14th ISAAC: International Society for Augmentative & Alternative Communication

The 14th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) in Barcelona, themed Communicating Worlds. ISAAC focuses on people anywhere in the world who communicate with little or no speech. Thousands of members in 60 countries, with 15 ISAAC Chapters work together so that everyone can communicate.

Each conference includes families sharing success stories, exciting breakthroughs, fun social activities, scientific paper presentations, and demonstrations of assistive equipment.  During each global gathering, families, therapists, professionals, children and adults with complex communication needs, and researchers from the fields of education, rehabilitation, health sciences, government and industry come and learn the latest information about augmentative and alternative communication.

Barcelona is calling all together in 2010 to continue to communicate around the world. We extend a heartfelt welcome for you to join our circle of friends and advocate with us to improve communication for all people with speech difficulties.

Location -> International Convention Center of Barcelona (Rambla Prim 1-17 - Fòrum).

Gracia Festival: Barcelona’s biggest and most colorful street party

Probably Barcelona’s biggest and most colourful street party, the Festa de Gràcia gets underway on August 15th and, during one week, seventeen streets will be decorated for the celebrations, on another year of this historical event. The first reference of this festivity dates back to 1817, when Gràcia was a small village, and not yet absorbed as a neighbourhood by Barcelona.

Gràcia was established in 1626, in the surroundings of a convent called Nostra Senyora de Gràcia (Our Lady of Grace). Gràcia was an independent municipality until it was annexed to Barcelona in 1897 along with other villages in the plain of Barcelona. The expansion of the Eixample  district in the 19th century eventually led to the northward expansion of Barcelona, connecting Gràcia to the growing metropolis.

Given the confirmation that some two thirds of the event’s visitors will be attending its morning, afternoon and early-evening activities, it will hold its main family-interest shows and cultural events at those times.

Still, the night party may stretch out to 2 am during the week and 3.30 am during the weekend, with concerts and music.

The first event of the Festival was the poster contest. Aina Cordoncillo, local illustrator, has been selected among 268 participants, and her poster will be the Official Poster of the Festival.

VI Busker’s Festival Barcelona

Busker’s Festival Barcelona is an internacional street music festival wich objective is to spread the cultural diversity of Barcelona through music. This time, the festival will take place in August, from 5th to the 8th, in the well-known neighbourhood of Barceloneta; four nights of music for all tastes and for the whole family!

Busker’s Festival Barcelona has the peculiarity of being a “hat’s pass” entrance festival. It means, artists don’t receive any fee to be part of the festival; the audience is who gives the money directly to the artists, according to his abilities, tastes and preferences. During the show, artists “pass the hat” and you can also buy their CD. Busker’s has positioned itself as the only festival of it’s kind in the whole area and the only international street music festival in the city.

This festival aims to banish the idea that buskers play in the streets because they can’t “become professional“. Coming to the festival, you can enjoy over 50 music shows of a great variety and quality, above all!

Organizer: La Casa Amarilla

Sardinas & Rumba in La Caseta del Migdia, Montjuïc

The summer invites you to enjoy the open air. And there’s nothing better than a good meal with some good music out in the open to while away the hot days. These are the ingredients for “Sardines&Rumba“, the new culinary event on Montjuïc mountain this summer.

Book a Wednesday night during July and August (from 9 pm on) and enjoy a big public sardine barbecue, accompanied by the best of Catalan Rumba, and extraordinary views of Barcelona harbour from Montjuïc.

These culinary nights are a new initiative from the La Caseta del Migdia (Marc Ros, co-organiser) and Moritz.

Besides sardines, anyone going to “Sardines & Rumba” will be able to savour a first dish and some very refreshing desserts. The full menu includes a salad, six barbecued sardines and a melon and watermelon shish kebab.

As for drinks, in addition to beer you’ll find a Catalan-style jug of wine, to make it an especially traditional menu. The total cost per person is €19. For further information make a booking, please call 934 235 434.

Where: La Caseta del Migdia (Mirador del Migdia-Montjuic)

2011 Euroleague Final Four in Barcelona

Euroleague Basketball is pleased to announce Barcelona as the host city for the 2011 Euroleague Final Four. With conversations between Euroleague and the Municipality of Barcelona for a future Final Four being at an advanced stage, both parties are confident that the city is ideal to host the final of the top European club competition on the weekend of May 6-8 at the Palau Sant Jordi.

It will be the third time that Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi will host the Euroleague Final Four. In 1998, Kinder Bologna lifted its first Euroleague trophy by downing AEK Athens 58-44 in the title game behind 14 points from Antoine Rigaudeau. In 2003, FC Barcelona seized the Euroleague crown at home with a 76-65 victory over Benetton Treviso. Barcelona also hosted the 1969 European Cup final.

..:: Euroleague Barcelona ::..

Sala Montjuïc: open-air cinema this summer in Barcelona

A Barcelona summer evening classic is back. Sala Montjuïc is here again with more films and music in one to the city’s most spectacular settings, Montjuïc Castle.

This year, with sessions every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 5 July and 6 August, it has a new, bigger screen. It is 16 x 9 metres, that is, 32 square metres more.

