The City Council revamps Barcelona flowers

Around this time every year, the flowers in the city’s parks, gardens, squares and other green spaces are given a fresh look. The work is done three times a year (in May, September and November) with the aim of making the city look more colourful.

To achieve this, varieties have been chosen for their long flowering periods, so they’ll look good for longer in the beds where they’ve been planted. But as they’re annuals, they will eventually have to be changed.

At this time of year, the flowering plants being put in are mainly white and red begonias, yellow and orange French marigolds, petunias in various colours and coleus blumei, a plant with coloured ornamental foliage.

Many of the varieties being planted are not yet in flower, so their entire flowering period is yet to come. These plants will stay looking good right through until November, when they are due to be changed.

The new flowers are being planted in 274 green spaces across all the city’s districts, in parks such as Ciutadella, Creueta del Coll and El Clot; but they’ll also be appearing in boulevards such as Sant Joan and Torras i Bages, and squares like Sants, Tetuan and Torre Llobeta.

Source: www.bcn.es

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.

Music in the Parks of Barcelona

Last wednesday, 2nd June, started the inaugural concert in the latest “Music in the Parks” cycle, organised by the Barcelona City Council Environment Area, with a performance by the Sant Andreu Jazz Band – the youngest big band in Europe – in the Teatre Grec Gardens.

The concert has opened new “Music in the Parks” programme. Now a traditional event, this year it aims to reach more people by raising the number of city parks holding the concerts to eight, doubling last year’s total.

It includes three parallel programmes, classical music, jazz and sessions by the Banda Municipal de Música of Barcelona, and these run from 2 June until 25 August.

There are 28 concerts in this year’s cycle. The Municipal Band’s concerts will take place in the Creueta del Coll, Diagonal Mar, Barceloneta and Guineueta parks. Turó Parc, the Príncep de Girona Gardens and the Hivernacle (Winter Garden) in Parc de la Ciutadella will hold the classical music concerts, while the Drets Humans (Human Rights) Gardens and the Hivernacle will hold the jazz sessions. The Municipal Band concerts start at 8 pm and the classical music and jazz concerts begin at 10 pm. All concerts are free and in the open air and you don’t need to book in advance.

The summer park concert programme came about fifteen years ago. The aim is top bring quality music to every kind of audience and to encourage performers by young musicians, while promoting the possibilities offered by parks as meeting places and recreational areas on summer nights and evenings.

Sponsored by DAMM Free, the event is being collaborated on by Cespa, UME Unión Musical, El Periódico, Time Out, Aigües Veri, the Conservatori del Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC).

Earth Fair at Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona

Parc de la Ciutadella and Passeig de Lluís Companys will once again become a meeting place for groups, individuals and organisations that believe in a healthy life.

Talks, workshops on health and personal growth, music and dance are just some of the activities planned for the fair, which raises the profile of organisations which promote health foods, fair trade products, personal growth and unconventional therapies.

As with every year, Passeig de Lluís Companys will also be lined with little food stalls.

Date:  24/04/2010
Place:  Parc de la Ciutadella & Passeig Lluís Companys

Asia Festival in Barcelona

The Asian Festival is back for the 8th edition and the second year in succession it forms part of the La Mercè festivities. This year’s festival will have a star guest to open it: the Chinese rocker Cui Jian, a key figure in China’s current music scene. He will be performing on 23 in Plaça Reial.

Participating in this year’s festival will be members of the Asian communities resident in Barcelona: from China, Pakistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh, South Korea, Japan and Nepal.

These communities will be the protagonists in the free activities making up “Un dia a l’Àsia” (A day in Asia), a part of the festival that will be held on 24 September and includes about fifty different activities to show the culture of 17 countries.

So, on 24 September, various parts of Ciutadella Park will be turned into little corners of Asia and offering stories, workshops, music (with performances, among others, by Famiya Khan and SK1), games, displays of several kinds of art (calligraphy, Wushu, Ikebana etc.) and sport (Kabaddi), cinema, dance and massage practices, street music and even track games.

In addition, from 23 to 27 September, Ciutadella Park will have a gastronomic area where visitors can savour Asian flavours and cuisine.

More inf@ : www.casaasia.es

Parc de la Ciutadella & Yoga studio.

Yoga is an oriental discipline that is thousands of years old and gradually spreading to Western culture. A product of Hinduism, it seeks to connect the unconscious and conscious mind, while uniting mind and body.

It works on the physical body but also on the endocrine glands and internal organs with the aim of keeping the body healthy, achieving physical as well as mental and spiritual health, and personal realisation.

Yoga mixes sport, meditation and relaxation and, apart from generating energy and vitality, it also helps to reduce stress.

Taking advantage of the good weather, Parc de la Ciutadella is turning itself into an improvised yoga studio, where you can learn to relax to the singing of the birds while you recharge your batteries.

Amelie Strecker and Raphaella Rose are two teachers who teach various techniques and yoga exercises every Tuesday and Thursday in August, starting at 11am.

A yoga class involves a succession of exercises combining postures, movements, and breathing and sight control. Each exercise is followed by a short relaxation that serves to introduce the next.

Links:

• Web de Amelie Strecker
• Web de Raphaella Rose

Apart from the morning classes, you can also go to Parc de la Ciutadella on Wednesdays at 7pm for an evening class charged with energy and strength.

NN Hotels: www.nnhotels.com