Woo-Hoo! It's the Raval(s) Cultural Festival 2011!!

As I've said before, I love my neighbourhood. Everyone chats to each other and there's no air of superiority like I've found in many other barris that I've lived in. I often wish I could speak so many other languages to be able to really chat to the various people I have come to know in their own language. I remember feeling frustrated in my first few years here, learning Spanish at that just-getting-by stage, as I couldn't really have proper conversations. Pleasantries were a breeze but if I was annoyed about something, then I could rarely make my point.

Anyway, enough about me. Starting tomorrow is the 9th edition of Raval(s) - a culture festival involving loads of different social groups, and celebrating the great variety of walks of life we have in the neighbourhood. According to the Fundacio Tot Raval, this year's participation is the highest yet, and if you live here, too, you'll have seen the funky posters haning up and around everywhere.

There's a really varied selection of events with Theate, poetry, dance, concerts and many guided visits to the main museums and historical buildings of the city, such as the newly re-opened Palau Güell, MACBA, CCCB, Liceu, and Sant Pau del Camp amongst others.

The festival kicks off tomorrow evening with an open concert at the Rambla Raval, and everyone is encouraged to come along and participate at 8pm. Organised by Taller de Musica in the upper Raval, it's an excuse to get those vocal chords a-warbling!

Plenty of daytime activities with painting and Henna for the kids and games of the world like cricket (!) and other stuff.

There are great deal of plays and theatre performances in the avried spaces around 08001 and for a full program of events, download the pdf here.

In recent years, I've been disappointed by the absence of live music in the raval during La Merçe festivities. When I first moved here, there was always a huge stage at the top end of the Rambla del Ravaln and it was great. During the summer, in the Festival del Barri del Raval, every little square and plaça had a concert going on with such variety - some really cool Bollywood at Nou de la Rambla, Rock in Hort de la Bomba and open mic rapping on the Rambla Raval. I made it up to MACBA late as it was raining and had just missed the concert! But you get the idea.

So I was pleased to see this year has some (early-ish) concerts each night, with Jazz on the menu as well as Cuban music, and the ever popular Raval's band. Go on, you know you want to....;o) See you there!

Festa Major Raval 2011

We're 2 days into the Festa Major of my own neighbourhood, 08001, el Raval. I've lived ion many different places in my 11 years here, and now I'm in the Raval, I doubt I'll ever leave - I love it. I hate the reputation it has on certain places on the net and different guide books, and while I'll be the first to admit it still is a bit rough in parts, it's the best place to live for me.

So what more excuse to come and ravalejar this weekend than to join in the fun with the local festival. Dance, chocolatadas, open air cinema, exotic foods with dinner on the streets, and of course, typical traditional customs like castellers, gegants and drummers round the streets.

It might sound exactly the same as some of the other local festivals that occur year round in each little neighbourhood but for me, it's the whole multi-cultural aspect of the place that you just can't get anywhere else. Every age is catered for, and activities go on all day with literally something for everyone. Some of the evening concerts worth a look in: tonight there's an Elvis tribute band playing in Nou de la Rambla/Ramblas which I can only imagine to be hilarious, and an Intercultural Folklore dance night on Saturday with South American groups showing their national colours and moves followed by a dance until the wee hours. I went to the Parallel festival at carnaval last year, and those guys were awesome!

If you're looking for accommodation for your trip to Barcelona, be sure to check out Barcelona apartments instead of a stuffy hotel room.

Local Festivals - Raval

Barcelona always seems to have a festival going on somewhere. Apart from the big music festivals like Summercase, Sonar, this weekend's Sonisphere Rock gig, the Greek Theatre festival, la Merçe in September, Sant Joan....the list could go on. Well, apart from all of these, each neighbourhood organises it's own festival during the year. Perhaps one of the best is the Gracia festival where the tiny streets of the neighbourhood are decorated to the maximum.

However, this weekend from the 16th to 19th July, it's the Raval's turn. Last year's festival was a melting pot of different cultures combining to offer both traditional and international games and exhibitions. This year's programme seems to be following suit. There are also guided tours available in the MACBA, Liceu opera House, Palau Güell and Sant Pau del Camp Monastery to be taken advantage of, too.

Highlights this year include clowning activities for the kids; Friday's concert involving Mumba, Celtic music, Rock and Merengue all presented by a drag queen; Saturday's evening concert in the Rambla del Raval; Abbey Road Beatles tribute band and the Giants processions at 12noon on Sunday, too.

Looking for accommodation for this coming weekend? Try apartments for rent in Barcelona as a great way to save money. And for a quick review of the city's sights, see this great Barcelona Guide.

Local festivals - El Raval

The great thing about Barcelona is that although it's a city, and every city is made up of neighbourhoods, Barcelona's neighbourhoods have their own style and character, and this is something I'm still impressed by. Each neighbourhood has their own special dates for celebrating their own little area, and they more than often don't co-incide, meaning that there's a festival in Barcelona (of some scale) almost every month - and I'm not talking about the Sonar, La Merce, Christmas/Kings day celebrations, San Joan, the list could go on...

Three typical "barrios" known for their local festivals are Gracia, Barceloneta and Poble Sec. I suppose this has got to do with the size of the streets, and the compact nature of the planning - especially in Barceloneta and Gracia. The Gracia festival is amazing - they decorate the streets with very ornate paper-mache-style figures and lots of decorations dangling from the buldings at either side, like a blanket of colour above you. Barceloneta is the same, with whole streets cordened off and stages set up for typical dances, childrens flamenco and the like.


However, one local barrio festival perhaps overlooked is that of the Raval. This is my neighbourhood and I have to say is given a hard time by the majority. Historically it has been a hotbed of crime, brothels, drugs and prostitution, but nowadays it is the most multicultural place on the planet (official figures released in 2006 showed the highest number of local immigrants in such a small space as any other place in the world), and although it still has it's seedy parts, and the odd few prostitutes, I know of equally as dangerous places in Barcelona when it comes to petty crime.



This weekend has celebrated the Raval local festival, and although I haven't had time to see it all, I know that there were historical photos on display (the old prison on Calle Reina Amalia, where the new apartments are being built!), there were free concerts all weekend, the local market - all local designers with clothes, bags and other accesories - was buzzing all weekend, and then today saw the ever-amazing human castles. These are usually always associated with La Merce festival, and are braodcast on TV, etc. but judging by today's crowds, not many people knew it was going on, and I like that about it - it made it more for us: the people of the neighbourhood.



I thoroughly enjoyed watching the formation so up close, and saw little techniques used as well which gave me an insight. The first guy on the bottom, who hold the most weight for example, bites the end of the collar of his shirt very tightly in either side of his mouth. This seemed puzzling at the time, but then it's so that everyone else climbing up his back don't slip on the cotton of his shirt! Ingenious!!
There were a few variations, and what better backdrop than the new Barcelo Raval hotel, which seems to be finally reaching it's end of construction.

Barcelona apartments for groups and Cheap barcelona apartments.