Feria y Mercado de Navidad/ Christmas Fair and Market

December is just around the corner, which means that the Christmas celebrations are starting!

Can you think of a better way to gradually get into the magic of Christmas than by taking a walk through these famous markets and fairs? From the smell of Christmas trees, to the colours and lights of the decorations, to the products of the local craftsmen, it’s a real immersion in the heart of this festival that awaits you. Barcelona has many Christmas markets and fairs, both old and new, with their own history and identity. Among all these events, there are three that are part of the city’s history.

Feria de Santa Llúcia:

This is the oldest fair that revolves around the world of nativity scenes and Christmas traditions. It is therefore the most authentic fair in Barcelona. It was founded in 1736, so this year we are celebrating its 235th anniversary. For this reason, the organisers have gone to great lengths to put up more than 20 illuminated Christmas trees.

Located in the Avinguda de la Catedral, it has a total of 170 stands. It is the only fair in the world where you will find more than 140 spaces for the sale of strictly Christmas products, such as cots, figurines, foam, Christmas trees, accessories for your home and many others. In addition, you can also enjoy more than 25 spaces dedicated to gift items, such as textile accessories, ceramics, jewellery, leather, etc.

It runs from 26 November to 24 December!

catedral gotico market
festival stars present christmas family holidays

Feria de Reyes de la Gran Vía:

As it has every year since 1877, the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes will host the Epiphany Fair (Feria de Reyes), which will open its doors from 17 December to 6 January 2022. It is the second oldest Christmas fair in Barcelona.

Initially, the 18 stands of this fair were dedicated to the sale of toys and sweets. Today, the number of stands has increased and diversified. You will of course find the famous traditional toys and stuffed animals, but also many traditional and handicraft products or various stands of Catalan crafts. This market is therefore perfect for finding last minute gifts!

Don’t forget to stop at the famous Churrerías, spread throughout the fair, to try the famous “churros con chocolate caliente”, which will warm you up while stimulating your taste buds!

Tio de Nadal, christmas, celebration, tradition, market, craft, family gift

Feria de la Sagrada Familia:

Celebrated for the first time in 1972, the Feria de la Sagrada Familia is the most recent of all the Christmas fairs in Barcelona. It takes place on the same dates as the Santa Llúcia fair, and this is not by chance. In fact, it was created when there was no more room for stalls in Santa Llúcia. Several craftsmen decided to set up shop next to Gaudí’s masterpiece.

This fair has a lot in common with its two “big sisters”. You will find all kinds of figures and elements for nativity scenes, Christmas trees and plants, gift items, food and sweets. On the food side, the “churrerías” will naturally be present, and you will also find a chestnut and sweet potato stall.

In addition, there are free family activities such as competitions, workshops, music and theatre. They also have a photocall with a giant “Tió” and a “Caganer”.

Don’t hesitate to take a walk through one of these Christmas markets!

La Castanyada: the international chestnut festival

This traditional and popular festival, deeply rooted in Catalonia, is celebrated on All Saints’ Day (1 November), but also the day before (31 October).

The tradition of this festival is to eat chestnuts. Chestnuts are traditionally eaten on the day before and the day of Castanyada, but they can be found at street vendors in Barcelona at any time in late October.

What is it?

Chestnuts are roasted chestnuts on charcoal grills and often sold wrapped in newspaper, perfect for warming company when it is cold in Barcelona. Panellets are also very common in Barcelona at this time of year. They can be described as small almond-flavoured balls covered with pine nuts. These snacks are served in coconut, lemon or chocolate flavours. They are beautiful and traditional, and you can find them mainly in local bakeries. If you visit Barcelona during this period, this is a must-have dessert, which can also be used as a souvenir!

If you have a salty palate, you can also find sweet potatoes during the Castanyada. These little delicacies will warm you up from the inside out, often accompanied by a glass of sweet traditional muscatel wine.

chestnut, autumn, october, november, eating, food street, barcelona

Where does this festival come from?

Castanyada is a pagan tradition – like Magosto in Galicia or Asturias or Halloween in the Anglo-Saxon countries – whose origins date back to the 18th century. There are several legends that explain these beginnings. It is said that before All Saints’ Day, families gathered to watch over their dead. In order to survive, they stocked up on the first fruits of autumn, mainly chestnuts, legumes and sweet potatoes washed down with sweet wine (today’s Muscat). This custom gave rise to the emblematic figure of the “castanyera”, who prayed while the chestnuts were roasting.

