The Grec Festival brings together 124,837 spectators, with 80% occupancy
Leticia Martín begins her tenure as director "satisfied with the international presence and support of the local network at the festival."
BarcelonaThe 49th edition of the Grec Festival will end on Monday, August 4, with 124,837 spectators and an average 80% occupancy, as announced this Tuesday by the Councilor for Culture of the Barcelona City Council, Xavier Marcé, and the director of the Grec Festival, Leticia Martín, six days before the end of the Montjuïc amphitheater, Hecube, not Hecube, from the Comédie Française.
More specifically, the Grec festival in Montjuïc was 90% occupied, while the rest of the city reached 68%. "The premises I laid out were met, according to which I wanted the festival to have an international perspective, the support of the local network, and, above all, a quality contemporary perspective that opens a window to very diverse languages," said Leticia Martín. The 124,837 spectators represent a drop of around 11,000 compared to the previous edition, which brought together 136,000. "The big difference is that last year there were six other shows at the Teatre Grec," recalled Martín, who took over as director of the Grec festival in October, after eight years of leadership from Francesc Casadesús.
This year's lineup included 97 shows in 42 venues in Barcelona. Of these shows, the festival has directly scheduled 39, with 76 performances and 51,535 spectators, achieving 92% occupancy. The programming of other venues participating in the Grec has offered 58 shows, with 337 performances, 73,302 spectators, and 68% occupancy. This includes other organized activities that have brought together 2,887 people.
Regarding the province of the audience, 67% of the spectators were from the city of Barcelona, 11% from the metropolitan area, and 12% from the rest of the country. Likewise, 64% of the audience is returning and 36% are new spectators. "This indicates that the festival is able to attract attention and attract people who are interested in the performing arts or music on a more or less sporadic basis," says Marcé. "This has a very direct relationship with the age of the audience. We have young audiences at many shows, which I think helps us perform this function of promoting and renewing audiences." In this sense, the discount most used by the public is the one for those under 30.
The most successful shows
Among the shows that sold out some of the festival's main stages, there were four shows and concerts held at the Teatre Grec: Ihsane, by choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, the tribute concert Pau Riba: Diopter 55, the show with the Barcelona municipal band The night of high music and Rozalén's concert. On the same stage, the opening show, The Little Circus, was almost a full house. And the show at the Teatre Lliure's Montjuïc venue sold out. Faustus in Africa!, the result of a collaboration between the South African company Handspring Puppet Company and the artist William Kentridge. Likewise, the artist Alberto Cortés performed at the Teatre Lliure de Gràcia with Illiterate, and flamenco musicians David and Alfredo Lagos triumphed at the CCCB theater. Another show that drew the largest audience was the performance Field theater at the Arc de Triomphe, directed by Marco Salicrú.
In 2026, the Grec Festival will turn 50, and it's planned to be a special edition, although Xavier Marcé has made any budget increase contingent on the approval of the municipal budget. Incidentally, the edition will coincide with events such as the 50th anniversary of the Teatre Lliure and the start of the Tour de France in Barcelona.
Leticia Martín has announced that she'll be able to prepare for it more calmly, and that it won't be necessary to "run so much." She'll be talking to everyone and that it will be "more interesting." "We'll share the 50th anniversary celebrations with democracy and with the Teatre Lliure. We'll do something together," Martín revealed.
