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Dates 2025 not yet confirmed
Carnival, a festivity based on the lunar calendar and eagerly anticipated by Catalans, always begins on a Thursday (Fat Thursday) and ends on the following Wednesday (Ash Wednesday). Carnival is synonymous with partying, bustling crowds, costumes, parades and so on. In short, it is a week given over to hedonism and having a good time being the forerunner to the period of fasting and deprivation represented by the Christian tradition of Lent.
These days, beyond the excesses, Carnival is a light-hearted popular festival based around the crazy figure named El Rei Carnestoltes (The Carnival King). While carnival is celebrated in almost every town and village throughout Catalonia, the places that historically stand out for their particular traditions are Barcelona, Sitges, Vilanova i la Geltrú and Torelló. However, wherever you may be during the festivities, you will be able to try some of the delicious traditional Carnival dishes: the coca de llardons (flatbread with pancetta) or botifarra d'ou (pork sausage containing egg).In an age when most of us apparently touch our mobile phones over 2,600 times a day, it doesn't feel like an exaggeration to say that this annual gathering of mobile industry insiders will have an impact on all our lives in the months and years to come. Barcelona (which is now known as the Mobile World Capital) has hosted this event for the past years, making it the global hub for discussions, networking, training, forums and demonstrations for anyone and everyone who's involved in mobile technology (Mark Zuckerberg has been a regular attendee in recent years).
Discover Benvinguts a Pagès, an exciting proposal that allows you to explore the richness of Catalan agriculture all year round. This initiative offers the opportunity to visit local agri-food and fishing farms, including the chance to take part in experiential workshops. Whether you're a food lover, a family in search of unique experiences or a curious youngster, Benvinguts a Pagès has something for you. Also, don't miss La Festa, which takes place on 1 and 2 June, where you can immerse yourself even more in authentic Catalan culinary culture.
Fórmula 1 AWS Gran Premio de España
Those loud engines are getting ready to rev once more at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Over three days, Barcelona hosts the ninth event of this year's F1 Championship Season, the Fórmula 1 AWS Gran Premio de España. This is undoubtedly one of the biggest dates on Barcelona's sporting calendar, and an amazing opportunity to see the celebrated drivers and teams taking part in one of the most thrilling sports in the world.
Dates 2025 not yet confirmed
The European Balloon Festival in Igualada is the biggest gathering of hot air balloons in Spain and welcomes around 25,000 visitors over four days the first fortnight of July. It's a meeting point, a competition and a festival in one, with more than 50 balloons taking to the air. Competitive flights take place early in the morning and at dusk, when conditions are ideal, and if you want a taste of the high life, balloon rides can be booked in advance. Fly among a mass of Balloons from several counties of the world.
But there's plenty to enjoy from ground level, whether it's the different skill challenges in the competition, live music, kids' activities and workshops, or the magical Night Glow event, in which balloons are fired up but don't take off, glowing like lanterns and accompanied by a fireworks display.
Dates 2025 not yet confirmed
Cruïlla Festival is ideal for those people looking for top-notch indie and alternative musicians, along with smaller crowds and a more compact programme. Placed in the same venue as Primavera, the Parc del Fòrum.Every September, the beautiful central Catalan town of Vic hosts an extensive 'market of live music', which this year celebrates its 36th anniversary, aimed at giving both professionals and the public the chance to hear a wide range of different genres and discover new acts, as they enjoy of concerts and related activities. A lot of the focus is on artists from Catalonia, Spain and the Mediterranean area, but musicians from other places can also be found on the programme.
Performances, some of which are free, are given across the city at venues both indoors and out, including the emblematic Plaça Major, and throughout the event the streets are filled with buskers, adding to the musical extravaganza taking place. While there, it's also worth taking the time to explore Vic, a place rich with history, from the Roman temple to the cathedral, ecclesiastical museum, and medieval and modernista buildings. And don't forget to try the local gastronomic speciality, cured meats.Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya
Inaugurated years ago as the world's first film festival dedicated to the fantastic genre, today it's become the region's biggest celebration of the moving image. The picturesque seaside town of Sitges, 30 minutes down the coast from Barcelona, hosts hundreds of films from around the globe, including animation, rom-com and gangster as well as its core themes of gore, horror and fantasy.
Running in parallel to the screenings are exhibitions, master classes and Q&A sessions, special events focused on television series, the chance to see films using virtual reality technology, plus a crowded Zombie Walk through the streets of Sitges.This sporting event combining swimming, cycling and running is undoubtedly on the rise and becoming a trend among those who are looking for a more varied exercise that provides more than just one single sport. It is no surprise that the Barcelona Triathlon attracts thousands of people to its waterfront every year.
With four distances and modalities available, participants can choose between supersprint, sprint, elite short, aquathlon and olympic, taking part as individuals, in couples (both should finish the race together) or as a relay team for olympic and sprint (with two of more members sharing the effort).
This year, in addition, the Barcelona Triathlon adapts the circuit for the youngest with the Junior Challenge, for boys and girls between 12 and 17 years old.
Watch a videoThis is one of the most keenly anticipated and widely celebrated Catalan public holidays. According to the traditional tale, Sant Jordi (Saint George) killed the dragon that used to live in Montblanc where it terrorized the local population, thus saving the king's daughter from certain death. Legend has it that a beautiful rose bush sprang up in the spot where the dragon's blood was spilled. From the 18th century onward, the Sant Jordi festival became widely identified as a Catalan 'fiesta' which these days arouses great popular, civic and cultural passion. On Sant Jordi's Day, lovers exchange a rose and a book and every town and city in Catalonia is filled with stalls set up to sell both.