Another theory is that the festival was for bell ringers, who rang the bells all night to remind the faithful of the need to pray for the souls of their dead. Whenever they rested, they regained their strength by eating what people brought them, in this case the fruits of autumn.

How is it celebrated?

Although most festivities in Catalonia include wild street parties, dancing, costumes and fireworks. The castanyada is more of a quiet celebration, with most families going to the cemetery to lay flowers and then spend time with their loved ones. If you are in Barcelona during this festival, do as the locals do and visit one of the city’s most beautiful cemeteries, the Poblenou Cemetery.

Get your bike ready and enjoy Barcelona

Get your bike ready and enjoy Barcelona

We really like healthy life and the city, that’s why we look for the perfect combination so that you can enjoy this summer of Barcelona by bike.

We carry out repairs and maintenance
We have answers and accessories
Review hardware and adjustments
Washing and greasing
Punctures and wheel centering

That is why we invite you to give life to that stored bicycle and accompany us to visit La Ronda Verda de Barcelona, a circuit that has about 72 kilometers of route and crosses different municipalities such as L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Montcada I Reixac, Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adrià de Besòs. There is also a variant that extends the round and incorporates the city of Badalona.

This route can be divided into six sections

Collserola Park: The Collserola Park extends over 8,000 hectares. Forest areas with a great variety of plant formations of valuable biological diversity predominate.
Parque Fluvial del Besòs: This section of the Ronda Verda connects the Parque de Collserola and the Front Marítimo. It has an approximate extension of five kilometers.
Park of the Cordillera de Marina: This natural space is part of the Cordillera Litoral and has a total area of 2,086 hectares. The visitor has the opportunity to envoy Iberian villages, hermitages, monasteries and numerous fountains and recreation areas.
Maritime Front: The Ronda Verda runs along the maritime fronts of Barcelona, Sant Adrià de Besòs and Badalona.
Montjuïc Section: The itinerary in this section of the pool is numerous museums, sports facilities, parks and gardens. The tour has splendid views of the city of Barcelona and its surroundings.
Llobregat Route: This route approaches the Llobregat basin, allowing connections with the river glare, the delta area and the Collserola Park.

A bicycle, a companion

We cheer you to take out that stored bicycle and rediscover the city on wheels, with its more than 200km of bicycle lanes to safely enjoy your ride.

Barcelona is an incredible city for cycling, walking the streets of Barceloneta, getting closer to the Parc de la Ciutadella, walking the wide streets of the Eixample such as Paseo de Gracia or visiting the neighborhoods and meeting friends.

That is why in Born Bike Tours Barcelona we carry out bicycle repairs so that you can enjoy a summer full of adventure, do sports or simply visit Barcelona.

We do review and maintenance so you can go for a walk without worries

Wash and grease so your bike is always ready

We repair punctures and also perform wheel centering

SURPRISE!

Because we are very anxious we give you a preview of our next blog post and we show you some of the routes you can do by bicycle.

From the Barcelona coast to Badalona.

It is a route of approximately ten kilometers, where you can see the entire seafront of the city, very easy to navigate since the entire itinerary is flat and you can surely enjoy incredible views. Starting near the Colón monument, passing by the Wy Hotel through the Forum area where you will find the “Diagonal Mar” shopping center and we will continue passing through the coastline until we reach Badalona.

It is an ideal route to do in the afternoon and end up enjoying the colors of the sunset next to the Mediterranean.

Colors, debauchery and happiness during de 2019’s Carnival in Barcelona

February 27th, 2019

From Thursday, the 28^th, with the ‘Dijous Gras’, one of the fiestas which looks better on Barcelona will be started, are you going to miss that?

Photo by BenKerckx on Pixabay

One of the favorite celebrations of the city of Barcelona is Carnival or, at least, we love the colorful of this fiesta.

On Thursday, the 28^th of February, all the activities, that will continue during Friday, Saturday and Sunday, are going to start in Barcelona with the famous Catalan celebration ‘Dijous Gras’. During this Thursday is practically obligatory to taste the Catalan egg sausage sandwich and a walk through the Ramblas at the sunset, the perfect scenario for the arrival of the Carnival’s Emperors.

During Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the city and all its districts are going to be full of activities. So, take your bicycle and don’t miss anyone of them. You can check them on the official program (you can access clicking here).

And among all this mess, don’t forget your costume, because thanks to the magic of this weekend you can be who you most desire.

¿Why not?

Valentine’s Day has awakened a lot of critiques about romantic love. But, when we realises that, why not take the positive part of it?

Born Bike Tours Barcelona working for an inclusive celebration.

Ready for the Great Winter Fiesta in Barcelona?

February 7th, 2019

From the 8^th to the 12^th of February, one of the greatest fiesta of the city will be celebrated: Santa Eulàlia.

Photo by freestocks.org in Pexels.com

Castellers, correfocs, giants, sardanes, bastoners, concerts… and every kind od activities for elder and young people during the saint and the daughter of the city fiesta: Santa Eulàlia. You can consult all the activities in the official program clicking here.

The Great Winter Fiesta of the city is the perfect opportunity to get to know a great part of the popular culture and tradition of Barcelona, together with all the local people who make it possible.

In addition, most of the activities are going to be celebrated through the old and magic central streets of Barcelona: in Ciutat Vella and the Gótic -where, we can assure you, it is better to circulate by bicycle than by car or motorbike-.

As we always say, the fiestas are the best option to get to know the popular culture of a city. So, you shouldn’t miss that one!

Barcelona will welcome the Pig’s Year

February 1st, 2019

This is a wonderful city, and it is due mostly because of its interculturality. In this sense, this Saturday you shouldn’t miss the Chinese New Year’s celebration.

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán

This year, the 2019, as the Chinese lunar calendar says, is the Pig’s Year and it is going to start on the 5th of February. Because of that, taking advantage of the weekend, the Chinese community in Barcelona has decided to celebrate it this Sunday, the 2nd of February.

This fiesta, every year, has more and more followers and that’s because it offers a lot of performances and activities to the most elderly and to the youngest people. This year, in addition, they have a honorable Catalan guest: la Porca de Sant Antoni.

It is said that the personality of the pigs is characterized by their diligence, their indulgence and their generosity. It is an animal that when it starts something, then it has to finish that. Although it’s really easy to it to let itself be fooled. So, you should try to apply these qualities in order to resolve your daily challenges and let yourself be fooled every now and then, as long as it is for taking yourself to a great party, such as this one.

In Born Bike Barcelona, we are very happy, because this fiesta will be celebrated very close to us. The opening show will start at 11.30 a.m. in the Parc de l’Estació del Nord and the fiesta will continue the whole day in the Passeig Lluís Companys.

‘Interculturalize’ yourself enjoying this great fiesta in Barcelona!

Experience the culture and the tradition of Barcelona while you are pedaling through La Mercè 2018 festivity

September 20th, 2018

Photo by Feradz

From the 21st to the 24th of September, you have a very important date with Barcelona, in order to enjoy the cultural activities that the city has prepared only for you -well, and for other miles of people too-.

As we always say, the best way to get to know a city is introducing yourself in its festivities, because popular celebrations are the best show of the local’s environment, their culture, their tradition and their gastronomy. In Barcelona, the most remarked festivity -because each neighbourhood has each own festivities- is La Mercè celebration. And this year it will be celebrated from the 21st to the 24th of September.

From expositions, “cercaviles”, castellers, giants, sardanes to the night concerts and light shows.

You should be fit riding the bicycle, if you want to arrive at everything!

Take a look to the daily activities programming in https://www.barcelona.cat/lamerce/en and take the most advantage of this celebration. You only can enjoy it once a year.

An important week for Barcelona: The great fiesta of ‘La Mercè’ combined with a sustainable mobility

September 19th, 2017

This week is the #MobilityWeek in terms of sustainability. If we combine that with the beginning of the celebration of “La Mercè”, this Friday, the 22^nd, coinciding with the Day Without Cars in Barcelona, the plan cannot be better.

Photo by Feradz

Are you ready to pedal? This week you don’t have any excuse. Keep yourself fit these days, because on Friday you will not be able to avoid enjoying this great city breathing the clean air, which is not going to be contaminated by the private vehicles.

The 22^nd of September of 2017 will be a great day, because it will coincide with the day without cars and the beginning of the great fiesta of “La Mercè”. So, you will be able to enjoy all the organized activities during the day and the macro-concerts at night, riding around with your bike.

