🇪🇺 The Tapa Weekend: May 10
Eurovision (obviously), San Isidro and the 'Madrid en Danza' dance festival.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | May 10, 2024 | Madrid | Issue #53
🎉 Welcome to a new issue of The Tapa: Weekend Edition! An English-language newsletter about what to do this weekend in Madrid (plus memes!)
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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
Happy Friday, everyone!
The spring is slowly springing, the streets are getting crowded and there’s daylight after 9 p.m.
Life is good, so why not make it better with some great options this weekend? Besides the obvious tintos de verano and outdoor activities, Madrid is getting ready for a couple of big weekends thanks to Eurovision and San Isidro.
So here are some interesting options for you. Enjoy!
1. Eurovision Song Contest 2024
They Gay Super Bowl is finally here!
And as we all hope and pray for Nebulossa to win the contest with its controversial and catchy Zorra (it won’t), we finally begin to admit that it has already won our hearts (seriously).
It’s very likely that you’ve been invited to a Eurovision Viewing Party this weekend. If you haven’t, then a) you need new friends and b) you need to organize it yourself.
Getting together with Eurofans to root for your favorite European band/song is now as traditional as a tortilla de patatas so don’t miss this chance.
This year’s contest takes place in Malmö, Sweden (as last year’s winning song Tattoo was by Swedish singer Loreen) and all bets are off.
For the first time this year, people from all over the world will be able to vote for their favorite band/performer, which could mean anyone could win. Check this out if you want to know more about how to voting works.
Cancel your plans on Saturday night and stay at home watching this. That is an order! 🫡
Eurovision Song Contest 2024 (Final). May 11. 9 p.m. Watch it live on TVE’s La1 network.
2. Fiestas de San Isidro 2024
San Isidro is back, baby.
San Isidro Labrador is the patron saint of Madrid (as you hopefully know). So every year in May, the San Isidro festivities turn the streets into a city-wide party—with loads of live music, beer festivals, workshops, bike tours and Plaza Mayor, Matadero and Pradera de San Isidro all turned into a non-stop cavalcade of cool things to do.
Oh, and expect to see lots of people wearing traditional castizo garments. Because in order to play the part, you need to look the part.
There are so many options that it’s hard to add them all here, so make sure you download the official program booklet (yes, it’s a 64-page booklet) on PDF so you can organize your schedule. You will definitely not be able to see it all.
Plaza Mayor will see shows by Karmento and Antonio José tonight. At the same time, Los del Río (yes, the Macarena guys) will be performing at the San Isidro park. We’re telling you, it’s hard to keep up.
Then there’s the street parties, the bar celebrations, the orchard workshops, the special San Isidro restaurant menus…it’s pretty crazy. And fun!
One final highlight for this weekend: on Saturday, if you’re not into Eurovision, do not miss the Mad Cool music festival (San Isidro edition), featuring Natalia Lacunza, Alfie Templeman, Crawlers and Lina de Sol.
Fiestas de San Isidro. Multiple locations around Madrid. Through May 15. Check website for schedule.
3. Festival Madrid en Danza 2024
Madrid en Danza turns the city into the European hub of dance with the latest in international, national and local leg moving.
The 39th edition this year has Teatros del Canal as the central venue, but with many more shows spread across other theaters and venues (as well as seven municipalities in the Madrid region).
For the first time ever, the festival takes to the streets with a large participatory event, free and open to all audiences, in Puerta del Sol tomorrow. For 10 consecutive hours, the area will be transformed into a dance studio where the public will be invited to participate and learn steps from ballroom dance, modern dance, flamenco, or contemporary dance.
See? Tell us this is not amazing. Don’t you just love Madrid?
You’re welcome.
Festival Madrid en Danza 2024. Multiple locations around Madrid. May 9 to 26. Check website for schedules.
4. PHotoESPAÑA 2024: Perpetuum Mobile
Madrid once again becomes a “hub for the world of visual arts and photography”.
PHotoESPAÑA offers the opportunity to discover the latest trends in photographic art, as well as the latest projects by internationally recognized artists, with photo exhibitions in museums, art galleries, and beyond.
This year’s edition will take place from May to September and will feature 84 exhibits, along with the participation of 293 photographers and visual artists.
The first edition of PHotoESPAÑA was held in June 1998 with the goal of giving photography a relevant place in public institutions and showcasing the work of galleries.
"Perpetuum mobile". That’s this year’s name for the exhibit, with movement as its central theme. As in, “from the dynamism of the photographic medium to that of creators in the development of their work; from the representation of movement to collective, historical, or social changes.” Exactly.
Spanish photography will be represented by well known figures such as Gonzalo Juanes, Javier Campano, and photographers Pilar Aymerich and Paloma Navares, pioneers of the gender perspective in Spain.
Emerging photography will come from authors such as Galician photographers Catara Rego and Lúa Ribeira, as well as Haitian Widline Cadet.
PHotoESPAÑA 2024. Multiple locations around Madrid. May 10 to September 29. Check website for program.
5. La Fura dels Baus’ Carmina Burana
(This is the only event on this week’s list that doesn’t end in “2024”. Not that it means anything).
Have you ever heard of La Fura dels Baus? They are a longstanding Catalan theatre group that’s always putting on mesmerizing and visually spectacular shows. So guess what happens when you mix that with something as dramatic as Carmina Burana? (Check the video to find out).
This version of the classic cantata has been conceived so “through striking scenes, special effects, and even spring fragrances” audiences are “fully immersed in the universe of La Fura dels Baus”.
Imagine: On stage, “a large cylinder 10 meters in diameter literally envelops the orchestra, while images projected onto it illustrate the entire work from beginning to end. A giant moon, the melting of ice, waterfalls, a floral ecstasy, a live harvest, wine, water, and fire.” Oooohhh…
This version of Carmina Burana “is a sensory, musical, and theatrical spectacle, vital and energetic, which has already been seen by more than 410,000 spectators in Europe, Asia, and America”.
Prepare to be surprised.
La Fura dels Baus: Carmina Burana. Teatro Nuevo Apolo. Plaza de Tirso de Molina, 1. Madrid. Through June 2. Check website for schedule. Tickets start at €26,10.
👨🏻💻 Viral Stories of the Week
🪂 “It’s your big day—the King will be there!” And then…
🎤 Sometimes we get a meme late but it’s too good to let pass…
Polonia, the humor show on Catalonia’s TV3, can be crazy dull when it gets all boring righteous political, but when it lets the funny bits run…
Sorry we missed this last week. Hope it starts your weekend right!
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Guess you would already know but Casa Decor is running and it looks like a neat weekend activity for design fiends heh. Think it is there only for a week more. The venue looks interesting plus it's almost Madrid's very own mini Salone del Mobile.