Manchester takes over Barcelona’s La Mercè festival with historic collaboration

Next year, Manchester will make history by becoming the first-ever English guest city at Barcelona’s renowned La Mercè festival.

This iconic four-day celebration attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and showcases the finest in Catalan culture, outdoor arts, and music.

Manchester’s inclusion in the 2025 edition promises to be a cultural milestone not just for the city but also for its international relationships, setting the stage for an exciting partnership between these two world-class cities.

What is La Mercè festival?

What is La Mercè Festival?

La Mercè Festival is Barcelona’s largest annual celebration, held every September to honour the city’s patron saint, La Mare de Déu de la Mercè (Our Lady of Mercy).

This four-day cultural extravaganza transforms the city into a vibrant stage, featuring an eclectic mix of traditional Catalan customs, outdoor arts, and modern performances.

Highlights include the Castells (human towers), the fiery Correfoc (fire runs), live music, street performances, and parades.

It’s a festival that celebrates Catalonia’s rich heritage alongside international artistic collaborations, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world every year.

Why is the Manchester X Barcelona collaboration important?

So, what makes this collaboration between Manchester and Barcelona so significant for the city?

First, it solidifies Manchester’s growing global cultural reputation.

For decades, Manchester has been known for its music scene, festivals, and flourishing arts sector.

Now, by taking centre stage at one of Europe’s most prestigious festivals, the city will have the chance to shine on a new international platform, showcasing the best of Mancunian-grown talent in music, street arts, and other creative expressions.

It serves as a major outdoor arts event that highlights local traditions, but this time Manchester’s influence will be felt.

With Manchester’s Brighter Sound leading the music programme and XTRAX and Without Walls curating the outdoor arts, the city will contribute significantly to the festival’s artistic landscape.

Manchester City Council Leader Bev Craig

According to Manchester City Council Leader Bev Craig, this partnership goes beyond the festival itself.

She noted the shared visions between the two cities, which have long collaborated in areas such as housing, education, digital innovation, and sustainability.

Bev Craig said: “We’re honoured to have been invited by Barcelona to be the 2025 guest city at their historic La Mercè Festival.

“Our two cities share very similar visions and through celebrations like the incredible La Mercè festival and our own Manchester Day and packed programme of year-round city-wide cultural activity, it’s clear we both also value the importance of culture and the part it plays in helping build communities, pride and prosperity in our cities.

“Our city-to-city friendship with Barcelona already spans several decades through various collaborations in culture and sport, as well as in areas like housing, higher education, digital technologies, and sustainability.

“We’re very much looking forward to now further strengthening our relationship with the city, both through the next year in the run-up to La Mercè 2025, and beyond.”

The roots of this partnership were set during a recent visit to Barcelona by Manchester officials, where discussions between Councillor Craig and Barcelona’s Mayor Jaume Collboni resulted in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.

Both cities have rich industrial histories and workers’ movements that have shaped their identities, making this collaboration a natural fit.

Collboni emphasised that Barcelona’s citizens are eager to experience Manchester’s globally-renowned music and street arts scene firsthand.

He said: “We’re deeply honoured to invite Manchester to be the guest city for their historic La Mercè in 2025.

“It will be very interesting for the people of Barcelona to discover Manchester’s cultural expression first hand, its music, for which it is known the world over, but also its visual and street arts, sports and theatre.”

The year-long lead-up to the 2025 festival will see continued close collaboration between the cities’ cultural institutions. The involvement of XTRAX, known for its dedication to outdoor festivals, underscores the ambition to make Manchester’s presence at La Mercè one to remember.

Director Maggie Clarke expressed pride in the opportunity, especially in a post-Brexit world, where European collaborations in the arts have become more complex.

For Clarke, this partnership paves the way for more future collaborations across the continent.

Ralph Kennedy, Chief Executive at Without Walls, highlighted the importance of innovation and cultural exchange in the arts.

For him, this festival is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of Manchester’s artistic talent and bring it to one of Europe’s largest cultural audiences. The city’s contribution to La Mercè will offer an eclectic mix of performances that reflect Manchester’s modern identity—multicultural, innovative, and dynamic.

Music, one of Manchester’s biggest cultural exports, will also play a crucial role in the festival’s guest city programme.

Kate Lowes from Brighter Sound is keen to showcase the city’s rich musical legacy and its forward-thinking new artists to Barcelona’s audience.

As part of the Music Cities network, Manchester’s musical influence has already made waves internationally and La Mercè will only strengthen this connection.

Beyond the artistic aspect, the collaboration is also being championed by Marketing Manchester, which sees this as a prime opportunity for both cities to benefit from increased visibility and shared tourism initiatives.

Victoria Braddock, Managing Director of Marketing Manchester, commented on the “synergies” between the two cities, highlighting their shared passion for culture, sport, and music.

The Arts Council England also plays a pivotal role in supporting this partnership, with Director Jen Cleary highlighting the opportunities it brings for international artistic exchange and touring.

Cleary described La Mercè as a “major event in the European outdoor arts calendar,” and Manchester’s involvement promises to put the city in the spotlight in new and exciting ways.

In short, this is a partnership that goes beyond the stage.

It’s a celebration of two cities that, despite their geographic distance, share much in common—industrially, artistically, and culturally.

It’s a chance for Manchester to show the world what it’s made of, and for Barcelona to embrace the creativity and innovation that defines Manchester.

Mark your calendars, Manchester. The fiesta begins in Barcelona, September 2025!