Barcelona’s trade fair

The Fira de Barcelona plays a strategic role in the Catalan and Spanish economies as a platform for the economic promotion and international projection of companies. With a portfolio of 80 exhibitions, Fira de Barcelona brings together 40,500 direct and indirect exhibitors and welcomes 3.5 million visitors. Fifteen of its exhibitions are European benchmarks, being among the top three in their respective sectors.

Barcelona’s La Fira is the undisputed leader in industrial and trade shows, contributing some 2,200 million euros to the economy and creating 41,000 jobs. With its commitment to innovation, quality, added-value products, knowledge, design and scientific and technological research, the Strategic Plan for 2006 – 2015 is strongly supporting international exhibitions and events, strengthening Barcelona’s position as the most outstanding platform in southern Europe for major sector meetings. Other objectives include introducing new lines of business and offering outstanding levels of service to exhibitors and visitors.

Fira de Barcelona propose itself as a very complete business center, offering to exhibitors a wide range of high quality services: catering, hotel and accommodation booking assistance, online accreditation system, merchandising movements and location support, telephony, Wi-Fi, electricity, water  and compressed air connections. Recently, the enlargement of the Gran Via venue has led to a significant increase in the amount of exhibition space at the Fira de Barcelona. There is currently a total area of 365,000 m² , making it the second biggest exhibition center in Europe.
It is obviously very well connected by several transport systems:

By road

Motorways and roads: access to the Montjuïc exhibition site:

Girona – Barcelona AP-7, C-33, Ronda Litoral exit “Paral·lel”

Mataró – Barcelona C-32, Ronda Litoral exit “Paral·lel”

Manresa – Barcelona C-58, Ronda Litoral exit “Paral·lel”

Aeroport del Prat – Barcelona C-31, Gran Via – Plaça Espanya

Tarragona – Barcelona AP-7, A-2, Ronda Litoral exit 15 “Pg Zona Franca – Fira”

Igualada – Barcelona A-2, Ronda Litoral exit 15 “Pg Zona Franca – Fira”

Lleida – Barcelona AP-2, A-2, Ronda Litoral exit 15 “Pg Zona Franca – Fira M1″

Motorways and roads: access to the Gran Via exhibition site:

Girona – Barcelona AP-7, C-33, Ronda Litoral exit 17 “Gran Via M2″

Mataró – Barcelona C-32, Ronda Litoral exit 17 “Gran Via M2″

Manresa – Barcelona C-58, Ronda Litoral exit 17 “Gran Via M2″

Aeroport del Prat – Barcelona C-31, Gran Via

Tarragona – Barcelona AP-7, A-2, Ronda Litoral exit “Barcelona Fires – Gran Via”

Igualada – Barcelona A-2, Ronda Litoral exit “Barcelona Fires – Gran Via”

Lleida – Barcelona AP-2, A-2, Ronda Litoral exit “Barcelona Fires – Gran Via”

Metro

Both lines has exits at Montjuïc venue.
Line 1 – station “Espanya”
Line 3 – station “Espanya”

Bus

All of these bus lines allow access to the Montjuïc venue from any part of the city of Barcelona.
9 – 13 – 27 – 30- 37- 50 – 56 – 57 – 65 – 79 – 91 – 109 – 153 – 157

FGC

The nearest stop to the Gran Via exhibition site is the station “Europa/Fira”. This is directly linked to Montjuïc. All routes that leave or enter the “Plaça Espanya” FGC station stop at “Europa/Fira”.

Renfe

“Sants Estació” is the nearest Renfe station. It’s the main centre of a comprehensive rail network that connects the entire coast and some inland areas to the Montjuïc facilities. The station is linked to the Montjuïc exhibition site by:
Bus number 30 and 109 which have stops in Plaça Espanya
Underground line 1 (red) and 3 (green), “Espanya” station
A 15 minute walk (down Tarragona street)

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Events Calendar

Monthly

January
Piel España
Expohogar Regalo/Primavera
Antiquaris Barcelona

February
Moda Barcelona Pasarela Gaudí
Moda Barcelona Bcn Fashion Week
Cosmobelleza
Planetfútbol
BNF Barcelona Negocios y Franquisias
Carnaval

March
Alimentaria
Festival de Sant Medir (entire month)
Saló de l’ensenyament i la formacion contínua
Expodidactica
Barcelona Marathon

April
Turisme
Global Look
F1 Grand Prix

May
Motorpro
IGC Internet Global Congress
Primavera Sound Fest

June
Festival de la mascota
Catalonian Moto GP
Home textile mediterraneo
Moda Barcelona Pasarela Gaudi Novias
Moda Barcelona Novia España
Sonar

