The whitest party: Sensation Barcelona

After a spectacular world premiere with an audience of 40,000 in Amsterdam in July, the new edition is going to fill the Palau Sant Jordi with people dressed in white and ready to dance to this new festival concept.

On the 8th of October 2011, Sensation will make its return to Barcelona. The venue, Palau Sant Jordi, will be transformed into Innerspace, making it the second city to host Sensation’s latest theme after the premiere in the Amsterdam Arena.

Sensation started in Amsterdam in the year 2000. Since then, over 1,5 million visitors in seventeen countries have experienced what is arguably the world’s most spectacular dance and music phenomenon. Each year, Sensation tours the globe with a completely new show. Consistently taking the acclaimed theme ‘be part of the night, dress in white’ to new heights, Sensation’s aim is to bring a positive message to a growing global audience.

Barcelona will be dressing up in white with Sensation Innerspace, a new, exclusive event dedicated to dance music. Wally López, Sharam, Fedde Le Grand and Mr White are just some of the artists who will be bringing Barcelona the very best in electronic music at the moment. Máxima FM, the media partner for Sensation Barcelona, will broadcast the event.

Allocation near Palau Sant Jordi can be found at B-Hotel and Hotel Barcelona Universal.

La Mercè festivities 2011

La Mercè festivities (from 22 to 25 September), they will once again be offering a broad, varied programme featuring traditional activities, spectacles, shows and plenty of entertainment.

The Correfoc (fire run) is premiering a new Porta de l’Infern (Hell’s Gate), which will extend across Via Laietana, until it becomes a hell’s wall, to quote Xavier Cordomí, the artistic director of Tradicional.

Dance companies and contemporary dancers will be performing at Ciutadella park to the chimes of a travelling carillon, a very unusual instrument hailing from the city of Douai. What’s more, the Mercè Dansa display will once again be taking over the stage opposite the Cathedral.

The La Mercé parade is expected to be the largest ever, with participants joining in from all over Catalonia.

Ciutadella park is one of the main settings of La Mercè. During the day it becomes a Dance and Street-Theatre Park and during the night, the Lights Park, with shows making use of new technologies.

These two approaches meet in El Llac dels Cignes (Swan Lake), one of the star shows of the La Mercè, combining dance with spectacular screenings at the park’s fountain, among other surprises. This is a local production featuring over a hundred dancers, whose main figures come from the Mariinsky Theatre of St Petersburg, the guest city at this year’s La Mercè.

The music programme’s details are not yet out but most of the groups taking part have already been announced, with the venue being shared between BAM and Mercè Música.

Antònia Font, Javiera Mena, Mazoni, Els Pets, El Columpio Asesino, Fangoria, Antonio Carmona, Anímic, Astrud & Col·lectiu Brossa and Gràcia Power are just some of the groups who’ll be playing at the La Mercè festival.

As for the Pyromusical, which will conclude the festivities once again, this year tribute will be paid to the four Puig i Cadafalch columns.

Poster for La Mercè Festivity 2011

A festival brimming with colour, energy, joy and light. That was how the Colombian illustrator Catalina Estrada wanted to portray Barcelona’s annual festival in the poster for La Mercè 2011.

Using the style and shapes she is known for, she has brought together the traditional features of the festival and the essence of this year’s, which will see lots of circus activities, music and art on the city’s streets.

With this in mind, this year’s guest city will be St Petersburg, one of Russia’s cities with a very strong dance and circus tradition.

The festival’s other big name revealed this Wednesday was that of journalist Joaquim Maria Puyal, who will get La Mercè 2011 under way with the traditional opening speech in the Saló de Cent at the City Hall on 22 September, over the three days of the festival, one less than last year because the 24th falls on a Saturday .

More than 40 Catalan street art companies will demonstrate the high standard of the shows produced here, some of which have received international awards. Parc de la Ciutadella and the Castell de Montjuïc, two star festival venues, will provide a showcase for these artists to put on their creations.

Inevitably tradition will play a unique part in the festival. This year the fire-totting devils and beasts will lead the way through Hell’s Gate, which will span the whole of Via Laietana.

And once again the City Council facade will turn into a cinema screen for La casa màgica, by Franc Aleu.

Sant Joan, the Night of Fire

The evening of June 23rd is the Eve of Fire before the Feast Day of St John the Baptist. Revetlla de Sant Joan is the Catalan name for this Eve.

In Barcelona and related Mediterranean areas, ancient pre-Christian traditions related to fire festivities are still among the most popular. Bonfires are lit in the streets or on the sand of the beaches, the rituals are jumping over the fire, touch the water that is blessed in the night or asking for some wishes, and there are fireworks too. Special meals are also served on this occasion. Coca de Sant Joan, a traditional Catalan pastry, can be found on every table.

Both if you are plannig to go to the beach, or staying in one of our terraces in Barcelona, make sure to enjoy this magical Eve and be ready for firecrackers and fireworks all night long.

SonarKids: Creative Music & Experiences for children

After the success of the last two events, the 3rd SonarKids on Sunday 19 June isthe ideal finishing touch to Sónar 2011 to enjoy with all the family. SonarKids has a great deal of activities and creative experiences designed for parents and children to have fun and learn about different artistic disciplines by playing in a new and original way.

SonarKids presents a musical line-up fulll of top drawer shows, with performances by the Portuguese group Buraka Som Sistema, the renowned British dj and BBC Radio 1 presenter Gilles Peterson, the kiddie pop group Papa Topo, the indie pop group Polock, the stories sung by Barbara i Els Morenos, DJ Amarelo and the wizardry on the decks of the Pioneer Dj Kids.

