Barcelona Bike Show

Once again the Bike and Skate Festival is back in Barcelona. Over the weekend of 18 and 19 June there will be programme of races, exhibitions and events like the first national gathering of cruiser bikes. The highlights will be the Bike Show and the fun bike-and-skate ride round the city’s streets.

The Bike Show, Europe’s biggest bike fair, is back at Parc del Fòrum, with 50.000 square metres offering a wide range of bikes and activities which will appeal to everyone.

Kids’ races, circuits for trying out urban bikes, Freeride and BMX areas, competitions, brand showcases and other exhibitions. The list is very long. Moreover, this year there will be an area devoted to skating and other activities linked to bikes, like spinning.

The bike-and-skate ride will take place on Sunday 19 June, starting at 10 am. About 13 kilometres long, it is a fun ride and is open to anyone as it is not competitive. Bike and adapted bike hire points will be set up for the occasion.

The ride will pass through some of Barcelona’s most emblematic streets and finish at the Fòrum, coinciding with the Bike Show. Cyclists will set off from Carrer d’Aragó, at the junction with Carrer de Balmes, while skaters will set off from the junction with Passeig de Gràcia.

The 40th Feria de Abril de Catalunya

The 40th Feria de Abril de Catalunya (Catalan April Seville Fair) takes place at the Fòrum from 29 April to 8 May. On Friday 29, human castles from the Minyons de Terrassa and flamenco with the Cadiz-born singer-songwriter, José Anillo, will open and the traditional lighting will go on at 10pm.

The Feria de Abril, which ends on 8 May, will have 70 stands, distributed over a 105.000 square metre site. This year’s opening hours are as follows: from 6 pm to 4.15 am on 29 April; from 10 am to 2 am on week days and Sunday, 1 May; from 10 am to 4.15 am on Saturdays and Friday 6 May, and from 10 am to 10 pm Sunday 8 May.

TMB recommends visitors use the metro network for travelling to the fair (getting off at El Maresme – Fòrum station on Line 4). On 30 April and 7 May the metro will be operating throughout the night, and at specific times, where necessary, TMB plans to boost its citizen-advice service and line 4 services.
A shuttle-bus service has also been planned, connecting Plaza de Catalunya with the Fòrum.

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).

Primavera Sound. 10 years of the best indie scene

Barcelona has been enjoying the very best on the indie scene for ten years now, with wide-ranging genres including rock, pop and even electronica. In fact, Primavera Sound has gained a reputation for avoiding labels and for hosting all and sundry artists, from the very new to the most established.

The 10th Primavera Sound festival will be held on 27, 28 and 29 May at the Parc del Fòrum but throughout the week there will be fringe concerts at the city’s clubs and other places like the metro and the parks.

With over a hundred groups playing at the festival, there will be a huge range of acts. One of this year’s main themes will be 1990s pop, with groups like The Charlatans, Bis, Pavement and Pixies.

The Athens group is one of those returning to Primavera, along with Wire, The Fall, Low, Shellac and Wilco. The latter, along with the Pet Shop Boys and Orbital, will be topping the bill at a festival where small print is very important.

For example, you need to bear in mind groups like The XX, Beach House, Wild Beasts and No Age, who are coming with some of the year’s most interesting ideas.

All that, not to mention cult figures like Gary Numan, the pioneer of electronica, Marc Almond, a real pop icon, and Hope Sandoval, who will be accompanied by The Warm Inventions.

Lo-Fi is another feature of Primavera with The Bundles, a new group made up by Kimya Dawson, a former member of The Moldy Peaches, and the singer-songwriter and comic artist Jeffrey Lewis.

More inf@: Primavera Sound website

Bike Week in Barcelona

From 10 to 16 May, bicycles will be playing a leading role in the city. And that’s because the ninth annual Bicycle Week is now on, under the slogan “Agafa la bici. Compartim cívicament la ciutat” [Take your bike. Let's share our city in civic spirit].

The Bicia’t will be taking place on 12 May, giving the Catalan Cycling Club (BACC) an occasion to host a breakfast for people who cycle to work and turn up between 7.30 am and 10.30 am at the points located in Rambla de Catalunya-Diagonal, Diagonal-Provença, Zona Universitària, Lepant and Arc de Triomf.

Let’s not forget the Bike Show and the Bicycle and Skate Festival, organised by the Barcelona Sports Institute, at the Fòrum on 15 and 16 respectively. In addition to the usual activities, this year’s Bicycle Week also includes a refresher course on basic bike mechanics.

Another notable activity involves free loans of bicycles to encourage more people to get out on their bikes and realise they can cycle through the city. Other free activities will include a children’s bicycle circuit, Biciescola beginner’s bike courses, technical inspections etc. You will need to book for many of these activities.

Primavera Sound Festival celebrates 10 years at Montjuïc Castle

The line-up for the next Primavera Sound Festival, 10th edition, was dissected in the Anatomical Amphitheatre at the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia, where the names were announced of over 40 artists who are appearing on 27, 28 and 29 May at Forum Park, in addition to the 60 or so already announced.

In all, approximately 170 artists will be taking part in a Primavera Sound celebrating its tenth birthday. The birthday party, about which hardly anything is known, will be held on 26 May at Montjuïc Castle.

