Juneteenth, Sónar, cycling, and Miró open day: What's on this weekend

From concerts to cultural festivals, events and nightlife, there are countless things to do in Barcelona and around Catalonia this weekend. 

Here's a selection of some of the best plans and what's on this weekend.

Juneteenth Barcelona | June 20 | Culture and history | Roots Gastro Club, Barcelona

Juneteenth is a portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth," in commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States, but this year in Barcelona, it was decided Saturday was a better day to party. The mission of Juneteenth Barcelona is to honor the history of Black liberation while building a living, breathing community in one of Europe's most vibrant cities. Thirteen hours of events will include music, an international food fair, and art and jewelry market, cocktails and speciality drinks, games, and much more. 

Sónar | June 18-20 | Live music | Fira Gran Via

One of Barcelona's biggest music festivals returns this weekend, in a new format, all in the one location. Barcelona becomes the world capital of electronic music this weekend when The Prodigy, Amelie Lens, Charlotte de Witte, Joy Orbison, and many more take to the stages.  

Volta Ciclista Femenina | June 19-21 | Sports | Around Catalonia 

The best cyclists in the world will meet again in the third edition of the Catalan race, which will have three stages, ending on June 21 in Barcelona. The race will get underway on Friday with a first stage of 92km, starting and finishing in the Maresme town of Santa Susanna. The second stage will go from Sant Vicenç de Castellet to La Molina with a route of 130km. And on Sunday, June 21, the third stage of 111km will depart from Mataró and culminate in Barcelona on Avinguda Maria Cristina, at Plaça Espanya.

Miró Foundation open day | June 21 | Art | Miró Foundation, Barcelona

Everything to celebrate! After a year full of celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Fundació Joan Miró, one of Barcelona's finest art museums opens its doors for a special day during which you can enjoy various performances, sardanas, poetry readings, special visits and activities for all ages.

Barcelona bombed by poems | June 20 | Poetry action | Cathedral area, Barcelona

This Saturday, the area around Barcelona Cathedral will be bombed by 100,000 poems being thrown from a helicopter in a literary action performed by Chilean publishers Casagrande. The action, which has already taken place in nine cities around the world, is part of the commemoration of Spain's 50 years of freedom and has the collaboration of Barcelona City Council. Through poetry, the project proposes a resignification of the bombing as a form of memory, substituting the destruction for a shared cultural experience.

Portalblau Festival | June 6-August 9 | Cultural festival | L'Escala 

Portalblau is a festival that celebrates the Mediterranean as a space for encounter, light and critical thinking. Between sea and history, music, the performing arts and the spoken word engage in dialogue with the landscape, making each edition an experience that connects creativity, heritage and community. The programme features a diverse range of events in venues of great heritage value. This year marks the nineteenth edition of the Portalblau Festival, consolidating a cultural project that, over time, has forged its own identity within the country’s festival scene.

Out of Focus: Another Vision of Art | May 21 - September 27 | Exhibition | CaixaForum Barcelona

Monet's Water Lilies series introduced the concept of blur in art, using the blurred and indistinct as expressive elements. This exhibition explores how this phenomenon provided a new way of understanding the world for subsequent artists, a key to reinterpreting some aspects of modern and contemporary art.

The Cult of Beauty | May 21 - November 8 | Exhibition | CCCB

Based on the ideals of human beauty that exist in all eras and cultures, the latest exhibition at the CCCB traces the evolution of these ideals throughout history. ‘The Cult of Beauty’ analyzes how aesthetic canons have been constructed, and stands up for bodies and beauties excluded from the norm. Through 400 pieces, the exhibition puts works, objects, and installations into dialogue to address how the idea of ​​beauty is conditioned by morality, status, and gender.

Barcelona International Women’s Film Festival | May 21 - July 1 | Film Festival | Various locations

The Mostra Internacional de Films de Dones de Barcelona (MIFDB) is a dissident, feminist and passionate film proposal that contributes to the recovery, expansion and reorganization of the multiple histories of cinema made by women.

Wine Festivals | Various dates through spring and summer | Wine and music | Neighbourhoods around Barcelona

Wine Festivals is a platform to celebrate wine, food, music and good living. A project for all those people in love with life. Their aim is to spread the culture of wine in a festive and accessible way, in unique outdoor locations, with good music to dance to. Dates: Gràcia, May 9; Poblenou, May 16, 17; Sant Antoni, June 5, 6, 7; Horta, June 13; Jardinets de Gràcia, June 27; Port Olímpic, July 10, 11. 

