Festival 42

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Dragons, the quintessential of fantastic beings, are already flying over to the fourth edition of 42, the Barcelona Fantasy Genre Festival, which will fill the Fabra i Coats factory with winged, powerful creatures from myths, legends, literature, science fiction, illustrations and video games. In honor of the Chinese Year of the Dragon, this year’s festival will celebrate that Barcelona is known as Drakcelona, that for the Sant Jordi holiday, we dance with the beast, and that we enjoy its presence in many of the literary hits of the season. Dragons aren’t coming to 42; they’re returning. They’ve always been here.

As J.R.R. Tolkien once said, a dragon can be a metaphor, but it’s often a pleasure, an aesthetic category, a celebration of the genre, and one of the best ways to let talent and imagination soar. That’s why this fourth edition will feature dragons, both physical and literary, widely known and completely unknown, linked to today’s world and deeply rooted in our past. And not just fantasy dragons, but dragons from the worlds of archaeology and technology, dragons championing social and environmental causes, dragons who will warn us, dragons who will make us laugh, dragons who will terrify us. Even if you don’t consider yourself a dragon person, there’s a dragon for everyone at the festival. Dragons will roam the panel discussions, conversations, talks and presentations.

And they won’t be alone. As always, 42 Festival seeks to cover all sub-genres and related media, and the 2024 edition is no exception, with themes including water, popular science, young adult literature, folk horror, recommendations on social media, the tradition of the genre and current trends, all led by over a hundred local and international authors.

The three-day event will include activities that go beyond books and authors, including workshops, talks, discussions, live podcasts, games, theater, book signings, competitions, literary tours and more.

For more events check our online events calendar.