July
Tall Ships Races
Summercase
Norma
Festival Cruilla de Culturas

September
Moda Barcelona Bcn Fashion Week
Expohogar Regalo/Otoño
Congreso Pain World
Barcelona Meeting Point
Liber

October
Saló de Brocanters i almonedas
Caravaning
Barcelona Jazz Festival (through December)
Maquitec
Hostelco

November
Salon de hobby “Ciudad de Barcelona”
Sitem
Global Look
Salón Náutico Internacional
Ocasión
Begs
Expominer
Nivalia
Bodas & Bodas
Expoaviga
EIBTM

December
Barcelona Tuning Show
Auto-Retro
Bcn Futur
Festival de L’Infancia

» Live Concerts and festivals tickets

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Summercase is a two-day music festival held simultaneously in Barcelona and Madrid, usually in the middle of summer. The line up mainly consists of indie rock, electronic music and indie pop. Hence, the festival tries to blend indie pop, rock music and dance music into one. Summercase has built music prestige and gained much of its astonishingly quick popularity with big music names such as:

Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Fat Boy Slim, Primal Scream, Massive Attack, New Order, Mika, DJ Shadow and many other awesome artists and bands.

The first edition of the festival was organized in July 2006, with an audience of 60,000 + crazed music fans in Barcelona. But in the second edition celebrated on July 2007, the festival attracted over 109,000 fans from all over the world. In only one year, the festival has become one of the most important music festivals in all of Europe!

How to arrive
Parc del Fòrum, Rambla Prim 2-4. 08019

By train:
Rodalies R.E.N.F.E. from Aeroport to Sants Estació, Passeig de Gràcia or Arc de Triomf

By plane:
El Prat Airport, Barcelona, 932983838
Girona Airport, 972186600

By car:
From Plaça de les Glòries, along Av. Diagonal towards the sea right to Parc del Fòrum

By subway:
Line 4 to La Pau or L1 to Marina and there link with tram to Fórum station

By bus:
Lines 41, 43, 7, 36 and 141, and Night Bus N6

By tram:
Trambesós line T4, to Fòrum

By taxi:
The taxi’s fare changes depending on the time (at night they are more expensive) and the distance between where you are and the Fórum. From the city centre to the Fórum the prices may vary between 9 and 11€ aprox.

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At many festivals in Barcelona and Catalonia, you are likely to see circles of people dancing a dance which resembles no other Spanish dance. La Sardana, Barcelona and Catalunya’s national dance, has origins thought to lie in the graceful dances of ancient Greece. One theory is that the Greeks introduced the dance during the period in which they maintained trading posts on Catalunya’s northern shores thousands of years ago. Others insist that the sardana was not practiced here until the fifteenth-century during Catalan occupation of Sardinia, hence the name. In any case, the sardana in its present form emerged during the 19th century Catalan renaissance and it has become a symbol of national identity.
As you can witness in Barcelona, sardana dancers link hands with raised arms, forming circles which grow bigger and bigger as more people join in. Traditionally, couples can join in at any point, but cannot cut in between a man and his partner on the right. When the circle gets too big, the dancers form more circles. People of all ages and ranks in life join hands and dance as if to emphasize that whatever their differences, they are first and foremost Catalans. The spirit of unity generated by the sardana is truly impressive. An extremely disciplined dance, the sardana calls for exact movements and expert timing, provided by a leader in each circle. For this reason, unless you think you’ve really got the knack, it’s generally inadvisable for visitors to join in – one wrong move can put the entire circle out of step.

Music for the sardana is played by a Cobla, a band consisting of 10 wind instruments, double bass and a so called “tamborí” (very small drum) played by 11 musicians. In Spanish and French Catalonia about one hundred and thirty coblas are active, most of which are amateur orchestras. Outside Catalonia there is one more cobla: Cobla La Principal d’Amsterdam. The best times to see an authentic Sardana are during the festival period in Barcelona - The Focs de Sant Joan festival on the 23rd June is one such example.

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The Sonar Festival is a major festival of music and electronic culture that takes place every summer in Barcelona. Sonar has separated its activities into two venues: the CCCB, during the day and the Pavilion in Mar Bella during the evening.

Barcelona’s Sonar Festival of Advanced Musics and Multimedia avoids convention and commercialism though remains mainstream in important artistic circles. This prolific music festival has been raving on since 1997 and is attracting a vast international audience each year. Are you a free soul that feels like a fish in the ocean when music hits your ear? Checkout this incredible festival  this summer! June is all about Sonar!
Information:
From Spain dial 902 150 025, from Monday to Friday between 9am and 10pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 10pm.