So, this time it will be possible to see the Pet Shop Boys, who are appearing on Saturday 29 May in what will be the first performance of the year by the English electronic pop duo. Another historic band coming to the festival are The Charlatans performing their first album, Some Friendly.

In addition, Primavera will also have DJ, producer and composer Diplo, a genuine cult figure responsible for the sound of M.I.A., Santogold and Bonde do Role, as well as remixing Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Also coming to the festival are Marc Almond, master of cabaret pop; Broken Social Scene, back after five years of being involved in other projects; CocoRosie, the freak folk of the Cassidy sisters, and The Wave Pictures, heirs of Hefner.

Along with the Pixies, Pavement, Wilco and Low, already confirmed, the presence of Junip, the band with José González, has now been confirmed, as well as Gary Numan, synth-pop pioneer; The Slits, a historic post-punk outfit, and some of the successful bands from the last Primavera Club, like Beach House and Scout Niblett.

Local names include Nueva Vulcano, Biscuit, Emilio José, Half Foot Outside, Cohete, Delorean and Mujeres.

 

www.primaverasound.com

Barcelona Walks Marina: Discover the city coastline

Barcelona Walks Marina is the name of a new Turisme de Barcelona itinerary that offers the chance to discover the city’s seafront. A route to discover the importance that the sea has for Barcelona in the different stages of its history. From the origins of Roman Barcino, which was founded on the Mediterranean coast, to the economic prosperity of the Medieval commercial harbour, to the rebuilding of the coast, to the Port Vell; from the more than 4km of beaches, to the Port Olímpic and Vila Olímpica, to the Fòrum.

The route takes in the most characteristic points of the Barcelona coastline, combining a guided tour on foot with a trip on board one of the popular pleasure boats, Las Golondrinas. With the Mirador de Colom as the departure point, the itinerary places a special emphasis on landmarks like the medieval shipyards, Drassanes Reials.

The route combines the city’s maritime history with more modern sites that have appeared in the area in recent years. As well as stopping at the Moll del Rellotge (Clock Wharf) and the tower of the lighthouse used until the end of the 18th century, it also takes in buildings that have transformed the Barcelona skyline, like the World Trade Center and those of the Fòrum.

Las Golondrinas, Barcelona harbour’s historical pleasure boats, accompany tourists for part of the route. On board one of these boats, they are shown the evolution of the Barcelona seafront over the years.

More info and tickets at: Turisme de Barcelona

New Landmark in Barcelona: Zaha Hadid Spiralling Tower

The 11-storey building, with its irregularly aligned floors, sea views and large open roof and terrace spaces, will be completed within 18 months, according to Barcelona’s mayor, Jordi Hereu.

The Spiralling Tower will add to Barcelona’s ever-increasing stock of buildings by major architects, with a triangular pavilion by fellow Pritzker winners Jacques Herzog and Pierre De Meuron a close neighbour, and residential buildings and parks by Enric Miralles and Jean Nouvel.
The spiral-shaped tower looks like a dynamic stack of books, each representing one floor out of a total of 11 floors or 48 metres. The floors are offset, permitting a generous sprinkling of terraces, gardens and outdoor spaces.The campus will contain an auditorium, shopping malls, teaching facilities and a series of public spaces on the ground floor.
The building will be almost entirely covered with glass to provide sea views and capture daylight: “I designed the tower to provide the best possible view from every room in the building”, says Zaha Hadid.

Zaha Hadid was born in 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq. She received a degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut before moving to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Winner of many international competitions, theoretically influential and groundbreaking, a number of Hadid’s winning designs were initially never built: notably, The Peak Club in Hong Kong (1983) and the Cardiff Bay Opera House in Wales (1994). In 2002 Hadid won the international design competition to design Singapore’s one-north masterplan. In 2005, her design won the competition for the new city casino of Basel, Switzerland. In 2004 Hadid became the first female recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, architecture’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Previously, she had been awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to architecture. She is a member of the editorial board of the Encyclopædia Britannica. In 2006, Hadid was honored with a retrospective spanning her entire work at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In that year she also received an Honorary Degree from the American University of Beirut.

More inf@:  Zaha Hadid Official Webisite   .::.   Wikipedia  .::.  Archdaily

Neil Young at Primavera Sound.

As usual, it will fall to Primavera Sound to take charge of bursting the city’s music thermometer, when it takes place from 28 to 30 May at the Parc del Fòrum. The event, a must for lovers of the all-time best in indie pop rock, covers a rich and diverse musical spectrum.

Shining in their own light, international classics like the fathers of shoegaze, My Bloody Valentine; Sonic Youth, the icon of ’90s’ noise; the composer Michael Nyman; Jarvis Cocker, former lead-singer of Pulp; and, in particular, the veteran, Neil Young. Young, a living legend in American folk, will be presenting songs from his new album: Fork In The Road, on Saturday 30 May at the main stage. He promises to perform for over two hours.

The poster also includes many up-and-coming groups from Barcelona’s alternative scene. That’s the case with Extraperlo and their contagious, tropical pop, the psychedelics Cuzo and QA’A, and the garage rock of Mujeres. In fact the last two groups here will be performing for free on 25 May, along with Centella and Gúdar, in several of Barcelona’s metro stations.

More inf@: www.primaverasound.com

NN Hotels with the Music: www.nnhotels.com