Barcelona Local Gems: Fiesta de Gracia
Fiesta de Gracia, one of Barcelona’s iconic neighborhood events, is one of the city’s best-known Summer Fiestas: a Definite Don’t Miss.
The summer fiesta has been around for 200 years and celebrated its bicentennial in 2017.
Starting mid-August and lasting for a full week, the fiesta transforms some twenty streets of Barcelona’s Gracia neighborhood in a show of colors, whim, and creativity – the result of year-long preparations for this friendly neighborly contest.
Looking forward to the 2018 street art display, I remembered the first time I came across the infamous Fiesta de Gracia: a surprising silver lining of an otherwise tragic week.
In 2017, the festivities of Fiesta de Gracia were significantly darkened by the shadow of the Ramblas terrorist attack – which left the city in a quiet stupor, and the tourists clueless on what to go from there. That was possibly the least crowded week of summer…
Nevertheless, things slowly but surely came back to normal, and streets got steadily packed with people again.
Fiesta de Gracia’s Amazing Street Decorations
The prospect of visiting Barcelona on a hot August day should most certainly not discourage you from hitting the streets of Gracia, in search of this year’s themed decorations. Fiesta de Gracia elicits the curiosity of both locals and (mostly unsuspecting) tourists alike.
The best advice is to go see it with your eyes; each year, different themes pop up, a seasonal testament to the locals’ imaginations and skills.
See the 2017 Fiesta de Gracia summary pictorial below
Fantasy Street Decorations
Bacchus Themed Decorations
Russian / Communist Themed Street
Communal lunches and dinners are organized by neighbors and enjoyed in the open air.
The Fiesta de Gracia Bicentennial Attraction: King Kong
A Neverending Story: Childhood nostalgia turned street art
Some more creative, scarier street decorations at Fiesta de Gracia 2017
Rockin’ it at Fiesta de Gracia
Childhood memories turned Street Art: Little Prince
See the event’s own Photo Gallery here.