For street party lovers, the Merce 2015, Barcelona’s most anticipated street fest with the Festa de Gracia, has started on Friday 18th.

The Merce is to celebrate Merce, Barcelona’s patron Saint. She has a dedicated bank holiday on September 24th. Click here for the full calendar of events: La Merce 2015 calendar.

An Overview of Catalan traditions

The Merce gives an overview of Catalan traditions in one event. Watch out for the following highlights:

• Castells or human towers, as described in my post about the Festa de Gracia.
• Sardana dancing: a traditional Catalan dance better seen than told about, so go to the Plaza de la Merce on the 24th at 6:15
• The correfoc or devils’ parade: tonight in Via Laietana
• The circus at Montjuic Castle: my favourite part with the correfoc. You can see here various forms of contemporary circus with high-quality shows
• Light shows on the City Hall facade almost every day and on Casa Batllo’s facade on the 23rd. By the way, Casa Batllo organises a competition to win a dinner for two cooked by a Michelin Star chef in Casa Batllo’s amazing loft. All information here: contest. The last day to participate is on September 22nd, so hurry up!

Side events

A little note on the side events. The calendar shows the official events of La Merce but remains open-minded while going around. Sometimes you can find gems among the unofficial street artists that also take advantage of the party to showcase their talents, like this puppeteer found by chance outside the Ciutadella Park.

Now stop reading, go and enjoy yourself!