Cultural Agenda

We live with architecture every day. We enter and exit buildings, we work in them, we live in them, or we simply leave them behind as we go from one place to another, but we rarely stop to look at what their facades tell us, how they are built, or what is hidden inside. Architecture is part of the everyday landscape to the point that it often becomes invisible.

Returning for a new edition, 48h Open House Barcelona invites us to do the exact opposite: to pause, look closely, and step inside spaces that usually go unnoticed.

On 24 and 25 October, the festival’s 17th edition will open the doors to 250 venues across Barcelona and its metropolitan area, featuring buildings from different eras, uses, and typologies. In Barcelona, as well as in Badalona, Sant Joan Despí, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Vilassar de Dalt, and Sitges, members of the public can explore spaces free of charge that are typically closed to visitors. In a year when Barcelona celebrates its title as UNESCO World Capital of Architecture, the festival offers an invitation to rediscover a city we know, but perhaps have not yet learned to truly see. And for those keen to experience the event from the inside, the organisation is also looking for volunteers to assist with guided tours.

Can a plant speak of Nazism? And a stone, of a war? In Anselm Kiefer's hands, these elements cease to be simple matter and become a way of telling stories. The German artist constructs his works from plants, stones, ash, straw and lead, materials he incorporates into his monumental showcases and combines with references to literature, myths, mysticism and history. 

Among these references, there is one that returns again and again: that of Germany's darkest past and the legacy of Nazism, a theme that has traversed much of his artistic career and also his own life. Kiefer was born in 1945, a few months before the end of World War II, and has grown up with the need to understand and represent a past that for years was difficult to face. Now, that creative world arrives in Barcelona through the vitrines of Opus Magnum, finding a singular counterpart in La Pedrera: Kiefer's raw materials and dense textures enter into dialogue with the architecture of Gaudí. La vida secreta de les plantes. Anselm Kiefer a la Col·lecció Grothe marks the artist's first major solo retrospective in the city, bringing together more than seventy works across paintings, photographs, and twenty-three monumental display cases. 

At first glance, they appear to be simple forms: a line, a curve, a circle, a square. And colours, lots of colours, spreading across the surface and repeating again and again. But when the gaze lingers, these forms begin to transform. They repeat, accumulate, vary in scale and combine in different ways, creating a sense of rhythm and movement within the confines of the painting.

It is from these very basic forms that Petr Kvíčala has developed his own pictorial language over more than forty years. The Czech artist is now presenting his work in Spain for the first time with Prelude, an exhibition at Palau Martorell that brings together a selection of works from the past decade. Curated by Rubén Torres, the exhibition reveals how the same form can produce remarkably different results as colour, scale, density and repetition change. The title of the exhibition, Prelude, refers precisely to this initial movement: the first form that sets a new composition in motion. In a sense, the exhibition at Palau Martorell – Kvíčala’s first exhibition in Barcelona and in Spain – also marks the beginning of a new chapter in his artistic practice.

Before an object materialises and arrives in a shop, it has passed through countless hands, trials, and revisions. An idea that is sketched, built, tested, and sometimes begun all over again. It is precisely at this juncture – when nothing is quite yet set in stone – that the latest edition of Barcelona Design Week turns its gaze, taking the motto PRO-TEST this year to champion design as a living process shaped by questions, trials, and reformulations.

Across twelve days, the city will offer a window into some of these moments when ideas are still taking shape. At Kave and Mentalitat Atelier, for instance, visitors can trace a product from the initial sketch through to the prototype and final touches, while Inside the Collection, by Coordonné, opens the door to the hidden process behind a collection before it reaches its finished form. The programme also looks back with a showcase tracing Elisava's 65-year history, and takes to the streets with an initiative bringing design directly to local shops: 11 artists will transform 185 storefront shutters across 10 Barcelona districts.

It is hardly a date etched into the collective memory, but on 29 May 1953, one of the greatest feats in mountaineering history took place: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest for the first time. More than seven decades later, that expedition sets off once again – this time without the need to board a flight, brave the freezing cold, or even leave Barcelona. From 7 October, Eclipso Barcelona invites visitors to trace the path from Kathmandu all the way to the 8,849-metre summit of the world's highest peak through an immersive virtual reality experience.

