the ‘street flower carpet’ championship, which took place last Sunday. The neighbours from each street (including children, youngsters, adults and elders) all work together in this process.
La Patum is a historical and immensely popular representation, born and derived from the ancient and medieval theatre performances held during the week of Corpus Christi. It is held in Berga, in Central Catalonia and it has been declared by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. 100,000 people expected at Berga for this Corpus Christi Festival.
Band such as The Cure, Franz Ferdinand, Wilco, Beirut, Saint Étienne or The XX play in a consolidated music festival with the Mediterranean as a backdrop. The most international music festival in Catalonia came to an end this weekend after three days and nights at the Parc del Fòrum, in front of the Mediterranean sea, as well as in other spots in Barcelona. The Primavera Sound Festival has in fact been active since May 8th with the culmination taking place this weekend when a solid roster of successful bands came to perform in Barcelona.
The family version of the Sónar music festival will take place this year in El Port de la Selva, 170 km north of Barcelona on the 26th and 27th May. In this fourth edition, the audience will be able to enjoy the music of Miqui Puig, the Pioneer Dj Kids and Barbara i els Morenos, among others.
From May 17th to June 2nd video art invades over 150 spaces in Barcelona during the 10th edition of the Loop Fair and the Screen Festival. The first showcases the latest ideas in International video art. The second, Screen, offers close contact with audiovisual creative practices including the brightest ideas and latest developments, all in very different places. Moreover, this year’s new addition is the first ever Screen Forum Pro, an International Symposium under the slogan: “What about production?” The annual video art festival attracts numerous professionals from the world of art, including representatives of leading museums, artists and galleries worldwide, as well as an audience eager to discover the latest trends in video art.
National Geographic chose Girona and the flower exhibition as one of the best world destinations for this spring. Thousands of visitors visited the city these days enjoying floral exhibitions and other art works. ‘Girona, Temps de flors’ has increased its exhibitions from 27 to 32 and its historic patios from 82 to 85.
From May 17th to 27th, the 14th edition of 'Tarraco Viva' will be held in Tarragona. Last year, over 82,000 people visited this festival, an increase of 186% compared to 2007. 'Tarraco Viva' is a festival which takes over the Roman city, allowing the audience to witness many historical recreations and performances that allow them to imagine how people lived 2,000 years ago.
The New Open Scenes Festival celebrated contemporary performing arts created in Catalonia. Over five days, NEO opened up new artistic experiences at different theatres in the Catalan capital and presented 15 different theatrical proposals of emergent artists established in Barcelona.
The Icelandic singer had cancelled her Saturday concert due to health reasons. Björk headlined Saturday’s programme, and the organisation offered the return of the tickets for that day to those requesting it. This year’s Primavera Sound Festival has showcases starting on Monday May 28th and outdoor concerts starting on Wednesday at the Arc de Triomf venue. However, the core festival, being held at the Forum, kicks off on Thursday May 31st and runs until Saturday June 2nd.
The Girona A Capella Festival, held this year for the first time, wants to become “a reference in Southern Europe”. The new music festival will be held from May 12th to May 19th. The largest part of the program will take place during the first weekend of the floral exhibition, when it will combine performances in enclosed theaters and outdoors making the Mercat del Lleó a performance space.