Every August, Barcelona's Gràcia neighborhood dresses up for the festivities, and its streets become magical settings. Vegetable gardens, zoos, fish tanks, and all kinds of imaginary worlds come to life thanks to the efforts of its residents, in a tradition that dates back to the mid-19th century. But on Berga Street, the future of that tradition seems to be numbered. "If the situation doesn't improve soon, this could be the last year we decorate the street," warns Montserrat del Castillo, a resident who has been responsible for the event for fourteen years.

Beyond the street decorations, music is one of the pillars of Gràcia's festival, which begins this Friday and runs until Thursday, August 21. The program includes hundreds of free concerts of all styles and for all audiences, from both established artists and emerging bands. Below, we've selected ten essential concerts to experience the festival with the best soundtrack.

The Gràcia residents' festival committees have been working for months at their local venues to decorate the streets and squares of Vila de Gràcia for the neighborhood's main festival. This year's edition will be held between August 15 and 21, and more than a hundred activities have already been scheduled, including concerts, popular culture events, exhibitions, and workshops. Furthermore, the confrontation between the Colla Vella de Diablos de Gracia and the Coordinadora de Colles de Cultura de Gracia, which last year shut down the festival, is now a distant memory. without the traditional correfoc, which is being revived this year, both for children and adults. The full program will be announced on August 8th.

An open-air club. That is what the Plaça del Sol in Barcelona's Gràcia neighbourhood was from about midnight until 1.30 am, the curfew no longer dissuading anyone. A few hundred youngsters prolong their night out at their own pace, lightly clad and sweaty, with alcohol and the desire to party dissolving any worries. Nonexistent safety distance, even more nonexistent masks and let the morrow bring what it may. Loudspeakers blaring out a selection of the latest hits, beer-can sellers making a killing and let's pray that the sixth wave is just a bluff, a poetic license. "But we are all vaccinated, don't be such a killjoy!" Gisela and Aina are in no doubt, as are their new friends with surfer shirts, hairstyle and chest muscles. Police cars, motorbikes and the odd van have been driving up and down Gràcia for a while now, but have not given revellers a single warning. What's the point of banning crowds and partying if nobody does anything when there is a square full of young people without masks? Everyone knows parties at Plaça del Sol take place.