Sónar Festival, meat fair, and festes majors: 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.

Sónar Festival | June 12-14 | Music festival | Barcelona

One of Barcelona’s most iconic festivals, Sónar returns this week for another three days of top electronic music. This year’s lineup features over 200 shows, with international stars like Four Tet, Honey Dijon, Helena Hauff, Barry Can’t Swim, Jayda G, and more, offering a diverse mix of styles and genres.

Meat & Fire | June 13-15 | Food festival | Barcelona

A must-see for foodies: the Meat&Fire Festival. It is a three-day food and music festival in Barcelona that celebrates fire, flavor, and live culture. Held at Moll de la Fusta, the festival features top chefs, live fire grills, cooking demonstrations, and talks, all with a focus on meat, local produce, and sustainability. There are also over 200 musical performances.

Sant Gervasi | Festes majors | June 7-16 | Barcelona

The Festes Majors season, the beloved tradition of neighborhood celebrations, kicks off this week with festivities in Sant Gervasi. Plaça de la Bonanova will become the vibrant heart of the celebration, filling with music, magic, dance, food, and community spirit. The square and nearby streets come alive with festive energy, featuring everything from concerts and cultural performances to family activities and traditional events like the correfoc and castellers.

La Teixonera | Festes majors | June 7-16 | Barcelona

Teixonera’s Festa Major kicks off on June 1 with the Vall d'Hebron 5K run and continues for two weeks of street celebrations. Organized with the nearby neighborhoods of Mas Falcó and Penitents, the festival features concerts, kids’ activities, workshops, theatre, paella, and more. Highlights include the opening speech on June 6, open doors at the local fire station, a special raffle, and a fiery finale with the Correfoc.

Joan Miró Foundation for free | Exhibition | From June 15 | Barcelona

The Joan Miró Foundation celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, kicking off the festivities with a free open day this Sunday, June 15, from 10 am to 7 pm. A key highlight is the launch of a new exhibition, "The Poetry Has Just Begun: 50 Years of the Foundation", which reflects on the foundation’s rich history and evolution.

Barcelona Hotel Terrace Week | June 6 - 16 | Food festival | Barcelona

The event includes 130 cultural, culinary and well-being activities, such as cooking displays, yoga classes, cocktail workshops, family games, close-up magic displays and more. All activities are aimed at the local public, enabling them to discover these spaces, disconnect and experience the city from another perspective.

LGBTI+ Film Festival | June 5-15 | Film Festival | Barcelona 

The 30th edition of the festival addresses affective diversity in the broadest sense through a careful selection of features films, documentaries and shorts. It also features activities such as exhibitions, concerts and urban actions. Tickets are available starting from €8. 

Flemish Baroque works, including Rubens | Until September 21 | Art exposition | CaixaFòrum Barcelona

CaixaForum Barcelona premieres their new exhibition 'Rubens and the Artists of the Flemish Baroque,' exploring Peter Paul Rubens and other 17th century painters. The collaboration between La Caixa Foundation and Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid showcases 62 works. The exhibition also includes works from other Baroque artists like Anthony Van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, and Pieter Brueghel the Elder. 

Pioneers: 125 Years of Catalan Football | May 23 - August 3 | Exhibition | IDEAL, Barcelona

There's no doubt that Catalan ingenuity has shaped football history, but past the game's top names are a foundation of the sport comprised of hundreds of clubsç, all ranging from amateur youth setups all the way to professional teams winning trophies and competing in Europe. Learn about and celebrate 125 years of Catalan football at the immersive IDEAL Digital Arts Centre in Poblenou, Barcelona.

Bowie x Sukita | May 23 - September 15 | Exhibition | FotoNostrum, Barcelona

Japanese photographer Masayoshi Sukita pictured his great friend, the international singer David Bowie, over 40 years. Years later, Barcelona's FotoNostrum exhibition hall presents 'Bowie X Sukita,' featuring around 70 iconic photos from the international artist. ç

Festival Revela't | May 17 - June 15 | Photography fair | Vilassar de Dalt

Revela't celebrates its 13th edition with 26 exhibitions of international photographers such as Japanese Masahisa Fukase, US Rodney Smith and Fred Ritchin, and South African Gideon Mendel. Revela't will bring surprising and unique photographic proposals with topics such as artificial intelligence, climate change, life and death, war, and disorganized urbanization. There will also be a photographic market where brands and fans will be able to exchange their opinions, and some family events for the youngsters.

Architecture Weeks 2025 | May 12 - June 26 | Architecture festival | Several sites in Barcelona

An extensive program of activities, over seven weeks, aimed at strengthening the link between architecture and citizenship: exhibitions, competitions, awards, discussions, guided tours, parties and much more, for all audiences, in all the districts of the city. The Architecture Week is now an integral part of the Barcelona calendar, and has become a key tool for promoting the values of architecture, urbanism, and landscape design throughout the city. Their challenge is to make the 2025 edition a prelude to Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture.

