Four days of festivities and tradition, with Lisbon as the guest city and an extensive programme to enjoy for Barcelona’s local festival.

Festivities for La Mercè start on Friday 21 September, with the opening speech by the actress Letícia Dolera, and end on Monday 24 September with the music and fireworks spectacular.

As ever, tradition is one of the three basic pillars for La Mercè, with human towers, festive dragons, giants and dancing, highlighting the wealth of traditional Catalan culture. In terms of music, the Mercè Música and BAM festivals are back again, bringing a highly diverse range of rhythms to the various stages in the city. As ever, street arts also play an important part in the festivities too.

For full information on the programme for La Mercè go to www.barcelona.cat/merce.