La Mercè Festival Barcelona 2023

La Mercè Festival Barcelona 2023

La Mercè is the annual festival of the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It has been an official city holiday since 1871 when the local government first organized a program of special activities to observe the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, La Mare de Déu de la Mercè in Catalan.

• Are you visiting La Mercè? Stay close to all the events at the H10 Madison, with spacious rooms and a sublime rooftop pool.

The Party

• Barcelona La Mercè lasts for around five days and bids goodbye to the summer with a bang and welcomes in the cooler months of autumn.
• La Mercè is a local holiday in Barcelona observed on September 24th each year. The festival itself is a four-day event featuring more than 500 activities, shows and cultural events.
• Most of the events occur in the Plaça de Jaume in the Gothic Quarter.

Event Highlights

• The streets of Barcelona are transformed with events, parades, fire runs (Correfoc) and thousands of people. The most traditional activities of the Mercè Festival are, in fact, a compendium of popular culture from all over Catalonia. Here are the most popular:

The Correfoc

• Fire Run. Join the beasts and run during the fire along Via Laietana from 8 pm.
• Visitors dance under sparkling fireworks as a parade of Devils wreak havoc on the city streets. If you intend to dance in the fire parade, make sure you wear a hat and some glasses for protection.

Castellers

• Watch the human towers on Plaça de Sant Jaume from 11am.
• The Human Tower event is one of the festival highlights. Arrive early as it attracts thousands of visitors. The Castellers aim to build a human tower. Once the tower is complete, the group’s youngest member, typically a small child, will climb to the top of the tower and stand, raising their hand as the crowd cheers in appreciation. Human towers require a lot of planning and teamwork, and the result is quite a sight. Highly recommended.

Gigantes

• The Giant Parade on Plaça de Sant Jaume from 11am.
• Ten-foot giants with effigies of kings, queens and nobles march through Barcelona. The giants spin and dance to traditional music played by the accompanying marching bands.

Light Projection Show

• One of the most memorable events during La Mercè is the Light Projection show, as the buildings of Plaça St Jaume are light up with specially commissioned projected images. The show takes place each evening.

Gay Celebrations

• The festival attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors and the gay bars are full each night.
• Many of the club nights will host special parties on the 23rd of September, as the following day is a public holiday.
• The Gay district of Eixample is a 12 minute drive from the  Gothic Quarter.

Where to stay?

Here are the hotels we recommend that have good reviews and keep you close to all the action

Hotel El Palace,  H10 Metropolitan,  Catalonia Plaza, Cram