One of the best things about living in or visiting Barcelona is that the city is always full of life. No matter if you come in March, July or October, there is always something festive going on somewhere in the city!
Each year there are 65 festa majors in various areas of Barcelona. All these neighborhood festivals are organized by the residents with the goal of bringing the neighbors closer together with several hundreds of organized activities and festive events.
The first festa major of the year is held in January in the neighborhood Sant Antoni and the last one is held from the end of November until the beginning of December in Sant Andreu.
Although there are many great street festivals to choose from, the colorful Festa Major de Gràcia is the most popular of them all, with over half a million visitors each year!
What is Festa Major de Gràcia?
Festa Major de Gràcia is a free street festival that anyone is welcome to join.
Every year the residents of each street participate in a decorating contest with different themes and styles, and the quality of the home made decorations are always incredibly high. About 18 streets and squares around Gràcia will be decorated and the residents spend hours, if not days, transforming the streets until they become own fantasy-like worlds to get mesmerized by.
Decorations and activities at Festa Major de Gràcia
During this festive week the residents also organize a ton of workshops, concerts, family friendly activities and competitions. Many of these activities are only available for the residents, but out of the 500 activities that are organized, a whole bunch will be free for visitors to enjoy, like the concerts and parades for example.
Catalan Correfoc
Correfoc is one of the most popular traditions of every festival all over Catalonia, including Festa Major de Gràcia. Correfoc means firerun in Catalan and consists of dozens of people dressed as devils that will take huge papier-mâché dragons out and parade them around the streets whilst dancing around to loud drums and throwing fire sparks in the air. The drummers of Correfoc also have their own parade called Tabalada Infernal.
Tip! If you plan on watching the Correfoc then a strong recomendation is to bring earplugs! The explosions of the fireworks are going to echo off the narrow streets and might hurt your ears.
Long tables will be filled with local residents enjoying their meals. Even though you might not get a seat, you can still purchase food from different culinary tents set up along the streets of Gràcia during this festival. Most dishes will cost between 2-5€.
The week long festival is genuine, fun and creative and most definitely worth a visit!
Quick facts about Festa Major de Gràcia
When
15 – 21 August 2017
The 15th of August is a public holiday in Spain called Assumption Day and Festa Major de Gracia always takes place from the 15th until the 21th of August.
Where
The festival will take place on the streets and squares in Gracia, located about 20 minutes walk from the city center.
Metro stations
Lesseps, Fontana, Diagonal (L3) or Joanic (L4)
Opening hours
Sunday to Thursday until 02:00
Friday and Saturday until 03:30
Price
Free entry
Web
www.festamajordegracia.cat
This article will be updated with more info and content after this years Festa Major de Gràcia.
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