Carme Solé's opening speech inaugurates a Mercè with Casablanca as the guest of honour
The city celebrates the Festa Major from 20 to 24 September with music, street arts, traditions, fireworks and a pyromusical signed by Rosalía, among many other activities.
An illustrated speech that will invite us to enjoy the festival and to stroll around Casablanca will open on Thursday, 20th September a Mercè that will last until Sunday 24th. Carme Solé i Vendrell, an illustrator from Barcelona who, from the Saló de Cent and at 7 p.m. (there are screens that allow you to follow the event from Plaça de Sant Jaume), will invite you to intensely enjoy the entertainment programmed for the next few days, which includes many proposals related to the host city of La Mercè 2024.
All this is announced in a poster in which the Barcelona-based audiovisual production company Canada has explored the possibilities of the audiovisual medium, creating a clip that tells a short story (a baby who never stops crying is only calmed by the passing of a cat in front of his window) in audiovisual format. The images of the Mercè 2024 posters have been taken from this short film.
You too will be like the child in the advertisement, bewildered by the festive proposals of La Mercè. Everything starts on the 20th, when you can visit exhibitions of popular culture (exhibition of the Seguici Popular, Mostra de Gegants de Barcelona, Mostra de dracs i bèsties de foc…) or exhibitions dedicated to Josep Anselm Clavé, on the centenary of the birth of the musician, of whom, in addition, the zarzuela L’aplec del Remei will be performed on the 23rd.
From this point on, there are many proposals dedicated to tradition, including the commemoration this year of the 650th anniversary of the City’s Eagle, for which a participative activity has been prepared. Come and join in and make it dance. Don’t miss the International Meeting of Gegants or, on 24 September, the Cavalcada de La Mercè, the 74th sardanes contest (22 September in the avinguda de la Catedral) or, on the same day, the Diada Històrica Castellera, with the Colla Jove Xiquets de Valls and the Minyons de Terrassa as guests of the host group, Castellers de Barcelona.
Over 270 performances by some 75 companies dedicated to street arts or circus take part in the activities of the Mercè Arts de Carrer, a festival within the Mercè that brings together some of the best proposals (for families or adults) of the Festa Major, many of which, as you can see, come from Casablanca. Don’t miss the Colokolo Cirque, the urban and visual arts creations of Salah Malouli, or examples of the collaboration between Catalan and Moroccan musicians, such as the concert by Maalem Hassan Boussou Ensemble and Raúl Rodríguez Ensemble, which brings together 13 musicians from different origins in a dialogue between gnawa and flamenco music. The show Iron Modvm, also featuring urban artists from both cities, and concerts by figures such as Aïta Mon Amour, hip-hop and reggae midway between Barcelona and Morocco by Pinan 450F and the Moroccan singer-songwriter of modern popular music, OUM, are some of the other dates with music from Casablanca. At Barcelona Acció Musical (BAM), finally, we will also have urban music by Shobee, L’Beel, Salam Group, 3dnan and Malika, Cheb Kerem and Cheb Runner.
Among the musical events (there are many interesting ones), don’t miss the concert Els 50 de Zeleste, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Sala Zeleste on 22 September on Carrer de l’Argenteria.
There will also be music at the Piromusical which, on the 24th in the evening, brings the Festa Major celebrations to an end. This is not just any firework display, but a gift to the city from the singer Rosalía, an international talent who has chosen the music that will be played in this year’s spectacle of light and explosions of colour for all the people of Barcelona.
These are just some of the many Festa Major activities you can enjoy these days. Check out the full programme on the Mercè website.