Everest, la primera ascensión draws on historical, cultural, and mountaineering research, incorporating the counsel of specialists in Tibetan Buddhism and alpine history alongside the expertise of guide Lakpa Sherpa Gelgen, who has summited Everest seven times. This extensive groundwork reconstructs the original expedition, placing visitors squarely amid the Himalayan landscape, where they can move freely as part of the team and experience some of the physical sensations of the ascent, from the biting cold to the effects of altitude.

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For years, Barcelona lived with an absence that was difficult to explain: Salvador Dalí, one of Catalonia's most universal artists, had neither a dedicated venue nor any lasting tribute in the city. Now, nearly a century after his first solo exhibition – held in Barcelona at Galeries Dalmau – the artist returns to Passeig de Gràcia. He does so just a stone's throw from that original gallery: at Casa Amatller, which since 16 September has hosted Dalí Cibernètic, a permanent installation exploring a lesser-known facet of the Figueres-born creator: his fascination for machinery, science, technology, and the futures he imagined long before they came to pass.

The experience occupies the 1,200 square metres of the Centre d’Arts Digitals at Casa Amatller, which had already hosted immersive exhibitions devoted to painters like Sorolla and Goya. Unlike those shows, however, this Dalí installation is conceived not as a temporary run, but as an evolving space capable of integrating new works and reinventing itself – meaning that, for now, it has no closing date. Drawing upon the internationally acclaimed experience created by Layers of Reality in 2022, it updates and expands the material. The showcase places the spotlight on a visionary Dalí, particularly drawn to technology, fashion, and the challenge of imagining a future that did not yet exist.

The legendary band from Constantí Els Pets will perform at the Palau de la Música Catalana as part of the Cruïlla Concerts series.

After completing the first stage of their anniversary tour, which brought together more than 120,000 attendees in 40 sold-out performances, the trio formed by Lluís Gavaldà, Joan Reig, and Falin Cáceres arrives at the modernist venue to put the finishing touch on their 40-year career.

On this occasion, the band will present a revamped set that, alongside the anthems that have shaped successive generations (such as Bon dia, Bona nit, and Vespre), will also revisit hidden gems from their back catalogue and revive classic hits like Blue tack and Jo vull ser rei.

A special evening to celebrate the legacy of an indispensable fixture of Catalan-language music.

The legendary Deep Purple return to Barcelona to offer a massive concert at the Sant Jordi Club.

After their triumphant passage through the Barcelona Rock Fest in 2024, the mythical British band lands again in the Catalan capital to review the great classics that have defined global hard rock for almost six decades of uninterrupted career on stage.

The night will also feature the performance of Jayler, one of the most prominent promises of rock in the United Kingdom, who will be in charge of opening the concert.

The band will offer a repertoire full of timeless and well-known songs such as Smoke on the Water, Highway Star or Child in Time, to demonstrate why they maintain their validity as one of the pioneering and most energetic bands in the history of contemporary music.

The group Oques Grasses will make history in Catalan music with four massive farewell concerts at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium.

The band has broken all attendance records by selling out tickets for all four dates in just a few minutes, gathering a total of 220,000 spectators. This quadruple event marks the definitive farewell from the stage for one of the most influential and beloved bands of the last decade.

Born in Osona in 2012, Oques Grasses have redefined festive and singer-songwriter pop in Catalan thanks to their mix of urban rhythms, reggaeton, pop, and electronic music with everyday lyrics. Their discography includes reference albums such as Fans del Sol and A tope amb la vida. 

The band led by Josep Montero concludes an impeccable career that will have its grand finale on Montjuïc mountain.

The Barcelona Symphony and National Orchestra of Catalonia (OBC) presents a symphonic programme directed by Ludovic Morlot.

The concert will open with Robert Gerhard's Concertino for String Orchestra, a key piece of Catalan music that combines atonality with classical forms. Subsequently, the renowned pianist Jan Lisiecki will perform Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2, a work of intense and virtuous lyricism where the soloist and the orchestra engage in a dialogue of profound poetry.

The second part of the evening will be dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 7, a creation that Richard Wagner defined as the "apotheosis of dance." Celebrated for its almost obsessive rhythmic character and the depth of its iconic Allegretto, the symphony culminates in a display of energy and Dionysian exaltation.

