The La Mercè Festival

The La Mercè Festival is definitely the biggest annual event in Barcelona's calendar.  The festival is a celebration for the people of Barcelona and it´s visitors, held in honour of Mare de Deu de la Merce, the Patron Saint of Barcelona. There are over 500 activities, including parades, gegants (giants), concerts, free music, cava fairs, the run of fire (correfoc) and nightly beach firework displays.

The Correfoc or Run of Fire is one of the most spectacular events you will see anywhere in the World.  It really is a must see.  Dragons, devils, fireworks intermingle for a truly spectacular event in which the spectators can become fully emerged if they wish.  See the link beow for more details.

The activities are part of the Festival of Music (BAM), Festival of Tradition, Festival of Fire and the Festival of the Sky which take parts on the following Sunday.

And WHAT celebrations.  The atmosphere builds in the weeks leading up to the celebration.  During the week of La Mercé there is a Cava Fair where you can try dozens of different types of Cava.  Some people who have never been to the fair may call Cava a poor man´s champagne but it is NOT. This fair will allow you to taste and enjoy this wonderful drink which is a much lighter drink than Champagne and much better priced.  Indeed, the Spanish and Catalans would say that Champagne is just hype - nothing much more than bubbles really.

Castellers are human pyramids and if you want to see truly heart stopping entertainment make sure you catch the Castellers (link below). Also prominant are Giants and Big Heads "gigantes y cabezudos" (Spanish) meaning "giants and big heads" & "gegants i capgrossos" (Catalan).  Giants are hollow figures made out of papier-maché and are 3-4m tall. They are heavy and so need to be carried through the streets by big strong men. The "capgrossos" are figures with huge heads. The person (often a child) who wears this "capgrosso" can see by looking out through the mouth opening. Gegants and capgrossos are seen at Spanish & Catalan festivals in the opening parade around the town or village-"cercavila"

But this is only some of the activities.  Find out more about some of these annual activities & see photos by clicking on the following links: