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barcelona’s

FESTIVAL OF FESTIVALS

A hugepopular event FESTIVAL

OF FESTIVALS

1 week long

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ARTISTICFESTIVETRADITIONAL

PARTICIPATIONMUSIC

FREEPOPULAR

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La Mercè transforms Barcelona into a grand stage bursting with fantasy and ima-gination. creativity is the driving force behind it, traditions its roots, and music an outstanding voice. over 600 activities and shows go on during the week with more than 2000 artists and professionals taking part.The wide artistic endeavour embodies the city’s values. a key element is the invol-vement of a large number of local groups and associations, with spon- sorship and collaboration from private companies. all events are free.La Mercè aims to be a reflection of the city itself - enterprising, creative and inventi-ve. Barcelona is a city moving forward with a search for innovation and evolution. the Festival manages to maintain its qual- ity while at the same time it is searching for and pre- senting new trends.

Every year, around September 24th, Barcelona celebratesLa Mercè, patron saint of the city, and its Festa Major.

A festival of festivals, it draws together between1.500.000 and 2.000.000 people during its week-long run.

Festivities, cultural and artistic, take place throughout thecity in differing public spaces.

CreativityThe driving force behindthe festival

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dance

circus

street theatre

The programpresents a carefulselection of:

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fire

light

images

technology

Large scaleevents After Dark

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La Mercè iscommitted to performers ofquality, localand international,incorporatingdifferent styles and disciplinesfor outdoor publicspaces

200COMPANIES

600performances

From11 amto 4 am

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The artists invitedto perform at La Mercè area sample of the city itself(Barcelona being an interna-tional meeting point with an 18% immigrant population).They are chosen fromthe current best shows and performances.In 2009 alone, artists came from all over the world:Russia, Morocco, the United States of America, China, Brazil, Cuba, Turkey, Pa-kistan, Australia, Sweden, Algeria, Canada...

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All in all, it is a proposal of public nature that not only wants to get the magic of per-formance closer to peo- ple’s differing interests, but also to try more risky, daring and challenging artistic experiences.This major artistic event has consolidated Barcelo- na’s position over the last years as the perfect meet- ing point for programmers and artists, and in this way has become one of the best stages on which to see some of the most brilliant artistic expression of the moment, right at the beginning of the season.

La Mercè has an artistic program, with street theatre as the outstanding feature.Dance, circus, bands, fringe, and touring shows make up the bulk of the events;

in the evenings, large format installations that combine light and new technologyare integrated with fire traditions and pyrotechnic displays.

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A journey from the past to the future

TRADITION

200YEARSOF HISTORY

From the past to the future. Traditions have always been and continue to be one of the pillars of the Festa Major

La Mercè is always in growth and development-absorbing new things from the world around,

and allowing them to continue to shape its own identity.

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«TOC D’INICI »

CAVALCADE

CASTELLERS

SARDANES

DANCES

CORREFOC

BASTONERS

GRALLERS

TRABUCAIRES...

600.000 PEOPLE ON THE STREET

In the programmeof traditionalculture alwaysincluded are:

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Over the last few years, one of the most important processes has been to rework the traditions with modern elements - the result being a folklore that is much more ac-cessible to today’s citizens of Barce- lona.The most traditional events reflect catalonia’s pop- ular culture as a whole. the toc d’inici (the start of the festival), the parade of the giants, the castellers (human cast-les), the sardanes and other dances, the correfoc (fire-run) and the street parades with bas- toners (stick dancers), grallers (a kind of oboe) and trabucaires (carrying blunderbusses), bring around 600,000 people onto the city streets, making our tra- ditional programme one of the largest public events in the whole of europe.

The Festa Major -a celebration which goes back more thantwo-hundred years. La Mercè wants to capture the character

of the city itself, a Barcelona which keeps renewing itselfand opening up to the world.

MUSICA AND BAM

MUSIC

CONCERTS FOR EVERYONE

POPULAR AND MAJORITY

It is divided into twoprograms, all outdoor

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Music playsa major role

Music festivalindependent

Festival [BAM]with the best sample of independentmusic from the Catalan, Spanish and international scene.

60CONCERTS

+ THAN

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BaM, brings together more than 70 musical events on ten different stages, and has a massive response from an audience of almost 500,000 people year after year. at the same time, la Mercè presents a series of popular concerts for the general audience, with na- tionally and internationally known pop and rock artists. Among that, a pro-gram recently started stands out, with a stage dedicated to jazz music, combining international stars with up and coming artists.

Barcelona has always been a city with a wide anddiverse musical culture, as a result of which, music plays a major

role during la Mercè. the musical events are divided into, on the one hand, a programme of popular concerts for the general audience, and

on the other, the independent music festival BaM(Barcelona acció Musical).

DIVERSITYThe cultural pulse of today

MEDELLÍN20072008200920102011201220132014

ISTANBUL

QUITO

DAKAR

MONTREAL

STOCKHOLM

SANT- PETERSBURG

VIENNA

Guest city2015 BUENOS

AIRES

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The cities of Medellin (Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), Istanbul (Turkey), Dakar (Senegal), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Montreal (Quebec-Canada), Vienna (Austria) and Stockholm (Sweden) have already shared the magic and quality of their top avant-garde artists in music, theatre, dance and film, as well as their most representative traditional expressions with the people of Barcelona. The stages of Barcelona become a great showcase for the guest city to present its culture to Catalan society.Buenos Aires will be the gest city in Mercè 2015.

Barcelona is an open city, a meeting point, a melting pot of cultu-res, origins and beliefs, that have left a mark in the history of our land. La Mercè encloses the Guest City program aimed to bringing

Barcelona’s people closer to the different cultures with whichthey coexist. Through this parallel program, a city from somewhere

else in the world is invited to present its culture and its topartistic proposals.

PARTICIPATIONThe people’s festival

Barcelona’sFesta Major

is the festivalof the people

all who arein our cityand wish

to celebrateand enjoy it

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In the last years those who havetaken part in the different

programmed eventsadd up to almost

2.000.000PEOPLE

FREE For all audiences

Free ofcharge!“everything free” is the basis of the policy for public culture, withwhich the Institute of Culture ofBarcelona(ICUB) works

Bringing culture closer to the peopleand including more daring experiences

that help us move forward

INVOLVEMENTEveryone takes part in La Mercè

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The whole of Barcelona is ready to take part in its Festa Major

More than 200 groups and associations led by the BarcelonaCity Council’s Institute of Culture are part of the festival’s organizing team

Almost 30 major companies are sponsors or collaborators...

Organizing La Mercè is one of the mostmotivating challenges in our calendar, due to its complexity and notoriety.That’s why, among other reasons,Barcelona’s City Council, organizerof the festival through its Institute of Culture (ICUB), works all year round so that Barcelona has the best possibleFesta Major

That’s the secret of its success

That’s the secret of its success

ORGANITZA:

INSTITUT DE CULTURA DE BARCELONA

Departament de Festes i Tradicions

Cap del Departament: Marta Almirall Elizalde

CONTACTE:

INSTITUT DE CULTURA DE BARCELONA

Palau de la Virreina

La Rambla, 99

08002 Barcelona

Telèfon: + 34 933161160

e-mail: festesicub@bcn.cat

www.bcn.cat/merce