festival

This weekend, the city of Tàrrega will be transformed as its annual arts festival kicks-off with over 400 performers entertaining crowds. The event, in its 33rd year, will have 24 venues and a total 300 shows. It prides itself on showcasing the best up-and-coming artists as well as placing an emphasis on more unconventional performances. There are numerous shows on offer including theatre, dance and music as well as events for children such as puppet acts and circus performances. The festival attracted 147,000 visitors in 2012 and is located in central Catalonia in the village of Tàrrega.

The 12th edition of the Acústica music festival has broken records with the highest amount of spectators ever. The five day music event, located in the town of Figueres in the north-east region of Girona, saw a total of 80,000 spectators – an increase of 25% on last years edition. The annual festival showcased the best of Catalan music and for its duration the centre of Figueres was transformed into a pedestrainised zone with open air stages in the streets. The most popular concerts were those of the groups Chambao, La Pegatina and the municipal band of Figueres and Delafé y las Flores Azules. The director of the event, Xavier Pascual, stated the attendance figures illustrate the “good health” of Catalan music and culture.

The 51^st edition of the International Festival of Porta Ferrada, located in the Costa Brava town of Sant Feliu de Guíxols, closed its doors with an average attendance of 91%. The event contained 21 music, theatre and dance performances, which had a total attendance of 11,105 people, 10,296 who paid for tickets and 890 going to the free events on offer. 6 shows were complete sell-outs: 5 of the 10 in the Espai Port (the main stage of the festival), and the ‘Concerts per a nadons’ (Concerts for babies). Albert Mallol, Artistic Director of the Porta Ferrada festival, told the CNA that it is important try to find new venues to be added to the iconic locations that already exist in order to increase the amount of musical and theatre performances.

Held in UNESCO’s World Heritage Poblet Monastery, the first edition of the Festival of Ancient Music was a sell-out, and will have a second edition next year, according to the organisers. The Festival was launched by the Catalan conductor, interpreter, composer and researcher Jordi Savall, who in 2012 received the Léonie Sonning Prize, considered Music’s equivalent of the ‘Nobel Prize’. The event aimed “to compensate” for the lack of such music festivals in southern Catalonia and also to honour the memory of soprano Montserrat Figueras, who died in November 2011. Figueras was one of the greatest vocalists and experts in Early Music and Savall’s life partner. The first edition of Poblet Festival included 3 concerts by Jordi Savall, all played within the monastery’s church, which is the location of the most of the tombs of the old Catalan kings.

Barcelona’s famous annual street festival, ‘Festa Major de Gràcia’ kicked-off on Wednesday evening with streets intricately decorated by neighbours and live music being played well in to the night. The event, in its 197^th year, draws an estimated 1.5 million visitors and has activities for all ages including: firework displays, ‘castellers’ - Catalan human towers, decorated streets and open air concerts taking place in 47 stages. It was traditionally a religious festival for locals of the neighbourhood, but for the last five decades it has become popular with Catalonians. Furthermore, in recent years, foreigners have also discovered it. Each year the festival begins on the 15^th of August and lasts for six days.

This Wednesday, the world premier of the chamber opera ‘Wow!’ takes place at the Festival of Peralada Castle, located in northern Catalonia’s Costa Brava. The libretto is inspired by texts written by Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman, building a relationship between the two poets. The opera will be staged in the cloister of El Carme Church in Peralada, which has a capacity of 400 people. The play is structured in a single act with a prologue and four scenes. It explores the themes of dreaming, death, ascension and immortality. The score and the text are the work of Catalan composer García Demestres, while the stage director is Xavier Albertí, who is the new Director of the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC).

This summer, electronic music fans have the chance to enjoy a weekly music festival in Barcelona with renowned DJs such as Richie Hawtin, Joy Orbison, Claude Vonstroke and M.A.N.D.Y playing in a hillside park to thousands of attendees. The event, in its second year, takes place on Sunday afternoons 15 times during the summer in Barcelona’s Joan Brossa gardens with spectacular views over the city. The average attendance of each session is 2,500, “creating an intimate atmosphere”, according event organiser Jordi Ventura. “We have a loyal fan base, with the majority of attendees returning again and again because they enjoy it so much” he told the CNA.

