Exhibitions

Laias, the giantesses

From 3 to 12 February. From 10 am to 8 pm.
The exhibition will be closed on Thursday 8, due to the start of the Carnival.
Palau de la Virreina (La Rambla, 99)

All the Ciutat Vella giantesses will gather in the Palau de la Virreina before the Santa Eulàlia Festivities. There you will find the “gegantona” lesser giant Laia, Laia and Laieta from Plaça Nova, Laia and Elisenda from Plaça del Pi, the Queen of Saba from Santa Maria del Mar, the Rodanxona and Borda from the Casa de la Caritat and many more giantesses, awaiting your visit! Violant, the city’s giantess, will also be showing off the image of the Olympic Games year, in celebration of 600 years of giants in Barcelona.
On Monday 12, as part of Santa Eulàlia’s Day, you can see them dance through the streets from 6.30 pm onwards in the Passejada de

 

les Laies (Walk of the Laias).

Display of Barcelona’s children's and school giants
From 3 to 9 February. From 10 am to 8 pm.
Inauguration 4 February, at 11 am. 
Pati Manning courtyard (Carrer de Montalegre, 16)

Kids are at the centre of the Santa Eulàlia Festivities, so they will be playing the starring role in many of the grassroots activities. For over 20 years, in the days before the city’s winter festa major, the children’s giants have gathered in the Pati Manning courtyard in the Casa de la Caritat, on exhibition before the start of the festa.
Besides the smallest giants from the children’s groups, there will also be dozens of other giants, “gegantons” (lesser giants) “capgrosses” (big-heads), “cuques” (bugs) and “cavallets” (little horses) from the schools of Barcelona, where they live happily during the year, to come out for a few days during Santa Eulàlia to be put on display for kids visiting the Pati Manning. 
On Saturday 10 February, there is a great opportunity to watch the dance of all these figures who, during the year, accompany the children in their school life and open the door to learning about popular culture. 
Their street parade starts at 11.30 am, from the Plaça dels Àngels, and ends at 1 pm in Plaça de Sant Jaume.
Will you be coming to see your school’s giant?

 

Exhibition of children's beasts

From 27 January to 14 February.
From 10 am to 8 pm. Closed Mondays.
Saturday, 10 February, open from 10 am to 2 pm.
El Born CCM (plaça Comercial, 12)

The children’s beasts of the city leave their cave for Santa Eulàlia! These figures, depicting real and fantastic animals and charged with symbolism and representations of their neighbourhoods and districts, will all be on exhibition in a perfect setting in El Born.
This year, the exhibition and activities will be more inclusive than ever. Along with sign language interpretation of the activities, posters will also be available in Braille. Furthermore, on Sunday, 28 January, the Plaça Comercial will be the venue for an event based on the new inclusive beast and the search for its name, from 10 am to 2 pm. 
But that’s not all! The Gathering of Beasts is an opportunity to enjoy a unique, immersive experience. You can relive the start of the La Mercè festivities in 360 degrees with virtual reality goggles.
This year, 2024, the “Cavallets Cotoners” little horses will be celebrating the 600th anniversary. For this reason the Gathering of Beasts, together with the Esbart Català traditional dance group, have organised an exhibition on the history of this element of the Seguici Popular (popular procession). The exhibition will also include talks by several speakers.
All set for a beastly Santa Eulàlia!

 

La Casa dels Entremesos

From Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 7 pm.
Closed Sunday and Monday.
Permanent exhibition: “The festive images of Barcelona: giants, dwarfs, beasts and puppets”.
Temporary exhibition: “In February, Santa Eulàlia”.
From 7 February to 31 March.
Presentation of the “L’entremès de l’Àliga a Catalunya” by Daniel Vilarrúbias.
Thursday 15 February, at 8 pm.
Plaça de les Beates, 2.

Have you ever seen the house of the city’s giants and beasts? In the Casa dels Entremesos you will find many of the figures that feature in the Santa Eulàlia Festivities. Don’t worry if you can’t find all of them, as the giantesses will be in the Palau de la Virreina, the “gegantona” lesser giants in the Pati Manning courtyard and the children’s beasts in El Born.
As well as the exhibition of giants and beasts, you can also visit the temporary exhibition “In February, Santa Eulàlia”, which looks back at the history of the festa since 1983 through its official images and activities. And that’s not all, as Thursday, 15 February will see the presentation of Daniel Vilarrúbias’s study “L’entremès de l’Àliga a Catalunya” a work which seeks to answer who the Catalan processional and festive eagles are, when they appeared, what they were like and what they did.