Date: 26/06/2019 to 31/07/2019

El Grec de Barcelona is a festival of theater, dance, music, circus and cinema, with a long tradition (this year marks the 43rd edition). It is not only the main cultural attraction of the Barcelona summer, but also a reference in the European calendar of festivals.
And where does the name come from? From the venue, the place where the opening sessions of the festival are held and some other events are organized: the Teatre Grec (Greek Theatre) of Montjuïc, an outdoor theater built for the Universal Exhibition of 1929 and inspired by the theaters of ancient Greece.
The Grec Festival of Barcelona supports the local production by showing some of the best creations of the collectives and artists that live in Barcelona, ​​but it is also a window open to the world that shows the most interesting proposals coming from other countries.
The Grec is promoted by the City Council and financed by public funds, contributions from sponsors and ticket sales.

The 2019 edition of the Grec Festival
This year’s edition of the Grec is structured again in two large groups of shows:
El Grec de Montjuïc: the most international festival, with a Grec theater that this year will offer more functions than ever, and cheap prices for the opening and closing shows.
El Grec City: a reflection of local creation, with artists and companies such as Parking Shakespeare, Mamzelles, Antonietta, Sixto Paz, Los Piratas, Iván Labanda or Baró d’evel.
In addition to the usual theaters in Montjuïc and City, in this edition they will have new spaces such as the MNAC, the Palau de la Música, the Drassanes, and several museums and Creation Factories. The CCCB will be the epicenter of the Grec Jove, which this year has more relevance.

About the program
In relation to the program, the 43rd edition of the Grec Festival, offers us a trip through Anglo-Saxon-speaking cultures, which goes from Australia to New York. To do so, they have had the help of the directors of the Melbourne Festival and the BAM- Next Wave of Brooklyn. On this trip, the Grec intends to reflect on the tension between passion and reason, and in the year in which so much talk of Brexit have invited new generations to offer creations inspired by the universe of Shakespeare, English and great explorer of the soul and human passions. That’s what the programming wants to reflect.

About the artists
The Grec 2019 will gather some of the big names of the international scene: Ivo van Hove, Isabelle Huppert, Bob Wilson, William Forsyte, Tom Peeping, Kronos Quartet, Rodrigo Garcia and Circa among others. He also wants to discover other great names that are beginning to stand out on the stages of half the world and that are still not as well known here: Vancouver Ballet (Canada), Taylor Mac (USA), Gravity & Other Myths (Australia), Taylor Mac (USA), Lola Arias (Argentina), Tiago Rodríguez (Portugal), Kyle Abraham (USA). In the local section, the Grec will feature renowned artists such as Julio Manrique, Pere Arquillué, Sergi Belbel, Míriam Iscla, Fura, Roger Bernat, Sílvia Munt and Emma Vilarasau.

The conceptual Grec
From Melbourne to New York
The 2019 Grec crosses the Pacific Ocean and jumps between continents. He leaves Australia and arrives in New York. In the tour we will meet some artists who are inspired by these territories.

Passions
Shows that invite us to get excited, or that propose a reflection on passions, desires and emotions: fear, laughter, love, or sadness.

In company
The scenic collectives that invite you to live a Grec “In (good) company”.

Summer nights
Shows and activities to dream under the stars, and, sometimes, under cover. They are the intense “Summer Nights of Grec 2019”.

The Grec 2019 in figures
94 shows
436 sessions
175,367 tickets for sale
Shows by genre: 29 of theater, 15 of hybrid scene, 28 of music, 15 of dance, 5 of circus and 2 of cinema
Spacesinvolved: 37
34 co-productions
37 international productions
11 family shows
14 shows for the young audience
80 parallel activities spread over 30 spaces of the city