Vigília de Corpus 2024

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Dance of the new "gegants" of Sant Roc. Photo by Edu Bayer courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

The vigil, or eve, of Corpus Christi is traditionally observed the day before, but as Corpus Christi falls on a weekday this year, Vigília de Corpus will be celebrated on June 1st so everyone can enjoy the festivities. The city’s gegants (giants) always play an important role in the celebrations, but this year the 600th anniversary of the gegants is the central theme.

Program

18:30 The festivities open with the ringing of the bells and pyrotechnics followed by a parade of the city’s gegants and capgrossos (big heads) starting at Plaça de Sant Jaume and along Carrers del Bisbe, Pietat i Comtes and Pla de la Seu. 

The gegants del Pi will dance in Plaça del Pi and continue along to Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol, Carrer del Pi, Plaça de la Cucurulla, Carrer dels Boters, Plaça Nova, Carrer del Bisbe, Santa Llúcia and Pla de la Seu.

The gegants de Santa Maria del Mar begin at Plaça de Santa Maria and dance along Carrer de l’Argenteria to Plaça de l’Àngel, Tapineria, Avinguda de la Catedral and Pla de la Seu.

19:00 Once all of the gegants have come together at Pla de la Seu they parade together through the streets along Carrer de Santa Llúcia, Palau Episcopal, Carrers del Bisbe and Pietat i Santa Clara finally ending at Plaça del Rei.

19:45 When all of the gegants have arrived in Plaça del Rei they dance in the square and panoli (a traditional anise seed cookie eaten for Corpus Christi) are distributed to the crowd.

20:30 The gegants’ final dance brings them to Plaça de Sant Jaume where a fireworks display awaits the crowd, closing the evening with a bang.