There are so many festivals in Barcelona and each neighborhood in the city has it’s own major festival. August brings one of the biggest festivals, Mayor De Gracia. Soon after, September brings Mayor Les Corts and Mayor Sarria. Sarria is a quieter part of the city, with a few pedestrian only streets. These festivals have outdoor bars setup so you can grab a walking cerveza or vermouth and stuffed olives for cheap.
Mayor De Gracia
This was the highlight between these festivals. It might be the biggest neighborhood festival between them. The neighborhood plans all year long with a committee and a mass of volunteers. They work together to build a theme for several of the streets within. These streets are blocked off for 7 days. Each are decorated and transformed to be a walk thru experience. They are fashioned with some craft and a whole lot of cardboard.
Mayor De Sarria
Very different from the Gracia festival, Sarria was focused around it’s main plaza and pedestrian area. There were activities for the kids, and more street food and drink for the adults. We went early, missing some of the events taking place, like the parade of the giants. I did get to enjoy this festival for a little more of it’s peacefulness. There was a bandstand setup, with live music. They were several musical acts over the course of the weekend.
These festivals tend to attract pop-up carnivals. There always seems to be at least one of these setup somewhere throughout the whole year. Since we hit this festival at an odd time, we had the whole bumper cars to ourselves!
Of course it was also time for mom and dad to sit so we grabbed tapas at a nearby local. It’s one of several excellent establishments on the walk home. Nora was able to pull out and read her prized new copy of The Gruffalo. And as always, this table was on top of a playground, so Nora played while we continued imbibing.
