Barcelona will once again take advantage of Christmas to decentralize its cultural and multidisciplinary model with two of its major axes that will tour the different districts of the city.
This is the 2nd edition of the Barcelona Festival de Nadal in Plaça de Catalunya and the musical cycle Sons de Ciutat, which will bring live performances to all districts.
Barcelona Festival de Nadal 2025
Under a strategy that combines large-format street arts in the center, especially in Plaça Catalaunya, from December 20 to 30, the Barcelona Festival de Nadal will be held, which maintains the artistic direction of Sergi Ots and has Jordi Duran as curator of the night show.
After the success of the previous edition, the festival will organize a total of 357 performances by almost twenty companies, 6 of them international, and 9 musical bands.
The format is structured in four daily slots designed for different audiences:
- Mornings: small-format family shows, focusing on visual and object theater.
- Afternoons: Protagonism of street arts, including circus, urban and contemporary dance, acrobatics and physical theater.
- Vespres: Musical sessions of varied styles.
- Evenings: Closing of the day with a large-format show combining music and theater, starring Cor de teatre.
The event will present twenty premieres, to be a showcase of current creation and narrating Christmas as a “shared story”.
You can check the program in detail on the official website of Ajuntament de Barcelona.
‘Sons de Ciutat’: 45 concerts in the commercial axes
In parallel and extending the festive calendar, the cycle Sons de Ciutat will deploy about 45 outdoor concerts between December 12 and January 4. This initiative will bring live music to markets and commercial hubs in the ten districts of the city, with performances scheduled at 12:00 noon and 6:00 pm.
The cycle will feature days of high cultural intensity, such as Saturday December 20, with 15 performances, and January 3, with 14 concerts. In addition, on December 20 and 21 there will be 10 special choral performances, where children’s choirs will perform the song of the Christmas campaign, “Un Cor que batega”, along with pieces from their repertoire.
Sons de Ciutat will have the collaboration of 14 cultural agents, such as the Conservatori del Liceu, the Taller de Músics (ESEM) and the ESMUC, as well as festivals and organizations such as Primavera Sound (Festival B), Say it Loud or the Fundació Òpera Catalunya.
The program will cover a wide range of genres, from jazz, rumba and folk to opera, classical and urban music. Confirmed artists include names such as Sebastià Gris, Ju, Carlota Ortiz Trio, Las Bajas Pasiones and Rumba Heritage.
You can check the program in detail on the official website of Ajuntament de Barcelona.