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FiraTàrrega and Catalan performing arts back to

June 29, 2015 09:47 PM | ACN

FiraTàrrega, an international event for the performing arts held in Lleida, and the Catalan performing arts scene in general are considered "very inspiring" by British art professionals. On Sunday, they were both back at the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) in London, the UK capital’s leading event of free outdoor performing arts. In particular, five Catalan performing art companies and Mike Ribalta (FiraTàrrega's Head of professionals dept.) participated in the GDIF 2015 Showcase, a meeting of international programmers, in order to present their new projects and seek partnerships. This year, the British festival also has two Catalan productions in its programme: Toc de fusta and Brodas Bros.

Primavera Sound is back with an impressive line-up and more than 190,000 fans expected in Barcelona

May 28, 2015 11:43 PM | ACN

In 15 years, Primavera Sound has established itself as the most international musical festival in Southern Europe and a global point of reference in the realm of urban music events, particularly among indie and pop fans. With more than 190,000 festival-goers expected this year, the core of the show takes place in Barcelona's Fòrum Park - an enormous setup by the sea - from Thursday the 28th to Saturday the 30th of May. During this 3-day-session, a total of 193 concerts will be held, with international artists performing non-stop from the afternoon (around 5 p.m.) until the next morning. The 2015 line-up looks once again to be pretty spectacular: The Black Keys, Interpol, The Replacements, alt-J, Underworld, Damien Rice, Belle & Sebastian, The Strokes, Patti Smith, Tori Amos, Antony and the Johnsons, Ride, Caribou and many (many) others will be playing on the 8 main stages of the festival. 49 concerts can be followed in high definition streaming on both the web and via the festival’s official app.

Girona turns into Catalan Capital of spring as 60th edition of 'Temps de Flors' flower festival kicks off

May 11, 2015 11:00 PM | ACN / Valentina Marconi

The 60th edition of the 'Girona, Temps de Flors' flower festival kicked off on Saturday and will run until the 17th of May. For the event, around 1,000 students, volunteers, designers and florists have come together, working on 164 flower installations, distributed over 134 spaces all around the city. The festival is expected to attract more than 200,000 visitors, providing the city with a true international dimension. Two official itineraries have been set up, allowing tourists to walk around discovering many of Girona's magical corners. According to event organisers, the top 10 sites not to be missed are: the Funeral Chapel of Sant Nicolau, the Basilica of Sant Feliu, Jurats Square, the Arab Baths, the Girona's iconic Cathedral, the Church of Sant Lluc, the building of Sarraïnes, Rabbin House Lleó Avinay, Els Alemanys Gardens and the Church of Sant Martí. This year, the Festival's budget amounted to €400,000.

Sant Jordi 2015: the sun shines as loved ones exchange roses and books

April 23, 2015 08:53 PM | Shobha Prabhu-Naik Garaialde

Like in 11 other countries around the world, Catalans celebrate their national patron saint, St. George the dragon-slayer, on the 23rd of April every year. In Catalonia, however, rather than an occasion entrenched in patriotism, Sant Jordi is revered as the lovers' day and the book's day, on which loved ones demonstrate their affection for one another with the exchange of roses and books. The sun is shining and the buzzing atmosphere that fills the streets means that just walking along Les Rambles is enough of an adventure on a Sant Jordi Day such as this one. Rose sales have exceeded those of last year by 7%. The best-selling books this year have been 'Algú com tu' by Xavier Bosch (fiction) and 'És l'hora del adéus' by Xavier Sala i Martín (non-fiction) in Catalan and 'Destino, la Templanza' by María Dueñas (fiction) and 'MasterChef. Grandes platos para todos los días' by Jordi Cruz (non-fiction) in Spanish. In total, 1.5 million books will have been sold by the end of the day.

Catalans celebrate Sant Jordi Day by exchanging roses and books with their loved ones

April 22, 2015 10:38 PM | ACN

On the 23rd of April, Catalans celebrate the day of their patron saint, Jordi (Saint George). The day is Catalonia's equivalent to Valentine's Day in the Anglo-Saxon world but it is also a day that pays homage to worldwide literature and reading. Men and women offer books and roses to those they love: relatives, friends, work colleagues and particularly to lovers and partners. Every year introduces twists to the tradition with 2015 presenting the 'TecnoRose' amongst other innovative designs. In addition, many authors spend the day touring around to give readers signed copies of their books. The amount of books sold this year is expected to follow the success and exceed the sales of 2014. 'El món blau. Estima el teu caos' by Albert Espinosa and 'La templanza' by Maria Dueñas are predicted to be among the bestsellers.