These two sessions offer a unique opportunity to enjoy an essential repertoire of classicism and romanticism performed by top international figures.

La Villarroel plays host to the premiere of Morning Sun, a script by British playwright Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), translated by Adriana Nadal and directed by Pau Roca.

The play offers an intimate, delicate, and poignant portrait of a woman's life in an ever-shifting New York. The narrative delves into the passing of time, memory, and the sensation of fading into invisibility as the years advance. It all unfolds across a relentless metropolis where neighbourhood haunts change hands and lovers and friends drift in and out.

Staged with a cast featuring Míriam Iscla, Anna Güell, and Raquel Ferri, the production charts the journey of three generations of women – grandmother, mother, and daughter – tracing the complexities of kinship, shared joys, and silenced grief. The work is a meditation on beginnings and endings, the endurance of love, and the search for identity amid the relentless roar of the city.

The Condal Theater presents Bons i dolents, a new comedy written by Joel Joan and directed by Nelson Valente.

The story begins with a dinner between two couples of friends: Ricard, a man in the midst of a mid-life crisis obsessed with reggaeton and drugs, and Jesús, his best friend to whom he owes a large sum of money. The accumulated tensions between them and their partners, Clàudia and Marta, finally explode when Ricard announces that he will be a father again with another woman.

The cast, led by Joel Joan, Agnès Busquets, Oriol Casals, Nesa Vidaurrázaga, and Ana Gago, presents a story of black humour and a fast pace to show us how personal interests can change anyone's morality.

A funny portrait of the limits of friendship, couple relationships, and everyday hypocrisies.

The Espai Lliure in Montjuïc is hosting Bouvetøya (La necessitat d'una illa), a production staged as part of the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Teatre Lliure.

Co-written by Ivan Benet, Cristina Genebat, Julio Manrique, and Sergi Pompermayer, and directed by Manrique himself, the play is a dystopia conceived during the 2020 lockdown that has been revisited and rewritten six years on to champion the essential role of the performing arts.

The plot follows the absurd journey of a group of friends toward the most remote island on the planet, a slab of ice adrift in the middle of nowhere. This voyage turns into a tale of loyalty, friendship, and a love of theatre that seeks to connect with audiences through a message of hope.

Running for approximately one hour and twenty-five minutes, the performance is in Catalan and offers accessibility options including audio description and surtitles.
 

The acclaimed show Mamma Mia! The Musical, produced by ATG Entertainment (the team behind hits such as Billy Elliot, Grease, and Chicago), arrives in Barcelona to become one of the season's major musical events.

Following three hugely successful seasons in Madrid playing to more than 800,000 theatregoers and a nationwide tour spanning over twenty cities, the production lands in the Catalan capital backed by widespread acclaim and the Musical Theatre Award for Best Choreography.

Based on 23 of legendary group ABBA's greatest hits (including Dancing Queen, Chiquitita, and Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!), the musical is a tribute to love, friendship, and the bonds between mothers and daughters. Over 65 million spectators worldwide have already travelled to the Greek island where the story unfolds!
 

For ten days, Sitges shifts into a different gear. The streets teem with zombies, cinemas fill with monsters and nightmares, and the entire seaside town seems to step inside the fantastical realm. From 8 to 18 October, the Sitges Film Festival celebrates its 59th edition with premieres, international guests, and a programme set once again to make the town the epicentre of fantastic cinema.

Among this year’s standout guests are Casey Affleck and Heather Graham. The Oscar-winning actor will compete in the Official Selection with Company, a feature he directs and co-wrote, while Graham arrives in Sitges starring in What Happened to Doris?, a supernatural tale screening in the Panorama section. The line-up will also feature fellow international stars including Peter Jackson, Danny DeVito, and Amy Irving. And, as every year, the festival will spill far beyond the screening rooms: on Saturday 10 October, the Zombie Walk celebrates coming of age as it floods the streets of Sitges with the living dead for one of the festival’s most popular traditions.

Behind every song lies a story, and behind every voice, an entire universe that does not end when the music fades. Far from the spotlight, music is also made and forged, and it is precisely this territory that In-Edit has been exploring for more than two decades. Rooted in Barcelona, the festival has turned documentary cinema into a distinctive way of approaching musicians, their artistic journeys, and the worlds orbiting their songs. 