From abroad dial +34 934 929 180, from Monday to Friday between 9am and 10pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 10pm.

Advance Sales
*Limited availablility

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Primavera Sound is a festival that takes place in Barcelona every year as Spring comes to an end. In 2005 the festival moved to the Forum site, giving our festival-goers the chance to enjoy concerts on a modern and spacious environment with many different stages each with it’s own personality. The spirit of the festival is to showcase independent and up and coming acts, as well as experienced bands with strong influence in the music that is done nowadays.

Spain’s alternative indie rock and electronica festival by the sea. This is your chance to check out Barcelona, one of the most vibrant and cultural capital’s of Europe, with the very best alternative music acts and electronica DJs playing in an area near to the city centre right by the sea. The music starts in the early evening and ends in the early hours of the morning in true Spanish style!

Primavera Sound takes place near the centre of Barcelona around Poble Espanyol in Parc del Forum by the Mediterranean Sea on May 31st, June 1st and 2nd. There is no camping in the city centre, however Barcelona is packed full of hotels and hostels all easily accessible by public transport. Check out this excellent festival featuring a massive line-up of top live acts and Djs!

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Once a year, towns and cities across Catalonia celebrate their grand festival. As you will see in Barcelona, for example, the streets become filled with people celebrating a traditional custom, which originated in Catalonia in the late 18th century. Locals are happy to celebrate and share this traditional event with everybody and foreigners are particularly welcome.

You will be amazed by the strength and agility of the people (castellers) building spectacular human towers (castells). In Barcelona, and other parts of Catalonia, castells are built during this festival in which castellers compete and try to build the most stable and impressive castells.

Teams of men stand on top of eachothers shoulders as they try to create a human tower as high as they possibly can. Each tower, which can have up to 7 levels, is completed at the top with a small child, called an anxaneta.

A castell is considered a success when it is properly built and stabalized and then properly brought down (ie-it does not collapse). When the anxaneta reaches the top he raises his hand and shows four fnigers, which symbolize the straight lines of the Catalan flag. The anxaneta will climb up one side of the tower to the top and will come down on the other side.

Many people are required at the base of the tower to form the pinya, which helps support the tower and also acts as a safety net.

The dress is typically white trousers, a black belt, a scarf and a shirt displaying the team’s logo and colours. Traditionally, performances would take place on Sunday at noon in the middle of the village square, and were considered as one of the main activities of the local festivities. If you want to witness a traditional part of Catalan culture and amazing human ability, then you must try to see this spectacular event.

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The capital of Catalonia has historically enjoyed the festive parades and traditional shows that have filled its streets with comedies and symbolic staging presentations since the Middle Ages.  As the start to the traditional dances held in Barcelona during La Mercè (Mercèdance), all the groups invited to the festival participate in a joint parade to show the bonds that tie the cultures of this great region.

Legend has it that on the night of the 24th of September in 1218, the Virgin of Mercè appeared simultaneously to King Jaume I, Saint Pere Nolasc and Saint Ramon de Penyafort. She told all three to set up an order of monks dedicated to saving Christians held prisoner by the Sarracens. It was a time of religious wars. Centuries later, in 1687, Barcelona suffered a plague of locusts, and the people put themselves in the hands of the Virgen of Mercè. When the plague was over, the City Council named her the patron of Barcelona. However the Pope did not ratify this decision until two centuries later, in 1868.

After Pope Pius IX declared the Virgen of Mercè the patron of the city, Barcelona started to celebrate the festival on September 24th. On this day, the different popular groups go out into the street to celebrate and perform. We particularly recommend the performance of the castellers (typical Catalan human constructions) from 12:30pm in Barcelona’s la Plaza de Sant Jaume. As a festive close to La Mercè, giants, large headed figures, dragons and figures of all kinds come out in procession in a true moving show of the traditional culture of the city of Barcelona.

La Mercè is a Festival of festivals, which puts on hundreds of activities such as the following:

Barcelona Musical Action: to discover new sound proposals.

Barcelona Street Arts: with artists who perform within reach of the audience.

The Festival of Tradition: human towers, capgrossos (dwarves with big heads), giants and an entire menagerie of festive animals, accompanied by guests from Mediterranean countries.

The Festival in the Sky: acrobatic gathering including jets, balloons and gliders.

The Festival of Fire: all types of sparks, from the pyrotechnical music show to the correfoc (literally a fire-run).

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