New York's SummerStage festival to showcase Catalan musicians for 2nd year in a row

April 10, 2015 08:59 PM | ACN

This year, bands Oques Grasses and La iaia, singer-songwriter Sílvia Pérez Cruz and DJ Guillamino will perform in Central Park. The New York SummerStage Festival will present the 2nd edition of 'Catalan Sounds on Tour' on 28 June, a Sunday afternoon of Catalan music at this internationally-renown festival. More than 5,000 people are expected to attend, with the event being free and running from 2.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. The initiative is the result of a partnership between the Institut Ramon Llull (a public body for the promotion of Catalan language and cultural production abroad) and the SummerStage Festival. Its purpose is to bring Catalan music to international audiences.

Onions on fire: the internationalisation of ‘calçots’

March 9, 2015 09:01 PM | Alba Barrionuevo / Clàudia C. Salellas

The 'calçot' - a type of long white spring onion - is a traditional food in Catalonia, a delicacy from the winter months, eaten with its own sauce. In Valls, the cradle of 'calçots', local and international chefs meet to create new dishes with this ingredient. The 'calçots' season, which starts in November and lasts until April, officially begins during the last weekend of January, when Valls celebrates its ‘Gran Festa de la Calçotada’. This party, which attracts thousands of people and media from around the world, is one of the most important Catalan gastronomic events. But why is Valls the capital of 'calçotades'? What is the correct way to cook 'calçots' and its sauce like a professional, and why is this event becoming so international?

Colourful Chinese New Year parade in Barcelona joined by Catalan cultural groups

February 23, 2015 05:27 PM | ACN / Marina Force Castells / Alice Ng

The Chinese community welcomed the 'Year of the Goat' last week. The biggest New Year festivity took place this Saturday, when a parade of a thousand people filled the Barcelona streets with a trail of red dancing dragons and lions. This is the second year that Chinese organisations and Catalan folklore groups, such as Catalonia's traditional human tower builders (‘castellers’) and the traditional giant figures representing kings, knights and princesses called ‘gegants’, joined together to celebrate Chinese New Year. Almost 10,000 spectators lined the parade route through the streets of the Eixample district in the centre of the city. Barcelona has 17,400 Chinese inhabitants, the third largest foreign population, after the Pakistani and the Italian communities; however a great number of Chinese people live in the surrounding towns of Greater Barcelona.  

Sitges Carnival comes to a close after playing host to 300,000 visitors during its last parade

February 18, 2015 09:36 PM | Amélie Martinez

Last night, the coastal town of Sitges located about 35 kilometres south of Barcelona, brought to a close its famous carnival. This event, known for its extravagance and huge number of visitors, is especially popular among the gay community. For a full week, the whole city is dedicated to the celebration of Carnival, dressing up and organising activities for both children and adults. Sunday and Tuesday’s parades filled Sitges’ streets with tens of thousands of visitors.No less than 1,000 police officers were mobilised for the event, as were fire fighters and health personnel. 38 extra trains and 45,000 additional seats were provided to help visitors attend the event. The Carnival finishes this Wednesday with the traditional ‘burial of the sardines’.

Carnival arrives and many Catalan towns launch the largest street party of the year

February 13, 2015 03:56 PM | ACN / Marina Force Castells

Carnival time is here and Catalonia is ready to let its hair down. From the 12th to the 18th of February many Catalan cities and towns will be submerged in an explosion of colour: ‘Carnestoltes’. The origin of this eagerly awaited tradition goes back to the early Middle Ages, when Christians enjoyed a few days of debauchery leading up to Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and pious behaviour. Despite conflicting views about the etymology of the word ‘Carnestoltes’, credit usually goes to the Latin form ‘carns toldrem’ (‘farewell to flesh’). One of the biggest carnivals in Catalonia is held in Sitges, a coastal town with about 30,000 inhabitants 30km south of Barcelona, which expects nearly 300,000 visitors during the parades next Sunday and Tuesday.

