The promotion of safe culture and the commitment to local talent were the hallmark of this edition of La Mercè, which offered more culture through a combination of on-site activities and others to follow live from home.

Open Mercè

Given the Covid-19 crisis and the need to limit audience numbers and avoid build-ups of people, this year’s edition ramped up its virtual section of the programme by broadcasting eleven concerts a day on Betevé and the Barcelona Cultura website. The activities shown on both these channels attracted 250,000 spectators on 24 September and 270,000 on 26 September. The largest numbers of viewers were for the opening speech by Tortell Poltrona and the concert by Maria del Mar Bonet.

The website for La Mercè, offering details on the complete programme and access to live performances, attracted 2,360,000 visits.

On-site activities for La Mercè

The sixty stages around the city’s ten districts hosted 371 concerts, street arts shows and popular culture events on 24, 26 and 27 September. Of the 100,000 tickets available, 5,000 were for traditional events, while 45,000 were for shows making up the MAC Festival and 48,000 were for concerts from the Barcelona Acció Musical (BAM), BAM Cultura Viva and La Mercè és Música sections.

In terms of attendance, audience numbers on 24 and 26 September averaged 65%, even though all concert tickets had been booked, with 95% for shows from the MAC Festival and 75% for popular culture events.