Festa Major

Every August an explosion of noise, colour and general party-time hits Gràcia as the Festa Major returns for a week of live music, theatre, fireworks, and most importantly street decorations.

The ´Festa Major de Gràcia´ is the largest of the city´s neighbourhood festivals and is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the Barcelona summer calendar. Gràcia´s narrow streets and plazas become jam-packed with people - dancing, drinking and mostly gazing upwards at the remarkable selection of street decorations hanging above their heads.

In an admirable display of community spirit, each year during the Festa Major the residents of Gràcia join forces with their neighbours to decorate the area they live in. Each street then competes against each other in a bid to be crowned the best decorated street in Gràcia.

Make no mistake, this is a bit more than some papier-mâché and a bit of bunting – the residents take this very seriously and the results can be truly spectacular. Once you´ve started to develop a neck ache from all the staring above, we suggest you head to the closest square, grab yourself a beer and dance the night away into the early hours.

Another highlight of Festa Major (as in most Catalan festivals) is the ´correfoc´. Translated as ´Fire-run´ - the correfoc basically involves a group of people dressed as devils and dragons running around the streets waving fireworks above their heads. It’s a health and safety nightmare but a wonderful Catalan tradition! Not to be missed.

• Official website (only available in Catalan): http://www.festamajordegracia.cat/
• A little tip: Fontana Metro stop can get very busy during Festa Major so we recommend trying Diagonal or Joanic instead.
• Decorated Streets – (to see a map of the area, click here then turn to page 10)

1. Carrer Verdi
2. Carrer Providència
3. Plaça Rovira
4. Carrer La Perla
5. Carrer Joan Blanques
6. Carrer de Bruniquer
7. Carrer Berga
8. Carrer Puigmartí
9. Plaça de la Vila
10. Carrer Mozart
11. Carrer de Luis Antúnez
12. Placeta Sant Miquel i Rodalies
13. Carrer Fraternitat
14. Carrer Tordera
15. Carrer Llibertat
16. Carrer Progrès