A “MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM” IN BARCELONA
Barcelona wants to attract travellers by promoting its festivals and summer night-time events. Culture and conviviality are at the heart of the city’s post-Covid tourism revival. Eclecticism is what Barcelona summer is all about!
Barcelona is one of the most desirable cultural destination in Europe. While restrictions still continue to partially affect the Catalan metropolis due to the continuous presence of the Covid virus, many steps have been taken by authorities since the middle of June to improve the situation. On June 14, Catalonia’s regional government published new rules affecting the tourism sector:
- Restaurants and bars are open to 50% capacity inside and 100% outside.
- Professional events: allowed at 70% of their capacity
- Culture: 70% of capacity in museums, exhibition centres, cinemas and concert halls until 23 h
- Nightlife: 50% of capacity until 3:30 am
- Amusement parks: 50% of capacity
According to Barcelona Turisme, the official tourism authority, close to 89% of Barcelona’s cultural facilities are already open. Some 41 professional events are already confirmed for this year.
Barcelona has published a calendar of events – Festivals and “Summer Nights” which will turn the Catalan capital into a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” for travellers. The city officially has 21 events and festivals planned. Called “Nits d’Estiu”, they transform most evenings into special cultural and gastronomic activities held at venues around the city. Many spaces, contemporary or heritage ones, such as La Pedrera and Casa Batlló, host concerts, suppers, drinks and audiovisual shows. In turn, several cultural venues, including Poble Espanyol, CaixaForum and El Born Centre de Cultura i Memoria, open late at least one night a week, allowing visitors to enjoy their exhibitions and special activities away from the daytime crowds and heat.
Jazz, wines, science fiction movies, Bach or jazz: the choice is huge
Any traveller is likely to find an event to enjoy. Young or curious visitors will certainly love the CanetRock 21, which promotes rock bands from Catalonia; another exceptional event is the transformation of the emblematic Montjuïc Castle in a giant open-air cinema. Hosted already there for a few years, the festival “Sala Montjuic” is now a classic for Barcelona summer evenings. An other original film festival is Cosmonits, a programme dedicated to science-fi at CosmoCaixa.
Fans of art nouveau — and Barcelona has a lot of houses from that time — will enjoy visiting a themed evening at Casa Amatller until September. Modernist evenings give an opportunity to meet the inhabitants of this architectural gem of Puig i Cadafalch.
A bit of climbing will be necessary to enjoy the nights of La Pedrera Jazz. The spectacular experience takes visitors for a live jazz session on the roof terrace of another Art Nouveau house built by star architect Antonio Gaudi. Access will include a free visit to the roof, the attic and the terrace, an emblematic, evocative place that invites you to experience the architecture, the night, the city panorama and the music. The Pedrera is also home to tasting evening of Catalan wines. Another Gaudi House, the Casa Batlló, has its terrace also turned into a stage for live music.
For visitors keener for classical music, the first week of July welcomes the “Bachcelona Festival”, celebrating the German musician; while eclectic pop music concerts will find its stage at the “Nits del Fòrum” program. These concerts have numbered tickets and seating, and take place in August and September. Other music events include the Cruïlla/Cruïlla XXS Festival, Barcelona’s open-air music festival held in July.
And finally, what would Barcelona summer nights be without the very popular and traditional Gracia festival? Taking place between August 15 and 22, the venue at Gracia district sees streets competing between each other for their decorations, while music and dance performances as well as typical and delectable local gastronomy are on offer.
