{"id":3659,"date":"2013-07-27T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2013-07-27T08:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vintageholidays.co.uk\/?p=3659"},"modified":"2013-07-27T09:00:37","modified_gmt":"2013-07-27T08:00:37","slug":"la-merce-festival-2013-barcelona-at-its-most-brilliant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/la-merce-festival-2013-barcelona-at-its-most-brilliant\/","title":{"rendered":"La Merce Festival 2013 \u2013 Barcelona at its most brilliant!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>La Merce Festival 2013 ~\u00a0Every year during the last week of September the city of Barcelona becomes particularly pulsating when it holds its biggest annual street festival, La Merce. Having taken place since 1902, the festival\u2019s intense celebrations last for five days and are held in honour of the patron saint of Barcelona, Mare de Deu de la Merce.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Correfoc.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3660\" alt=\"Correfoc\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Correfoc.png\" width=\"410\" height=\"272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Correfoc.png 410w, https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Correfoc-375x249.png 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kissing goodbye to summer and welcoming in the cooler months of autumn, La Merce is a poignant event that marks seasonal change. Hundreds of events, activities and parades will take place during the fiesta, many of which will be new and innovatory and many time-honoured and well-established.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Fire Run \u2013 Correfoc<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is safe to say that the Fire Run would not pass health and safety tests in too many countries but, hey that\u2019s what adds to the fun! When you witness the Fire Run at La Merce Festival 2013, known locally as \u201cCorrefoc\u201d, it would be wise to wear some protection against the sparks. It might not seem right to go out on a warm early autumn evening in Barcelona wearing goggles, a hat and gloves, but if you do get the opportunity to witness Correfoc, you\u2019ll understand why these essential winter items are vital garments when attending this fiery event.<\/p>\n<p>During Correfoc the roads are closed off and opened only to the \u201cDevils\u201d who are teeming with handfuls of bangers and sparklers, lobbing them about with wilful abandon. You may see fire-breathing dragons coming menacingly closer as Barcelona\u2019s streets take on the appearance of a joyous hell! The Correfoc really is something to see and is one of the festival\u2019s long-established highlights.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Human Towers \u2013 Castellers de Barcelona<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Other established events include the Human Towers (Castellers de Barcelona) where people actually build a tower out of themselves. It is a sight to behold as carefully planned towers of human beings precariously reach up to the sky. The summit of the tower is usually topped by a small child &#8211; another one for health and safety! Thousands of people cram into the Plaza de Jaume to witness the Human Towers and it is worth getting there early so you have an unobstructed view of this crazy event.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Giants<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Giants is another unmissable event at La Merce Festival 2013. Huge figures parade down the streets of Barcelona to a backbeat of drums and percussion during this hugely popular family event.<\/p>\n<p>With events this wild making up just a snatch of the itinerary, La Merce Festival 2013, Barcelona\u2019s biggest street fiesta, is without doubt one of the best things to witness on the whole of the Iberian Peninsula.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>La Merce Festival 2013 ~\u00a0Every year during the last week of September the city of Barcelona becomes particularly pulsating when it holds its biggest annual street festival, La Merce. Having taken place since 1902, the festival\u2019s intense celebrations last for five days and are held in honour of the patron saint of Barcelona, Mare de<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31,60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-festivals-in-spain","category-things-to-do-in-catalonia","category-things-to-do-in-spain"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>La Merce Festival 2013 \u2013 Barcelona at its most brilliant! - Vintage Travel - Blog Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"La Merce Festival 2013 ~\u00a0Every year during the last week of September the city of Barcelona becomes particularly pulsating when it holds its biggest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/la-merce-festival-2013-barcelona-at-its-most-brilliant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"La Merce Festival 2013 \u2013 Barcelona at its most brilliant! 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