Barcelona’s modern Mercè festivities began in 1871, when the city organised public celebrations for its patron saint. The feast day of 24 September gave the programme a fixed annual anchor, but the festival’s character developed through civic participation and changing ideas of what a city celebration could be. Its religious origins remain visible alongside a much wider public cultural event.

The 1902 edition gave the festivities a new shape, with giants, big-headed figures and sardana dancing among the prominent features. That combination of popular tradition and renewal still defines La Mercè. Today, traditional processions and human towers share the programme with street arts and concerts, making the festival a meeting point for inherited Catalan customs and contemporary urban creativity across Barcelona’s neighbourhoods.