The fun characters of Pintatelotu are the stars of the new SonarKids image. Pintatelotu offers children the opportunity to have fun and learn while they are playing and colouring in their gallery of characters. Are they monsters? aliens? animals?

More inf@: SonarKids website

Barcelona Sports Film Festival

The Barcelona Sports Film Festival, the only sports-themed cinema and TV festival in Spain, is set to take place in Barcelona between 17 and 21 May. Any audiovisual production with a sports theme can compete, whether it is an animated film, documentary, report, fiction film, promotional or advertising video.

Films will be screened at six different venues:

• Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch
• Centre Excursionista de Catalunya
• Sala d’Àmbit Cultural El Corte Inglés
• Ateneu Barcelonès
• CaixaFòrum
• Filmoteca de Catalunya

Apart from the film sessions the festival includes a whole series of parallel activities that aim to illustrate that sport is a sphere of activity capable of entering into a symbiotic relationship with art, philosophy and innovation.

More inf@: BCN Sports Film Festival

Mecal: International Short Film Festival of Barcelona

This year Mecal, the short film festival that originated 13 years ago, has as many as eight venues and it is as determined as ever to show the versatility and creativity to be found in short films.

The boom in shorts, partly explained by the quality of some of the more affordable digital devices around, is also reflected in the quantity of works received by the festival, nearly 3,500 this year. The final selection is split into three competition sections, with films from over 30 countries, and an even more eclectic fringe programme that combines cult shorts with angrier contemporary ones, as at previous festivals.

Discovering the audiovisual panorama of the Czech Republic, this year’s guest country, is one of the attractions this time round. The shorts that are going to be screened range from the best of the recent batch to film school productions.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhipln

Mecal 2011
XIII International Short Fim Festival of Barcelona
April, 8th – 17th
http://eng.mecalbcn.org/

La Rambla: annual Festival

The Rambla is dolling itself up for its annual festival from 1 to 10 October. Coinciding with the Mare de Déu del Roser festivities there will be all kinds of events taking place on this iconic avenue.

Since 1962, the Friends of the Rambla Association has been awarding honours to people and associations that have shown their love for the Rambla and paid special attention to the avenue in their personal, professional or association-based lives. Hotel 1898, located in La Rambla 109, is an active member of this association.

This year’s winners include Federico Mayor Zaragoza, one of the leading supporters of the Rambla’s bid to become a World Heritage Site, the Jamboree, for its contribution towards raising the level of the city’s jazz scene and boosting the cultural activities going on around the avenue, and Maria Dolors Álvarez, for the 26 years she has given to the Friends of the Rambla Association.

Next Sunday 10 of October, on the final day of the festival, any women among you named Roser are in luck because there will be a special performance of the “Mètode Grönholm” at the Poliorama theatre, where they and their companions will enjoy a 20% discount.

La Mercè- the Festivity of Barcelona!

Every September, a huge festival incorporating hundreds of free outdoor performances is organised to honour La Mercè – the patron saint of Barcelona. The festival starts on the 24th, a public holiday in the city, and it goes on all weekend.

Lively street processions of giants, dragons and ‘capgrosses’ – literally, ‘big heads’ – take place on the in the old quarter of the city. This year, two new giants step out, one dedicated to the Polish composer Frederic Chopin and the other to writer George Sand – a pseudonym for French Baroness Aurore Dupin. See if you can spot them!

Another major event is the Correfoc on Saturday night at 8pm. This is a wild procession of devilish fire swinging for which the public are advised to keep a safe distance.

On Sunday at midday, squeeze into plaça Sant Jaume to witness the extraordinary Castellers create human towers. Teams compete to get as high as possible with a brave youngster right at the top!

For this edition of La Mercè, Barcelona is twinned with Dakar, the capital of Senegal. The two cities are brought together in collaborative performances and art projects, such as Africa Camut Band: a lively day performance of percussion and dance that takes place in the Grec Theatre on the 24th and 26th.

A major part of the festival in 2010 is ‘Mercè Arts al Carrer’ or MAC which brings inventive international street performers to the city. Contemporary circus and puppetry is celebrated at the castle on Montjuic; while in Parc Ciutadella there is dance and theatre in the daytime, and spectacular ‘light shows’ at night.

Theatre tickets are 50% discount off during La Mercè festivity

During La Mercè festivities, the city’s main theatres will be offering 50% discounts for shows on from 20 to 26 September. For that reason, we would like to recommend you hotel Barcelona Universal, located in Paral·lel avenue with the most emblematic theatres of our city.

Half price tickets can be bought until Saturday 25 September, at the Ticket Rambla, located at the Palau de la Virreina.

What’s more, tickets with special discounts during the La Mercè festival can also be bought online at the Telentrada and ServiCaixa websites.

Theatres taking part in this campaign include the Alexandra Teatre, the Almeria Teatre, the Antic Teatre, the Apolo, the Aquarel·la, the Arteria Paral·lel, the Sala Becket, the Borràs, the Brossa Espai Escènic, the Club Capitol, the Coliseum, the Condal, the Goya, the Guasch Teatre, the Cafè-Teatre Llantiol, the Teatre Lliure, the Sala Muntaner, the Nau Ivanow, the Poliorama, the Teatre del Raval, the Jove Teatre Regina, the Romea, the SAT, the Tarantana, the Teatreneu, the Versus and La Villarroel.

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