Gracia Festival Photo Review

OK, OK, I know I'm a bit late to be posting about a been-and-gone festival, but hey, Gracia Festival is one of the best in the city. When I first moved to Barcelona, I lived in Gracia for a few weeks whilst flat-hunting, and it's a great neighbourhood which stil retains the small-town feel. The festival is unlike many of the city's other offerings as lots of streets are permanently closed off to traffic and they are decorated, like caves from entrance to exit with different themes. Prizes are given each year to the best-decorated streets, and whilst it would be impossible to give you a full run-down of the amazing designs and efforts that go into the preparations, I thought it'd be fun to show you a few snaps.

I went down with my family (you'll spot them in a few pics) and purposely chose a day which would be fairly quiet to try and show the decorations, rather than the hundreds of people that gather both day and night. Each street has it's own typical meals - huge paellas, sardines on the bbq, and many meats and other typical catalan dishes.

This year, some of the best streets were the Peter Pan tribute (deserved winner), Magic Street, Coffee theme, kids themes such as Spongebob and Jungle Book, sea theme with pirates and mermaids, and even a tribute to the Beatles' Yellow Submarine. Many streets had kids paddling pools out for the heat, and the Alien/space street had great water features like valcanoes and a fountain.



Ingenious inventions with plastic bottles into laterns...
















Check out the steam!!
















Many decorations use recyclable materials...





Grilled Sardines on the barbeque...mmmmmmmmmm








The Jungle Book Tribute Street...








My kids trying to steal King Louie's banana...










great silhouettes of Peter Pan, Wendy & Michael flying through the streets




...with Tinkerbell in the tree!!




London Bus Front in Carrer Tordera...



The Yellow Submarine!!




Did you go the the festival this year? Let me know your comments!! For a quick look at the other city sights, check out this Barcelona Guide. And for some great options on accommodation, check out BCN Rentals apartments.