Summer 2019 has turned out to be quite a bit busier than I had expected, having taken on a few extra hours at work. As a result, I haven’t been able to get out and about as much as I normally do in summer.
There would be no excuse, however, for me to miss out on the annual Fest Major de Gràcia, as I am pretty much surrounded by it for its 7-day run.
As always, all of my shots are taken early in the day, before the arrivals of the bigger crowds that swarm the neighbourhood every night. Even so, the most intricately-decorated streets had not only converted into one-way passages, but there were also staff at the entrance to control the number of people entering. This meant that even at 11 in the morning there was a block-long line of people waiting to get into some of the streets. That said, the line moved fast, and once inside, it wasn’t nearly as crowded as it had been in past years, making it much easier to move, and to snap a few photos free of people.
The themes this year varied, from Harry Potter, to a tribute to miners, to Halloween, to the library after closing, to a 50s-style American diner.
There were a few incidents however, include a pair of sexual assaults of women on their way home late at night, and a suspicious fire, which destroyed most of a street which had been decorated with an ocean theme. Unfortunate incidents seem to be a side effect of a festival, and indeed a city, which has become a victim of its own success.
As every year, the Gràcia festival is followed by the slightly smaller festival of the Sants neighbourhood. I will try to get a few pictures before it wraps up.