Barcelona’s LGBTI centre will be holding its annual festival on Saturday 18 May, as part of the International Day against LGBTI-phobia. This year’s festival will be an extra special one, as this will be the Centre’s fifth anniversary – it first opened its doors in January 2019.
The programme will feature activities in the morning at the LGBTI Centre and on C/ Borrell aimed at a diverse family audience, while in the afternoon the festival will be moving to Plaça Catalunya for the very first time, where there’ll a big stage that will provide the setting for a range of musical performances.
Activities at the LGBTI Centre and on C/ Comte Borrell
The day will begin at 11 am at the LGBTI Centre and on C/ Comte Borrell (between Parlament and Marqués de Campo Sagrado streets) with activities for everyone, and a focus on different artistic disciplines.
On C/ Comte Borrell, there will be a special episode of Kobra Kuir, the talk show presented by Norma Mor / Muerte a la Norma which will include all sorts of interviews and surprises. There will also be a theatre show “Caída libre para personas con vértigo” [Free Fall for People with Vertigo], by the Bragacadavra theatre company.
What’s more, throughout the morning, there’ll be an art market curated by Andreu Llorca, where you’ll find jewellery, ceramics, textile art, illustrations and more, plus a monitored children’s play area run by Petita Arcàdia. The morning’s activities will close with a cumbia dance-music session with Missex.
Meanwhile, there will be a storytelling workshop for children between the ages of 3 and 12, led by Sara Manuben, a performative talk entitled “Los careos de mi copla”, a musical journey through pasodobles and music of the 70s and 80s led by Fito Conesa, plus a tarot workshop “El llenguatge dels ocells” with Lu Chieregati.
You can also visit the audiovisual installation “Un Mundo Que No Es El Nuestro” [A World That Isn’t Ours], by Palestinian artist Maria Zreiq, who explores memory, nostalgia and resistance in times of social and political turmoil. Visitors can also see the exhibitions “Un archivo inexistente” [A Non-existent Archive], by Felipe Rivas San Martín, and “Encarnar la ferida” [Embodying the Wound], by cymbionte colectiv_.
For the very first time, in Plaça Catalunya
In the afternoon, the festivities move to Plaça Catalunya for the very first time, where a large stage will be the venue for various musical performances, presented by the sharply witty and irreverent Brigitta Lamoure.
The concerts will kick off at 6 pm with the Barcelona Rainbow Singers and the Barcelona Gay Men’s Choir.
Next up on stage will be Jim, well-known for his participation in the “Eufòria” programme.
At 8.15 pm, LLUM will be taking over with their mix of experimental pop, underground electronica, dark techno and breakcore, accompanied by a dance performance, The voguing Sm4ck Down by Jayce.
The last part of the festival will feature three DJ sets, each offering very different sounds. At 8.45 pm, Chico Blanco will take over the stage, with his own distinctive sound that brings together 90s house, UK garage, rap, ambient and pop.
He’ll be followed by Oro Jondo, who combines techno and hard acid with trance, hard groove and latinx club with a sound that’s influenced by bakalao, the machine and other rhythms associated with the cultural periphery, taking the Dosmilera club culture into the future.
The last performance of the evening will be a DJ set by Deena Abdelwahed, whose musical exploration draws on the diversity of Arabic music, and is influenced by the electronic and experimental scene.
All the activities run by the LGBTI Centre are free, and are open to all. Part of the activities have been funded by a contribution from Barcelona City Council’s tourism tax.
The poster for the festival was created by designer Felipe Román, who wanted to capture the diverse, vibrant and colourful spirit of a day dedicated to celebration and the assertion of rights and demands.