And the rest of the day? Pay attention to us… don’t stop riding a bike. The streets of the center, narrow and busy enough in themselves, can be worse during the fiesta. In order to move around, the best vehicle will be the bicycle, it will give you flexibility when you are pedaling through the streets and when you need to park it. Because, although there will be activities all around the city, the streets of the center are the place where the big cultural events will be concentrated: castellers, giants, trabucaires and so on.

Enjoy the fiesta, pedaling!

Experience Barcelona from one celebration to another

July 18th, 2016

As we always say from BornBike, there isn’t a better way to enjoy the city than introducing yourself directly into the traditions and the culture, and, where is a major concentration of these two ingredients? In the festivities. Summer is the season of the different celebrations in the neighborhoods of Barcelona per excellence.

Photo by: Feradz

The 16^th of July the Festa Major of Poble Sec, in the district of Sants-Montjuïc, was inaugurated, but if you haven’t had time to enjoy the activities, you have the opportunity to do it until the 24^th of this month of July. Coinciding with these dates, the Clota’s fiesta is also going to be celebrated, in the district of Horta-Guinardó, a place a bit further away from the center of the city.

From the 22^nd to the 16^th of August, Sant Roc, the Festa Major of the Gótic neighborhood in Ciutat Vella, is the most ancient celebration of Barcelona with more than four centuries of history. You can find it easily, because it is centered mainly in the Nova square.

And we love the Gracia fiesta, this year it will be celebrated from the 15^th to the 21^st of August. We love it for its activities, but, especially, because of its neighbors making works of art in every one of its streets. Although, if you want to avoid masses of people, the best for you is to wait for the Sants celebration, from the 20^th to the 28^th of August, it also is a great example of a good team work between neighbors.

If you are the kind of people who prefer to travel during September, you also have the opportunity to enjoy the celebrations of Vallcarca, Horta, Poblenou and the great fiesta per excellence: La Mercè.

Sant Jordi in Barcelona

The story is about a tyrant dragon who threatened the population of the Montblanc village and a courageous knight, who riding his white bicycle… was it not like this?

Photo by Alfred Comin

This 23rd of April, coinciding with the weekend, in Barcelona and everywhere in Catalonia everybody will celebrate one of the most emblematic traditional festivities, the Sant Jordi’s Day, patron of Catalonia. This Day is focused on two different key elements: love and culture. We will find both represented in the thousands of street market stands with roses and books which are going to be present at the main streets in the city, whereby Passeig de Gràcia and Rambles are the protagonists.

In addition to the obligatory walk through the Rambles, each neighborhood of the city will be celebrating all kinds of activities for every age. Not only books will be the protagonists of the culture, at Tiquet Rambles (Palau de la Virreina, La Rambla, 99), from the 14th of April, the tickets of a great diversity of performances (theater, dance, museums…) are being sold at reduced prices.

A perfect celebration for the promotion of the small businesses, such as bookshops and other kinds of social organizations which will sell their roses in the street.

Take your bicycle, ride it through Barcelona and discover the famous legend of Sant Jordi, the real one, being guided by the people from Barcelona.

We welcome the summer with the Sant Joan Celebration in Barcelona

An itinerary through one of the most special celebrations in Barcelona so you don’t miss anything.

Today, 23^rd of June, at 7 p.m. at the Plaça Sant Jaume we will be looking forward to the arrival of the “Flama del Canigó”, alongside the city authorities: the Eagle and the City Giants. We will accompany its arrival by singing at this symbolic part of the city. Once the celebration has started, we will be able to decide which place would be the best to continue celebrating the arrival of summer.

We can take a walk around the Passeig the Gràcia and the Plaça Catalunya fountains, where the City Hall has planned a special illumination for this night. We can walk around the streets of the different neighbourhoods where there are expected to be around 20 bonfires surrounded by the typical fiestas. Or we can go to the beach, a place where every year a great number of people congregate and where the night will stretch on until well into the day.

Whichever place you choose, you should taste the traditional Coca de Sant Joan, (a sort of flatbread with pork rind or Catalonia style). Without it, this celebration wouldn’t be the same.

Born Bike Tours Barcelona

Bike tours & bike rental in Barcelona

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