September 20, 2008

The festival of Mercé!

Banners all around the city advertising for the festival

A crazy dragon that held firecrackers on its head while people walked under it

It rained but the concert was still incredible; outside in Plaza Real (my first taste of Spanish hip hop!)

No, this isn't dandruff. It's confetti that was thrown from various people in the parade at the spectators. Also, people would run OUT of the parade procession and sneak up behind parade-watchers and throw confetti on them by surprise.

A view of the stage during the rain; thought it was kind of crazy but had the feeling of the Plaza with all of the people and music!

Yes, the Spanish really do have a festival for everything, though this one, La Mercé, is the biggest of Barcelona. It is in recognition of their patron saint, Mercedes. It started Friday night and goes until tomorrow where there are the final festivities; including what are supposed to be some crazy fireworks let off from the mountain by the sea. One thing I can say I love about this festival from what I have seen so far is that you don't need to go by the schedule to find music or entertainment; either you just stumble upon it or it marches into you! There have been parades, marches, large live concerts, smaller impromptu musical acts, dancers, fireworks, a wine festival. You name it and Barcelona brought it!

Above are some pictures from Friday night's Mercé festivities.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I remember that festival! My first visit to Barcelona happened to coincide with the festival. We witnessed some cool parades and some crazy partying (not a surprise in Spain!).