Barcelona Online | What's on in Barcelona

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2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009...
We had Gaudí Year in 2002, the "Year of Design" in 2003 and the ghastly Forum in 2004, the "Year of Gastronomy" in 2005, Picasso Year in 2006, and celebrated Science Year in 2007. We're not sure what 2008 was supposed to have been... Or 2009, or 2010. The recession, perhaps...?

Picasso? Science?! I'm only coming to Barcelona for the football!

Football? I hate football! Take me straight to the concerts!

June 13—August 1
Grec Festival
The Grec is one of Barcelona's major annual festivals, with events including music, theatre, dance and circus...

Tickets can be booked online (via Telentrada), but obtaining tickets and information is probably going to be much easier from the ticket and information office at the top of the Portal de l'Àngel, in the south-east corner of the Plaza Catalunya.

July 26-August 1
European Athletics Championships
July brings one of the world's major athletics championships to Barcelona's Olympic Stadium.

•Not so hot: Er... can I just ask: are any of these people not on drugs?
•Languages: English, Spanish, Catalan

July 5-August 6
Open air cinema
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, for a lamentably short period, there's open-air cinema, the film starting at 10.00pm, under the walls on the fort on Montjuic (free bus service from the Plaza España). The 2010 programme includes Charlie Chaplin, El verdugo (García Berlanga), Revolutionary Road (Sam Mendes), Rockandrolla (Guy Ritchie) ...

Bring your picnic supper along beforehand and enjoy some live jazz to go with it. A cool way to spend a hot summer night.

•We liked: The walk round the castle walls afterwards in the moonlight
•Not so hot: Some of the films on the programme... But hey, I'm going for the picnic
•Languages: English, Spanish, Catalan

15-21 August
Festa Major de Gràcia
Gràcia, once separated from Barcelona by green fields, is now one of its more bohemian districts, much loved by those into ethnic restaurants and spending the day lounging on café terraces as well as being home to Barcelona's punks and squatters. It is also home to one of the more vibrant street festivals, with 600 events (dance, theatre, music...) over 9 nights.

The neatly designed site has the basic information about what's on...

•We like: The annual competition to decorate the streets
•Too hot: Barcelona in August
•Languages: Catalan only

Concerts
For what is on in the way of classical music, opera and the like, see what's on at the Palau de la Musica and the Liceu Opera House (two places well worth visiting for their architecture, even if you are not that keen on that sort of music). Tickets for these can be obtained from ServiCaixa, see below, which also has a rather frustrating to navigate calendar of events.

Classical music is also on at the Auditori, home to Barcelona's Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC). Tickets for this can be obtained from Telentrada (see below).

Barcelona concert tickets
ServiCaixa and Telentrada
Servicaixa is one of best sources of tickets for concerts and other events in Barcelona, being run by La Caixa, the city's major bank. Tickets can be bought online or at cashpoints throughout the city.

Telentrada is the online ticket service from rival bank Caixa de Catalunya.

Concert details are also to be found at concert promoters Doctor Music and concert tickets can also be obtained from TickTackTicket.

Football
Having won six major trophies in 2009, Barça [website] were disappointed to win "only" the ridiculously one-sided Spanish league this time round, having got knocked out of the semi-finals of the Champions to Inter Milan by Mr Evil, aka José Mourinho, now the new coach at arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Give or take a minor World Cup, we now (thankfully!) get a lamentably short break from football in Barcelona until August, though there is always the annual guessing game of which of the band of mercenaries aka Barça will get ditched (Ibra, most likely) and who will be the big new names (Cesc).

The first opportunity to see Barça at home this season will be the return leg of the Supercopa, August 21, against Seville, with the Gamper Trophy game against Milan after that on August 25.

The first home league game of the season (which kicks off August 29) is against Hercules (September 12).

Tickets to see Barça can generally be obtained from the club office's on Av.Arístides Maillol outside the stadium or from ServiCaixa (see above).

A visit to the Barça museum includes a look inside the stadium itself, one the world's biggest.

Espanyol [website], Barcelona's "other" first division side are now in a new stadium, out in Cornellà (to get there, take the FGC train line from Plaza Espanya, stopping at either Cornellà-Riera or Almeda).

July 31 sees Espanyol's first pre-season game, against Sampdoria. The first home league game of the new season for Espanyol is against Getafe on August 29.

See also our Barcelona Sports page.

More on information on what's on in Barcelona
Guia del ocio
Barcelona's Time Out (well, no, you'll be disappointed if we say that), the Guia del ocio comes out on Thursdays and is to be found in the kiosks – or here on the Web.

Sections on cinema, theatre, restaurants, music, bars, art, hotels, gay Barcelona, tourism, "fiestas-erótica" (come again?) and a classifieds section.

•We liked: Its cinema listings and the site as a source of basic information (opening times etc).
•Not so hot: That beastly little pop-up!
•Languages: Largely Spanish, with the Tourism section (only) in English

LeCool.com
LeCool have a great little weekly e-mail bulletin of what's happening in Barcelona (with Madrid and Lisbon editions also available). Coming out every Thursday it features "events and leisure activities", with "exhibitions, movies, concerts & DJs as well as a careful selection of extraordinary bars, restaurants".

•We liked: Knowing what is on in Barcelona today...
•Not so hot: That horizontal scroll bar!
•Languages: Available in English and Spanish

What's on in Barcelona

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