For its 24th edition, the festival presents 70 titles following major icons of contemporary music alongside more local narratives. David Bowie, Pulp, NOFX, and Marianne Faithfull are captured through fresh perspectives – the latter headlining the opening gala with Broken English. While the international selection traverses careers and scenes that have defined modern music, Catalan productions also claim their space with works by Albert Serra and Carla Simón, alongside a portrait of the maestro Jordi Savall. It is a journey that will also leap beyond the cinema screen with live concerts and DJ sets, making its way to Moments Estel·lars, the series organised by The New Barcelona Post, which will dedicate its October session to the festival with Uri Altell, Astrid Rousse, Toni Querol, and Dorian frontman Marc Gili.

How can we build a more supportive society at a time when inequalities continue to grow? How can cities help protect and strengthen what we understand as democracy? And what do we need to live better in the places we inhabit? These are some of the questions at the heart of the fifth edition of the Biennal de Pensament, which will take place in the Catalan capital from 13 to 18 October under the banner Unleash the Present.

Taking this motto as its starting point, the series will address some of the major challenges of our time: democracy, war, migration, inequality, identity and technological transformation. These themes will run throughout a programme designed to turn Barcelona into a vast space for conversation, reflection and the exchange of ideas. It will bring together a wide range of voices, from writer Mariana Enríquez and artist Angélica Liddell to activist and former footballer Lilian Thuram, filmmaker José Luis Guerín and philosopher Fina Birulés, among others. Their conversations will take place across venues including the CCCB, La Model and the Hivernacle in Ciutadella Park.

Poetry does not always demand calm and silence. It can also be born of hunger, desire, or the need to break with established ways. It can be a cry, a movement, or a provocation, but also emerge from the page, occupy a stage, mix with music, or transform into an image. TThis is the "unbridled" verse championed by NUDO, Festival of Unbridled Poetry, the literary gathering celebrating ten years of bringing poetic creation to Barcelona that knows neither borders nor formats.

Running through 4 October, the festival will once again fan out across different venues throughout the city (from Casa Seat to the Convent de Sant Agustí, taking in Casa Amèrica Catalunya, the Bar Trampolí at Fundació Joan Brossa, and even an open-air terrace) with a line-up that sets poetry in dialogue with other disciplines and creative practices. Paula Melchor, Elsa Moreno, Raúl Quinto, Míriam Cano, Esmeralda Berbel, and Martí Sales are among the featured voices taking part in a programme that will also embrace collage, videopoetry, music, rituals, and performance. This edition takes appetite as its premise – the hunger to create, to discover, and to plunge into the unknown – framing it also as an act of resistance.

The Escena Poblenou festival reaches its 25th edition and, to celebrate, will fill the streets and venues of the neighborhood with 19 proposals of theater, dance, circus, performance, and music.

The event consolidates its support for independent creation through three calls aimed at embryonic projects, community shows, and pieces led by women. Among this year's premieres are Tros by Cia. Sputniks, Nacionalitat espanyola by Maria Solà, El Banquet de Te Negre by Maisa Sally-Anna Perk, and Imagiro by Ambae.

The quarter-century celebration will have its peak on Saturday, October 24 at the Centre Moral i Cultural del Poblenou with a big party in cabaret format, where companies such as Hermanas Picohueso, Llum de Fideu, Hotel iocandi, or Comando Señoras will participate.

In addition, the anniversary will be immortalized in the book L'escena que crema, a project coordinated by critic Oriol Puig Taulé and co-edited with Arola Editors and Recomana to review the history of this reference festival.
 

L'Auditori celebrates on Saturday, October 3, 2026, the family event Toca Festa, a free and participatory event designed to bring music closer to children and families in a fun way.

From 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., the venue will open the outdoor area of La Llanterna, Sala 2 Oriol Martorell, and the Museu de la Música to host educational workshops, sound installations, and short musical performances. Most activities are free access without the need for a ticket for the season's concerts.

The program includes notable proposals such as the workshops Els colors del so and Fem que soni: toquem els janngu!, the concert Els colors del metall, guided tours of the Museum, and performances by ESMUC.

This initiative seeks to strengthen the bond between citizens and the institution by turning L'Auditori into a space for cultural gathering where music is not only listened to, but also played, experienced, and shared as a family.