On the continent

The eighth edition of Barcelona’s festival of Asian culture is considerably shorter than its previous incarnations; just one day of activities (coinciding with the public holiday for Barcelona’s festa major) and a night-time concert, plus a few days of food stalls, compared to almost 10 days of fun and games last year. The aim of this less-is-more approach is to build on the family-focused events that were a hit in 2008.

Members of Barcelona’s Chinese, Pakistani, Filipino, Bangladeshi, Korean, Japanese and Nepalese communities will take part on the day and have all contributed to the programme of activities, which includes: concerts of traditional Indonesian music, Bengali percussion and Pakistani hip hop; demonstrations of popular sports kabbadi (Pakistan) and carrom (Nepal); and two open-air film screenings including the quietly wistful Anglo-Chinese documentary We Went to Wonderland (2008), about the film director’s parents visiting her in London then heading off to see Europe while the ailing father is still able.

Of course, one of the best ways to appreciate Asia is through the gastronomy of its constituent countries, and there will be stalls set up in Ciutadella Park from 23rd to 27th serving a variety of dishes from around the continent.

Finally, Chinese rock star ‘Old’ Cui Jian will be perfoming in Plaça Reial on the 23rd at 10.45pm. He’s only 48 but gets his nickname from the fact that he led the way with rock music in his home country in the Eighties and has kept going ever since.

Festival Asia
Parc de la Ciutadella and Plaça Reial
September 23rd to 24th
www.festivalasia.es