Picasso Museum free entry | Thursdays to Saturdays, 7-9 pm | Art | Picasso Museum, Barcelona

With the arrival of the good weather again, the Picasso Museum is changing back to its summer opening hours, opening earlier and closing later. The summer hours and free admission will be accompanied by guided tours in Catalan, also free but with reservation, with the aim of bringing the museum closer to the locals.

Titanic: The Voyage Continues | April 17 - September 28 | Immersive experience | Espai Inmersa, Barcelona

The exhibition will anchor at Poblenou’s Espai Inmersa and promises visitors a "cutting-edge" immersive experience with “breathtaking” virtual reality that allows visitors to travel more than 3,000 km to the bottom of the ocean. Additionally, the exhibition will showcase 200 real artifacts recovered from the Titanic wreck, as well as recreations of the most emblematic spaces of the ship as it takes visitors back to April of 1912, to the moment when the Titanic embarked on its ill-fated maiden voyage.

HOT WHEELS CITY EXPERIENCE | Until July 13 | Exhibition | La Maquinista Shopping Mall

Hot Wheels City Experience is the place to go for families and fans of the Hot Wheels toy. The experience includes creativity in the game, nostalgia, and avant-garde technology. Visitors will enjoy an immersive experience through Hot Wheels' world which starts with a video to learn about the history and the culture of the brand. The experience also includes fast-speed races and lab facilities with very interactive designs. Tickets start at €18 and it is open from Wednesday to Sunday. 

'Chris Ware. Drawing is Thinking' | April 3-November 9 | Exhibition | CCCB, Barcelona

Chris Ware will be present at the Comic Barcelona as he was in the city this week for the launch of the new exhibition on his work at the CCCB. The retrospective reviews the work and reflections of an author whose work has the power to move so many people as they touch on themes of human existence in great depth.

'Uncertain Times. Interwar Germany' | April 2 - July 20 | Exhibition | CaixaForum Barcelona

To understand how the Second World War happened, one has to consider the Weimar Republic, the German state that existed in the interwar years. A new exhibition in the CaixaForum in Barcelona transports visitors to that fervent period of history, explaining the cultural and intellectual boom of the time, and how it foreshadowed one of the darkest periods of human history. 

Sean Scully exhibition | March 14 - July 6 | Art exhibition | La Pedrera, Casa Milà 

Antoni Gaudí's 'La Pedrera' building on Passeig de Gràcia is hosting “Sean Scully”, the most complete retrospective exhibition of works by one of the most important contemporary exponents of abstract art. Featuring over 60 pieces, this exhibition gives visitors a unique view of the Dublin-born US-based artist’s career, from his more figurative beginnings to his more recent creations. It explores his paintings, sculptures, drawings and photos, in which colour blocks, lines and textures convey deep emotions and forge unique bonds with the viewer.

Fernando Botero. A Universal Master | February 14 – July 20 | Art exhibition | Palau Martorell

A little over a year after his death, the Palau Martorell is hosting the most comprehensive exhibition of paintings ever held in Spain, paying tribute to Fernando Botero (Medellín, Colombia, 1932 - Monaco, 2023), one of the most important artists of the 20th century who is already part of the History of Art. His original and innovative creative approach, through a language of monumental volumes and vibrant colour, gave rise to a style of his own, Boteroism, which has made his work immediately recognizable.

Essència Palau | March 22 - June 22 | Guided Tour | Palau de la Música Catalana

The Palau de la Música Catalana music hall invites visitors to rediscover its architectural splendor through a unique guided tour: Essència Palau.  The tour engages sight, touch, but most importantly smell. Developed in collaboration with Eurofragance, the tour features a collection of fragrances that resemble the ambiance of the early 20th century, allowing visitors to connect with the building's history and symbolism on another level. 

‘Extraterrestrials. Is there life beyond Earth?’ | February 26 - August 30, 2026 | 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.

Antoni Tàpies: The Imagination of the World | February 13 – January 25, 2026 | Art exhibition | Tàpies Museum

The solo exhibition The Imagination of the World proposes a revision of the work of Antoni Tàpies based on ideas found in his earliest period of production. With Tàpies as the centre of the project, the exhibition seeks to map out a network of relationships between active agents, discourses and practices, as related to two key areas: on the one hand, the complex assimilation of artistic tendencies—such as dada and surrealism—and currents of thought—psychoanalysis, Marxism—in Barcelona in that period; on the other hand, the dialogue of these movements with various forms of the vernacular tradition of popular culture.