Rich in tradition, culture and creativity, the city’s festes majors are among its liveliest events, seducing tourists and locals with their carnival-like vibes. Each neighborhood's festa has its own individual character—the biggest and most extravagant being the Festa Major de Gràcia.
For one week in August, the barri’s narrow streets are embellished with decorations and artwork, each one forming a tunnel that transports you to a different wonderland such as Paris, outer space or the seabed. The streets compete against each other, creating friendly but intense rivalries among neighbors.
At the time of the festival’s origins in the 19th century, Gràcia was an independent municipality—it was separate from Barcelona until being formally annexed in 1897. The festival then had a more religious nature, in place to worship and celebrate the town’s patron saint, the Virgin Mary. For this reason, celebrations always begin on August 15th (the Feast of the Assumption)—a start date that has been maintained for two centuries.
Photo by Vicente Zambrano González courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Though it’s difficult to know exactly when the festival began, the first written record dates back to 1817. Historian Francesc Curet i Payrot described a procession for the Virgin Mary that marched to the Can Trilla chapel, followed by a meal and dancing that took place in the town on August 15th. A year later, the Diari de Barcelona wrote about a similar party in Gràcia on the same date.
The evolution of the festival was driven by the enthusiastic participation of local residents and the tradition of decorating the streets, which began towards the end of the 19th century. Throughout the Franco era, the festival had a strong Catalan cultural identity but, during the Sixties and Seventies, the party started to die down and only a handful of streets were decorated. The emergence of television, the event's high consumption of electricity and the inconvenience of closing municipal streets meant that people were less tolerant of the festival, and the number of partygoers fell sharply. However, after Franco’s death and a revamp of the program, the festival was revived and continues to expand its following to this day. Now, over 20 streets contribute each year to transforming the village into an artistic jungle.
The small-town charm and community spirit have remained throughout the years, setting this festa major apart from others in the city. Every year there are conferences, concerts, exhibitions, performances, workshops and more to mark the occasion.
An inside Look at the Festa Major de Gràcia
In 2017, Barcelona Metropolitan sat down with Jordi Nacenta and Rosabel Gutierrez from the neighborhood association of Carrer Joan Blanques de Baix, to get a better understanding of how the annual festival takes shape.
The Festa Major de Gràcia is, above all, a social event. It’s about getting to know your neighbors, and both the preparations and the festival itself give the many elderly residents and people living alone in the barri the opportunity to stay involved in the community.
The amount of local participation has wavered over the years, depending a lot on the state of the economy. According to Jordi Nacenta, a member of the Associació de veïns del Carrer Joan Blanques de Baix, the more residents earn, the more they spend on holidays, while committing less time to the festival and their respective neighborhood associations. “It was interesting to see participant numbers increase during the recent recession,” said Nacenta. “We were happy to see a lot of young people joining in as well—it’s important to pass on the traditions and spirit of the festival to younger generations.”
Photo by Laura Guerrero courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Nacenta believes neighborhood associations should be accepting of anyone who wants to get involved in the festival, no matter where they’re from or where they currently live. “If a particular association closes itself off and becomes too exclusive, it’ll struggle to attract enough volunteers to keep the organization running. When I joined the association, we were on the streets every Friday to spread the word. We informed the residents of Carrer Joan Blanques de Baix that the street would be participating in the festa major and encouraged as many people as possible to get involved. Every association is responsible for making sure its neighbors know what’s going on.” Luckily, more and more people are volunteering each year and the festival has grown to include over 20 streets.
Being part of a street association requires dedication year-round, not just in August. “As soon as one festival ends, we start preparing for the next, beginning by sorting and storing any materials that can be reused,” said Nacenta. Members then brainstorm ideas for the theme of the coming year and determine what supplies are needed to make each a reality. The official theme is selected through a vote—the longer a member has been part of the association, the more weight his or her vote carries.
Photo courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
“Once we’ve decided on how to transform our street, we start allocating budgets for electricity, security measures, renting equipment and buying raw materials. Each street receives the same allowance from the Ajuntament, but we always need more, especially when more streets participate, because the Ajuntament’s fund doesn’t get bigger, the pieces it’s divided into just get smaller.”
“We have to think of creative ways to raise money and collect enough materials,” explained Rosabel Gutierrez, a newer member of the Associació de veïns del Carrer Joan Blanques de Baix and Nacenta’s wife.
“Originality is what makes the Gràcia festival the most unique in Barcelona,” said Gutierrez. In 2016, Carrer Joan Blanques de Baix celebrated 20 years of festival participation with a special commemorative theme. They adorned the block with thousands of symbolic paper hearts and strung t-shirts from window to window, with one oversized shirt positioned at the entrance of the street that read "Jo [heart] Joan Blanques." In 2015, the street was converted into an amusement park, featuring a large Ferris wheel, bumper cars and huge candies made from recycled materials.
“We’re judged mainly on the imagination behind our street, as well as its compliance with security criterion,” Gutierrez continued. “Organizing the street so that it’s safe for locals and visitors is essential. At the end of the day, you can have the most elaborately decorated street, but if your security measures aren’t up to scratch, you won’t win.” Members are also expected to support other cultural events outside of the festival, by volunteering at Gràcia’s Festa de Sant Medir, for example.
“The compassion behind the festival is what resonates most with me,” said Gutierrez. “While Jordi grew up here and has memories of helping his grandparents decorate the street, I moved here several years ago as an adult. That being said, I immediately felt welcomed and I integrated into the neighborhood by taking on a significant role in the festival. In this way, I got to know the people living around me in no time—their names, their families, their stories—which I think reflects the character of the festa major and the community that cherishes it enough to make it better every year.
Published August 2017, updated August 8, 2023.