Les Corts Festa Major

Hi everyone!
As I said in class, there's another festival starting this weekend. You need to make your way down to the Plaça Concòrdia, Les Corts (Les Corts metro), which is the centre of most of the activities.

It kicks off on Saturday 2nd October at 17.00 with a Trobada de Gegants i Bestiari. That's the big heads, giants and beasts I told you about. A very colourful procession.

At 20.15 on Saturday, there's a cake tasting in the cultural Centre, Can Deu (in the Plaça Concòrdia), and then the Correfoc (literally running fire) - if you want to take part, and dance with the devils, be sure to wear something on your head so your hair doesn't catch fire! Have fun and maybe see you there!

Graham

Hi

Just trying out!!!

La Mercè 2004

La Mercè is Barcelona's annual city festival, its feste major. Every year, the people of Barcelona celebrate with music and dance, theatre and tradition, street parties and fireworks.
The main activites take place from 21st to the 26th September, but there are things to see from the 21st, and until the weekend after (1st, 2nd October)

You can find the programme on the web in English at the Ajuntament de Barcelona website.

There are hundreds of things going on, but you should at least try and see these traditional activites:

• Parade of monsters and giants - Thursday 23rd 19.00 (Rambles, Liceu metro)
• Castells (human castles/towers) - Friday 24th 12.30 (Plaça Sant Jaume, Jaume I metro)
• The Correfoc (literally 'running fire', a spectacular fireworks parade featuring demons (els diables) and fire-breathing dragons) - Saturday 25th 20.15 (Plaça Sant Jaume, Jaume I metro) (...click here for more details)
• Festa al cel , the sky festival, with kites, balloons, and other aerostatic activities. (beach areas, Ciutadella and Vila Olimpica metro stations)
• The Pyromusical : the closing ceremony of the festival (and this year, of the Barcelona Forum too), featuring a grand fireworks display set to music. Sunday 26th 21.30 (beaches of Bogatell, Poblenou metro). You can also see firework displays from 23rd to 25th on Barceloneta beach (metro Barceloneta) at the International Pyrotechnic Festival.

You can also see a wide variety of musical performances: The BAM (Barcelona Acció Musical) festival normally features a wide selection of local, national, and international stars of pop, rock, hip-hop, funk, techno, etc. This year there are more local performers (probably due to the exceptional variety of music on offer at the Forum during the summer). There is a more detailed programme of music here (in Spanish)

On the actual holiday, the 24th September, a lot of the city's museums are free to visit.

Have fun!