It's all greek

The city’s focus turns to the world of performance throughout the month of July as the Grec Festival de Barcelona returns for its 41st edition. ‘El Grec’, as it’s known by most locals, encompasses music, theatre, circus and dance, and transforms Barcelona into a global reference point for the arts, with local talent performing alongside more international productions. 

El Grec gets its name from the original venue chosen for the festival when it began in 1976. The Teatre Grec is an open-air theatre built for the Barcelona International Exposition in 1929 on the site of a disused quarry on Montjuïc. From its beginnings in the immediate aftermath of Franco’s death until now, the festival has grown steadily, with more than 30 locations across the city taking part this year. However, year in and year out, the Teatre Grec has remained the festival’s focal point.  

This year’s programme features a total of 102 different shows, 27 of which are premieres. Highlights include the Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger, performing its spellbinding acrobatics once again at the festival, this time in a brand new show titled Halka, which explores the role of women in North African societies through the medium of traditional Moroccan acrobatics. Meanwhile, music lovers can enjoy show tunes accompanied by a symphony orchestra at the Nit de Musicals. And in an altogether riskier affair, the Barcelonés dancer, and winner of the 2005 Catalan National Prize for Dance, Marta Carrasco, will star in ‘Perra de nadie’, a choreographed production that brings together horror and comedy. 

A number of the artists performing over the course of the month, as well as Cesc Casadesús i Calvó, El Grec’s director, will also give talks exploring their shows in greater depth at El Grec i les Biblioteques. Another parallel event, Grec_creació, will host workshops geared towards the city’s thespians, and supports and promotes local artists doing residencies in the city. And Grec_Activitats presents a lineup of alternative activities taking place during the festival, including open-air film screenings and a reading of the Catalan poet Josep Palau i Fabre’s work.  

For more information on this year’s programme and how to buy tickets, visit lameva.barcelona.cat/grec.