La Festa major de Poble Sec
LOS APUÑÁLALES band, performing at Jam Circus space in Poble Sec. Photo by Sebaphotography82
THE PEOPLE AND THE PLEASURES OF EL POBLE SEC
The city of Barcelona is a harbor city, and the oldest parts of the town are clustered around the excellent port in the east. Most of the important roads radiate outward from the old center, and the widest and most lively of these is the Avenue De Paral-lel.
Dotted with theaters, cinemas and restaurants, the Parallel crosses right along the northern border of the El Poble-Sec neighborhood, the entertainment district of Barcelona, where ever July the citizens put on the Festa Major De Poble-Sec (Festa is Catalan, however, you might still see it written and spoken as Fiesta de Poble-Sec).
This festival is a grand celebration of the performance arts, with a primary focus on music. Lively and large, as well as popular with the youth of the city and the neighborhood denizens, the Festa Major de Poble-Sec is usually focused on the theater of El Molino.
Live theaters are much more popular in Europe than in the U.S. and Canada, where movies and music dominate evenings out. In many European cities, such as Barcelona, theaters are as popular as music and many sports. So the length of Paral-lel that follows the Poble-Sec area serves Barcelona as Broadway serves New York, or Leicester Square entertains London. In this stretch of one hundred yards there are no fewer than five live performance theaters – Teatre Apolo, Teatre Victoria, El Molino, Teatre Comico, and Teatre Condal. Not a movie playhouse in sight! This makes the Festa Major de Poble-Sec a more visual party than most of the music festival you will find. And these are not the only theaters in the city; Barcelona is home to more than 25 large theater groups. However, the Festa Major is primarily musical, with extensive theatrical events and support giving the proceedings a wonderful sense of character and fun.
A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT ROSE TO THE BEST
The neighborhood of El Poble-Sec once suffered from economic hardship, but it has risen to become the center of Barcelona’s nightlife. The district reaches from the Avenida de Paral-lel south to Montjuїc, the Mount of the Jews, in the south, and with the Cascades steps just past the western end of the neighborhood. Running diagonally through the center of El Poble-Sec is the legendary Carrer De Blai, a pedestrian mall filled with the culture of papas and wine. This is where the Festa Major has its ground zero, as the party along the Blai mall keeps going forever. Mojitos and cervezas rule the day, while several stages are set up in various parts of the neighborhood for bands and DJ’s to perform.
In 2016, the Festa features several events beginning on the Tuesday of July 19th and running through Sunday the 24th. The primary locations included almost half of the streets that criss-cross the area. At the western end, Carrer Ricart featured several events for children. The local plazas were also booked from morning till midnight, especially Plaça de Santa Madrona, Placa Margarida Xirgu, and the Plaça del Sortidor. In the East, La Jardin de les Tres Xemeneies, the Garden of the Three Chimneys, offered an open space for performance.
BLENDING THE POPULAR WITH THE UNKNOWN
The performances of the Festa Major De Poble-Sec always include the include offbeat and the abstract. A psycho club rock ‘n roll performance event was held at Carrer Piquer this year, and dance was combined with football, called soccer by visitors from North America, at an event in the Greek theater. More numerous than oddities and experiments were fine food and popular music, occurring everywhere, at every hours. The Barcelona Festa Major De Poble-Sec is a true street party organized by the best performers in the city, and it should rate highly on your list of things to see. The festival brochure can be found here.
Try doing a search for the term, “festa major el poble-sec,” and many search engines will be able to offer you a translation of the document.