On Thursday, Europe’s biggest gay and lesbian event started and will receive an incredible 70,000 attendees from 50 countries around the world. The internationally renowned ‘Circuit Festival’, which is in its 6^th year, lasts between the 8^th and 18^th of August, and presents a wide reaching program of cultural, artistic, sporting and party activities. According to the event organisers, 70% of visitors come from abroad and during the 10 -day event they will spend a total of €100 million in Barcelona. Those attending the festival will stay in the Catalan capital for an average of seven days, and it is estimated that each visitor will spend €250 per day.

The 37^th annual Grec Festival is to close on Wednesday with an expected increase of 1,000 tickets sold compared to last year’s edition. Festival Director, Ramon Simó, assured that the festival has been a success and that ticket targets have been achieved. With regards to the attendance by genre, theatre events were the most popular with 38,878 viewers watching 40 shows (at 44% capacity). 14,362 people watched 14 live concerts (63% capacity), 10,652 spectators watched the 8 dance shows on offer (70% capacity), while the 4 circus productions received 5,574 viewers (86% capacity). The average attendance to the festival was 52%, which considering the crisis in the performing arts sector is a significant figure according to Simó.

With the Pet Shop Boys, Kraftwerk, 2 ManyDJs, Jurassic 5 and Laurent Garnier as guaranteed crowd pullers, the 20th edition of the Sonar Festival was a success waiting to happen. But the record-breaking attendance figures and the smooth transition from downtown Barcelona to the Fira de Barcelona’s Montjuic venue went way beyond organisers’ expectations. More than 121,000 festival-goers attended the electronic music event, which represents a 24% compared to last year’s figures. Furthermore, around 55% of the attendees were foreigners, with a great presence of people from the United Kingdom, France and Italy, but also from the United States, Australia, Russia and many other countries.

Seven islets just one kilometre away from the town of L’Estartit on the Costa Brava form one of the most attracting diving areas in Europe. Twenty years of protection as a natural marine park have permitted a complete sea-bed recovery, which hosts hundreds of species such as groupers, lobsters or even red coral. Caves, sharper rocks and sand banks captivate thousands of scuba diving lovers each year. Thanks to Illes Medes, L’Estartit has evolved from a little fishing village to an international diving town where tourists from all around the world are regular visitors looking for its submarine views.

The 16th edition of the DocsBarcelona festival increased audience figures by 40% compared to 2012. The festival organisation thinks that one of the reasons for such an increase is the fact that they have moved the event from winter to spring. Furthermore, the improvement in the festival’s communication and image management as well as the higher number of movies shown and sessions held could also be behind the positive 2013 figures. Joshua Oppenheimer’s ‘The Act of Killing’ received the best movie award for its work picturing Anwar Congo’s death squads in Indonesia. Catalan Eva Vila’s ‘Bajarí’ received the jury’s special mention.

The British band met all expectations as headliner of the festival with a macro-concert crammed full of well-known hits. The younger sister of Beyoncé, Solange, the post-dubstep king James Blake and the eclectic quartet Django Django were also the main acts of a very intense night.

The independent music event held in Barcelona occupies 20,000 square metres, has a budget increase of 7% (reaching 7.5 million euros) and an estimated public of 150,000 only on its main stage, the Parc del Fòrum. Nick Cave, Animal Collective, Blur or My Bloody Valentine are just some of the leading indie figures to play in the Catalan capital between the 22nd and the 26th of May.

FC Barcelona celebrated their 22nd Spanish League title on Monday evening with a parade through the city centre. Together with Barça’s women team, who also won the league title, the players and coaching staff saluted more than a half million fans from open top buses through the claret and blue lined streets.