Top-class music

The city is already planning an extensive calendar of concerts, with something for everyone. The Palau Sant Jordi, the Olympic Stadium and the city’s various festivals will be bringing artists of the pedigree of Bruce Springsteen, Simple Plan, Lana del Rey, J Balvin, Karol G, Maná, Depeche Mode, Olivia Rodrigo, Jonas Brothers, Bad Gyal, Luis Miguel and Marc Anthony.

Some of the most legendary and crowd-pulling festivals are back too, including the Primavera Sound, from 29 May to 2 June, the Sónar, from 13 to 15 June, and the Cruïlla, from 10 to 13 July. Before these, the electronic and digital art festival Mutek will be taking place from 9 to 13 April. The city will be offering other musical events in the summer too, such as Nits de Barcelona at the Palau de Pedralbes and the Alma Festival at the Poble Espanyol.

Another of the year’s big music occasions is the 2024 BCN Eurovision Party, returning after proving a hit last year. It will be held at several venues on 4, 5 and 6 April, with the Eurovision 2024 representatives joined by names from the past such as Cornelia Jakobs, Albina, Rosa López and Herreys.

Top entertainment in the streets of Barcelona

One of the city’s unmissable events is Llum BCN, the leading European festival for light arts and a firm favourite among the locals in Barcelona. The festival, organised by Barcelona City Council, will be held in the Poblenou neighbourhood and the area around Glòries from 2 to 4 February, lighting up some of the city’s most iconic buildings with art installations, projects and video mappings.

Popular culture also plays an important part in Barcelona’s cultural calendar. Santa Eulàlia, the city’s winter festival, will be taking place from 9 to 12 February and offering numerous street activities featuring the giantess Laia. Seven months later, it will be the turn of the city’s main annual festival, La Mercè, on from 20 to 24 September and filling Barcelona with popular culture, music, street arts, open days, family activities and much more.

Street arts also take centre stage in the summer thanks to the Grec Festival, where music, dance, circus and the theatre all play a part.  The epicentre is the Teatre Grec which gives its name to the festival, but there are also shows at numerous other venues in Barcelona.

2024 is Tàpies Year

The city is paying homage to the Barcelona painter and sculptor Antoni Tàpies this year, one of the most outstanding artists from the 20th century and the most prominent exponent of abstract informalism. To mark the hundredth anniversary of his birth, the Fundació Antoni Tàpies will be producing various display projects during the course of 2024, such as the exhibitions A=A, B=B and Tàpies. The Zen Imprint, which are already open to the public.

Talking of museums, it’s well worth making a note of important events such as Museum Night, which is on Saturday, 18 May, and opens the doors of various museums in Barcelona once night falls.  Similarly, InMuseu, is on 2 March and offers exclusive guided tours of parts of the city’s museums which are not usually open to members of the public.

A grand season of classical music

Opera lovers have a great season to look forward to at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, with a programme through to June that includes productions such as Un ballo in maschera, by Verdi, a project by Graham Vick that recovers the version that premièred in Rome and comes to the Liceu in February. Another production you can see from 16 to 26 March is The Messiah by Händel, with a version revised by Mozart and directed by Robert Wilson.

The city will also be hosting the Barcelona Obertura Spring Festival, a classical music event starting on 5 March and running throughout the month, bringing together top artists from the international scene with spectacular concerts at venues such as the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Auditori and the Liceu.