This year’s La Mercè festival may be unlike any other, but the programme still includes a whole host of creative proposals and activities, and the Art Factories have a vital role to play. This year's festa major is being held with a set of safety measures in place to guarantee social distancing, and prior booking will be required.

Three theatre companies currently on a creation residency at the Nau Ivanow will be taking part with their shows at the MAC (Mercè Street Arts) Festival. They are: Hermanas Picohueso, winners of the DespertaLab 2019 grant, which they used for creating the work Excalibur and other stories of dead animals, and that they‘ll be performing on 24, 26 and 27 September at the Parc de la Ciutadella. The VVAA Collective will be presenting the show Patronæs on 24 September at the Sant Pau Modernista complex. And the Enmedio Collective and Andrea Paz are premièring Fancy Fences on 24, 26 and 27 September at the Parc de la Ciutadella.

For their part, the Central del Circ are presenting Sincronies, also as part of the MAC Festival, on 26 and 27 September at Montjuïc Castle. This is a show derived from the work of three rope artists, Martina Covone, Gaia Panero i Riccardo Pedri and a musician, Andrés Tosti, who were selected via public competition, and who subsequently did a two-week residency at the Art Factory. The show aims to showcase not only technique and talent, but also the emotions and effort that are hidden behind the scenes in a circus show and its performers.

The Ateneu Popular 9 Barris has its own circus offerings too as part of the MAC Festival, taking place on 24 September at Plaça Trobada: The Les Dessous de Barbara company’s Crazy Safari Circus, and a rerun of Garbuix - the Vavel Circus company’s 20th Winter Circus, formed after the creation of this show at the Ateneu Popular 9 Barris.

BAM Cultura Viva is once again being held at the Fabra i Coats premises on 24, 26 and 27 September, adapted this year to the new context and featuring local artistic proposals. As in previous years, the events programme is based on an open competition, with the Creation Factory’s resident artists and associations taking part, both in the organisation and in the line-up.

The La Mercè festivities are taking place from 23 to 27 September at a range of different spaces within the city. For further information on the La Mercè 2020 programme, please consult the website. We would ask you to bear in mind that prior booking is a requirement for all activities the Art Factories will be taking part in, and that audience capacities are limited.