The ‘Tres Tombs’, tradition when horses and carriages take to the streets of Catalan cities

January 19, 2015 07:08 PM | Pau Rodríguez

On 17th of January, horses, ponies and donkeys, along with carriages, take to the streets of many cities in Catalonia to celebrate the ‘Tres Tombs’ parade (which would read as ‘Three Laps’). This tradition is in honor of Saint Anthony Abad, the patron saint of animals. Vilanovai la Geltrú, a coastal town 50km south of Barcelona, is one of the places where this festivity is lived to the fullest by local citizens. Year after year it plays host to the biggest ‘Tres Tombs’ parade in Catalonia. This year, nearly 100 carriages and over 300 horses, ponies and donkeys from all over Catalonia showed up at Vilanova on a sunny winter day and paraded through the packed streets of the city.

Catalan Christmas: Cava and Kings, where children get to beat a log until it poos out their presents!

December 24, 2014 03:22 PM | Nell English

Logs that poo presents, men with 365 noses, and cakes with hidden surprises, Christmas in Catalonia has many of its own unique traditions. These include 'Caga Tió' - a log that brings edible goodies  to children; live nativity scenes featuring 'El Caganer' - a humorous hidden figure to bring good luck, and 'El Tortell de Reis' a cake that can turn you into a King. While the Santa-led celebration on the 25th is becoming increasingly important due to marketing and globalisation, in Catalonia traditionally the biggest day (when children receive presents) is the 6th of January, which is the 'Dia de Reis' (Day of the Kings), when kids wake up and discover presents brought by the Three Wise Men. The night before, the Three Kings parade around the main cities and towns, forming a big colourful and festive procession.

Tourism boom in Barcelona: strengthening the economy or troubling local residents?

October 7, 2014 03:29 PM | Neringa Sinkeviciute

Barcelona is the 4th most visited city in Europe and the 16th in the world, welcoming 8 million tourists each year. It is acknowledged to be Spain's industrial hub where international trade fairs and conferences are being held. In addition, it is one of the top destinations among Erasmus students and the main cruise ship harbour in Europe. However, thanks to cheap airlines, Barcelona has also developed a reputation for low-cost tourism that often focuses on holidays of beach, booze and partying. On the one hand, this shows the young and fun atmosphere of the city and contributes significantly to the economy. On the other hand, according to locals, the so-called ''drunken tourism'' tarnishes Barcelona's reputation and has negative impacts. The City Council aims to control this kind of tourism and is currently attempting to introduce stricter regulations for holiday rent apartments. It has already banned land-based bar crawls around the city and wants to ensure the legality of alcohol-based boat trips as it does not have control over the city's waters.  

Solsona’s International Music Academy welcomes 65 young talents from 20 different nationalities

August 12, 2014 08:52 PM | ACN / Neringa Sinkeviciute

Solsona's International Music Academy (AIMS) is a high level international project, which is also the first and only pedagogical music festival in Catalonia. It was created by the German cellist Peter Thiemann in order to bring together classical music students and professors of acknowledged international prestige who play in Europe's main orchestras. It is an intensive education project which takes place in a beautiful rural environment in Solsona, a town near the Pyrenees in Central Catalonia. This year, the 13th edition of the AIMS festival is held from the 6th to the 17th of August, and includes the participation of 65 students from 20 different nationalities. 30 concerts have been scheduled in ten municipalities of Western and Central Catalonia.

Barcelona's Circuit gay and lesbian festival to exceed last year's 71,000 participants

August 7, 2014 09:00 PM | ACN

From the 6th-17th August, Barcelona hosts the 7th edition of Circuit Festival, an international event directed towards gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people. The aim of this edition is to promote the festival as an "international meeting point", since 80% of last year's 71,000 participants came from abroad. Furthermore, Barcelona will profit from the €100 million that Circuit attendees bring to the local economy.  The organisers of the festival have prepared more than 50 events for its audiences to enjoy. The main party will take place on Tuesday 12th August at the Illa Fantasia waterpark in Vilassar de Dalt, a town around 20km north of Barcelona city.Both the event's organisers and local hotel owners expect even more attendees at the festival this year.