Festes de Sant Roc 2026
By Charlotte Stace
Long before Barcelona had beach clubs and music festivals, its residents already knew how to throw a mega neighbourhood celebration. The Festa de Sant Roc has been going strong since 1589, making it the city’s oldest continuously celebrated street festival and giving the Gothic Quarter more than four centuries of street partying.
The festivities began after local residents adopted Sant Roc as their patron during outbreaks of plague, but what survives today is way more fun. Of course, no Catalan neighbourhood celebration is complete without the gegants roaming the streets, sardana dancing, traditional processions, puppet shows, and the wonderfully peculiar sight of Cu-cut riding through the streets on a donkey.
Then there are traditions you’re unlikely to encounter anywhere else like the century-old cucanya climbing challenge, panellets, the enormous porró llarg and even the Balloon of Captain Munyon. It’s a perfect chance to experience Barcelona’s rich tapestry of folklore.