Chez Matisse | March 27-August 16 | Exhibition | CaixaForum, Barcelona

An exploration of Henri Matisse's trajectory, evolution, scope, and influence on international artists and avant-garde movements. The exhibition highlights part of the immense dialogue surrounding his name in 20th- and 21st-century art, from his first self-portrait to the artistic freedom of his later paintings and gouaches.

Experience 'The Last Days of Pompeii' | From March 20 | Exhibition | IDEAL Montjuïc

Towering flames of lava taking over the skies, ash and soot flooding homes and buildings; utter devastation and total destruction inevitable. ‘The Last Days of Pompeii’ is the newest exhibition from IDEAL Digital Arts Centre, taking visitors back to 79 AD and one of the most compelling episodes of ancient history. The experience seeks to bring visitors closer to the lives and culture of the people who lived in the shadow of Vesuvius. 

New Phenomena Experience cinema | Open from April 2 | Phenomena Cinemas

Barcelona's famed Phenomena Cinema is entering a new phase, offering audiences a more "sensory" cinematic experience, aiming to let viewers perceive films with the technical precision intended by their creators. Phenomena Experience first opened in December 2014. Last September, the theater closed for renovations and was simultaneously announced as the recipient of the Carlo Lizzani 2025 European Best Theater Award at the Venice Film Festival.

'Recovered from the Enemy' | February 20-June 28 | Exhibition | MNAC

During the turbulent Civil War and early dictatorship years, Catalonia's National Art Museum of Catalonia was one of many sites used as a depository for artworks that the Franco regime tagged with a label, 'Recovered from the enemy'. A new exhibition, open until June 28, explores the dual role of the museum during these years, first as a site for the Catalan government to collect precious artworks and heritage documents. The backs of many of the 146 pieces are on display, showing the various labels on frames, including some that read 'Recovered from the Enemy,’ symbolizing the forceful implementation of a new political order.

Live music

Sónar | June 18-20 | Fira Gran Via

Magnífic Fest | June 18-20 | Lleida

Nile Rodgers | June 21 | Blaumarí Music

Rufus Wainwright | June 28 | Blaumarí Music

The Weeknd | September 1 | Olympic Stadium

Ty Segall | September 21 | Parallel 62

Joan Miró: Cirlces | March 13, 2026 - March 12, 2028 | Art | Joan Miró Foundation

A new exhibition reorganizes the Miró collection and invites visitors to reinterpret the artist's work through Joan Miró's creative process rather than a traditional chronological or thematic narrative. The show presents 102 works from across the artist's career and will run for two years, with some pieces rotating every six months.

'The Perpetual Movement of the Wall' | February 13-September 6 | Art | Tàpies Museum

The Tàpies Museum has opened a new exhibition, 'The Perpetual Movement of the Wall', exploring what Antoni Tàpies' exhibitions were like in the 1950s. Not only are the artworks recreated, but also how they were displayed and how critics and the public responded.

New works by Banksy | Until December 2026 | Exhibition | Moco Museum

The Moco Museum Barcelona recently unveiled a new exhibition featuring the British pseudonymous artist Banksy. 'New works by Banksy,' showcases 25 artworks, most of them new additions to the museum’s existing collection of the artist’s pieces. It is the largest exhibition of Banksy’s work ever held in Spain and includes two previously unseen pieces in a museum setting. All the pieces share a common theme: power and its disruption, a recurring motif in the artist's oeuvre.

Visit 50,000-year-old Siberian mammoth | Every day | Museum | CosmoCaixa, Barcelona 

Barcelona's CosmoCaixa Science Museum unveiled the latest addition to its exhibition: a large six-meter-long and 3.5-meter-tall Siberian mammoth. The mammoth is between 40,000 and 50,000 years old and will now be part of the permanent exposition. 

‘Extraterrestrials. Is there life beyond Earth?’ | Until August 30 | Science exhibition | CosmoCaixa science museum

'Extraterrestrials - Is There Life Outside Earth?' delves into topics such as our place in the cosmos, the meaning of the concept of life, and how literature and cinema have shaped the collective imagination about what form alien life could take. Visitors begin by discovering Earth's place in the cosmos. The exhibition then explores, from a historical perspective, the great philosophical debate between those who argue that life is unique to our planet, and those who believe in the existence of other inhabited worlds.