Gracia Arts Festival - Barcelona
By Nancy Todd
Festivals abound in Spain. Everyone here loves a good party. Your Scoopettes have the Big Scoop on some of the best for August. If you are here from out of town, check out our scoop on hotels in Barcelona.
Festivals In Spain
l. Rock out – Major Festival of Gracia – This authentic Barcelona neighborhood is off the tourist path and reflects Gracia’s locals: hipsters, bohemians, oldsters, kids in strollers, immigrants, etc. Music stages blast it out from plazas and small lanes. Neighbors of all ages join to make street decorations, usually of recyclables, some hokey, some clever. The artistic quality doesn’t matter – the spirit does. Every night of the week and Friday and Saturday nights till 3.30 a.m. August 15 – 21. http://festamajordegracia.cat/ Need a break for tapas? We have the goods on good tapas.
2. Listen and relax – Santander Classical Music Festival – Lounge on the beach all day. Get some culture at night in the Santander region at the 59th Annual Festival. Opera, ballet, chamber music, symphonies. Tickets can be purchased on line in advance or at the door. All of August.
3. Yell for your favorite horse - Horse Racing in Andulucia is wild. No, you are not hallucinating if you see jockeys in full regalia running their steeds along the beach. San Lucas de Barrameda, second and fourth weekends. Check out horse racing on regular tracks, Seville and Mias Costa. http://www.andalucia.com/rural/horseriding/racing.htm
4. Throw and take out your aggressions – La Tomatina Festival. Splat. Bam. Splash. Tomato tough folks throw over 90,000 tomatoes at each other in the village of Bunol, about 20 miles from Valencia. Trucks loaded tomatoes park on the main drag. Throwers in the trucks then lob tomatoes to over 20,000 revelers who then throw them at each other. This bizarre festival started in 1945. Some say it was to commemorate the tomato, others say that teens out for a good time began this ritual which happens the last Wednesday in August. Most people wear swim goggles to prevent the sting of acid. Showers, if you are lucky to get one, are on side streets for the fans. Many Brits, ready to throw, fly in for the day. www.tomatina.es
Write us about your favorite festivals in Spain.
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[...] find that my Barcelona schedule is fuller than ever. There is something on every night of the week. Right now the Festa de Sants is in full swing, and I plan to check it out during the week. Live music, food, and [...]