This year’s programme is a varied one that includes popular classics like Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange and Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday by Jacques Tati.

However, the “main dish” consists of more recent films, namely a selection of independent films popular with critics and the public, like the vampire movie Let Me In, the “anti-romantic” comedy In Search of a Midnight Kiss and the acclaimed French film The Class.

Apart from that, there will be a concert cinema session with The Gold Rush, by Charles Chaplin, accompanied by live music played by an orchestra conducted by Guerassim Voronkov.

The programme also includes animated films like My Neighbour Totoro from Japan and the documentary Waltz with Bashir. As for the closing film, you can vote for the one you like best out of three Catalan films.

The Sala Montjuïc programme is complimented by live concerts, prior to the film session, and there is also the chance to have a picnic. You can hire a deckchair too, so you are more comfortable.

Castell de Montjuïc -> Ctra Montjuïc, 66 | Sants-Montjuïc

Tony Hawk & Friends will come to Barcelona during Euro Tour

Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk and the Birdhouse team will be heading to Europe this summer for a skateboarding tour that include stops in the cities of Berlin (Ger), Rome/Ostia (Ita), Barcelona (Spa) & Brighton (UK).

Tony is a role model for fans of all ages. He was named Choice Male Athlete at the Teen Choice Awards 2004 and had won the same in 2001 and 2000. He is an active participant in the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which honored him as its Favorite Male Athlete in 2002. With the creation of the Tony Hawk Foundation in 2002, Tony has also been helping others experience the same excitement he did as a young skateboarder, learning to skate and building the self-confidence that resulted in his success.

The monumental vert ramp - Europe’s biggest - will be set on the recently inaugurated Plaza del Mar, facing the Mediterranean Sea with an unobstructed view guaranteed of San Sebastián beach.

On the music side, the Quiksilver presents Tony Hawk and Friends tour in Barcelona will gather two major US artists: Joey Cape, founder and voice of Californian punk rock band Lagwagon and Tony Sly, founder, guitarist and voice of California’s No Use For a Name. Exclusively for the show, Joey and Tony will turn themselves into Dj’s before playing a live acoustic session at the After Party, Playa del Masnou (from 9:30pm at ‘El último Xiringo’).

Sunday 18th July - Free entrance at 18:00pm

Barcelona 2159: the city in the future

Over 300.000 Barcelona residents and some of the city’s top creators have tried to imagine what the city will be like in 2159, leaving their testimony in a time capsule for storage somewhere in the city in a few months’ time.

We spoke to Öwn, Kolectivo Huevo Frito and Mosi Mosi, three creators who work in the city and wanted to take part in the Barcelona 2159 initiative, creating the Barcelona of the future in small video clips.

Kolectivo Huevo Frito think men will destroy the environment but they will never be able to destroy the world because it will continue with other civilisations. The survival of nature is precisely what they feature in a video made with animated paper figures where the Eixample disappears and gives way to a green city.

Mosi Mosi, meanwhile, have taken the most frequently recurring jokes among city residents to imagine the future Barcelona: a Sagrada Família that is still not finished, there will be Winter Olympic Games and we will always, always have the sea.

Barcelona 2159 has already devised the 2 metre high stainless steel capsule with a glass container to store these videos, messages sent to the website and the email address, and the videos recorded on the video machine going round the city.

Dies de Dansa Festival in Barcelona

Núñez i Navarro Hotels, with 9 hotels in the center of Barcelona, sponsor the Dies de Dansa Festival Barcelona from 1 to July 5, 2010.

Dies de Dansa is an international contemporary dance festival in urban spaces. It is a free annual cultural project born in Barcelona, which is part of the GREC Festival de Barcelona. During five days buildings, streets, parks and plazas flood with life in this encounter between dance, urban space and community.

Dies de Dansa takes place in different points of Barcelona, such as the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB), the Joan Miró Foundation, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA), the Picasso Museum; as well as in the cities of Mataró, Sabadell and Sitges. The daylight programme consists on the presentation of short performances that artists elaborate specifically for each place, with the participation of over 25 national and international companies.

Dies de Dansa also programmes Workshops for the community, a series of free dance workshops suitable to professionals and amateurs, and the workshops Dance within the Family, which throughout experimentation, creativity and research, stimulates the emotional bonds in a fun way.

The recovery of Sant Agustí Convent

The Sant Agustí convent has recovered its historical building complex for public use. The final outstanding operation, involving the remodelling of the five chapels adjoining the cloister, has been completed.

This brings to an end the process which started in the mid 1990’s to recover the old convent and turn it into a community amenity at the service of the neighbourhood.

The five chapels recovered are part of the Sant Agustí church, which dates back to the 12th century and is in the Gothic style. These chapels were among the few features of the church to have been left intact after the bombardment of Barcelona in 1714. They also served as a link between the church’s nave and the convent’s cloister, which dates back to the 14th century.

This remodelling has enabled the chapels to be reused as culture-oriented venues, as they have been fitted out as new exhibition spaces, along with three underground rooms.

www.bcn.es

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