Yesterday afternoon, it was finally sunny after a rainy week so I went out and about. I’d originally intended to go down to the Gothic Quarter to practice taking photos, but I just so happened to pass by the Parc de la Ciutadella first…and found a street fair! At first, it looked like an ordinary a weekend street market. These are amazing anyway, but this one turned out to be extra special.
It caught my eye because of some interesting stilt performers warming up. It turned out to be a massive environmentally-friendly fair (officially La Fira i el Tiovivo Ecológic units amb el Medi Ambient). The focus was on eco-friendly products and foods, so there was a ton of great stuff to look at, from handmade jewelry from natural materials to organic vegetable stands. You could even get fake dreadlocks put in to get that real eco-warrior look.
The best part by far was the food. There were hundreds of mouth-watering food stalls. Sadly, I’d already eaten lunch so I didn’t have any space in my tummy to try anything. But it certainly looked incredible. There were lots of people using ingredients straight from the farm to make tasty bread, delicious spreads and jams, giant cheeses, and even ecologically friendly meats.
Around the corner were the people who cooked with these ingredients (or didn’t – there was a raw-food stall there too). They got pretty fancy with this. I’ve never seen a street fair with an Italian pizza oven set up, but there were two or three here! Out came golden pizzas that did a pretty good job of convincing everyone they wanted to be eco-friendly if it meant you got to eat stuff like this all the time.
Next came the international section, filled with people from all over the world selling the best food their country had to offer. You could buy anything from Argentine asado to Taiwanese noodles to Turkish baklava. Some Turkish tea parlors were set up to go with the baklava. You could duck underneath beautiful cloth tents to find low-set tables and chairs, complete with lanterns strung from the ceiling.
I’m not even a foodie, but I would’ve loved to have spent an afternoon wandering between the food tents sampling and tasting delicious little treats from all over the world. But as I wasn’t hungry and had no money to spend, I kept going and came across some amazing performances. There was a jazz band, a hugely energetic drumming group, Brazilian capoeira dancers, and best of all – the stilt performers!
They leapt all the way down the length of the fair to mystical music and rainbow flames. Between the three main guys, there were some incredible gymnastic tricks. One guy in particular could walk backwards by jumping on one foot. Somehow, he whipped the other foot into the air. It ended up in the vicinity of his ear…while he was leaping backwards on stilts in the middle of a crowd.
I watched them finish their incredible performance, and then checked out the eco-friendly carousel and a few more stalls. But by then it was getting a little chilly and my knee started to make walking painful, so I had to leave. Of course, right as I was picking up my bike, I noticed that the fair filled up the whole park and surrounding streets!
Oh well, they assured me they’ll be back next year on Earth Day weekend. Anybody want to join me there?
Currently reading: Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Currently listening to: “Is This It?” by the Strokes
Besos and happy Earth Day!
-Jess
Cool, was there a festival for earth day near you this weekend? There’s not much going on in Almeria, well not that I could find… actually correct that, there was LOTS going on this weekend but not connected with earth day.
Yep, one of the vendors told me it was associated with it, so the whole fair was pro-environment. It’s too bad they didn’t have anything like it in Almeria, it was really fun!
I love it!! especially the pizza ovens and the stilt performers. Isn’t it fun to happen upon something great like this? Thanks for sharing!!
Yeah, I came across it completely by surprise. Thank you so much for you nice words – I’m really happy you enjoyed it!
Oh!! and I just noticed that your slide show has even more pics. Perfect, since I LOVE looking at pics and yours are always so nice 😉 I need to figure out how to do that too.
Reblogged this on travels with toby and commented:
I have to share this post from a blog that I follow(and it’s my first time reblogging). The perfect way to spend Earth Day. Check out the slide show at the end: fabulous pics!!
Looks like an amazing festival! There is an earth day celebration today at balboa park in San Diego.
It was! I didn’t know about the one in San Diego, I’ll have to see that next time I’m in Southern California this time of year.
Ah I totally went to that in 2009 when I studied abroad in Barcelona!! It was epic – and the food was so good. I think I had a Brazilian skewer that definitely hit the spot 🙂
Yesss the food looked amazing! I should’ve gone hungry.
What an awesome thing to stumble upon! Bummer about not being able to try all the food!
Definitely…but now I know next year I have to go hungry!
and with friends so you can try small bites of every thing! 🙂
Now I don’t know which post to share on twitter, this or the one on Cafe Marti, haha. I love both! 🙂
Aww, thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed them.
What a fabulous way to spend Earth Day! Thanks for stopping by my blog so I could discover yours! xxx Ailsa
Thanks! It was such a great thing to come across by surprise.
I was so bummed when I realized what was going on there and I wasn’t in Barcelona that weekend…
There is an event at the beginning of July in my hometown, Girona, which I love so much. It’s called “Menjars del món” which consists of many stalls with food from all over the world. You can buy a little something from here and a little something from there… and have an international dinner next to the Cathedral. The best thing, it last 1 week!!! So you can go as many times as you want and try many many things!
Sure, this is an event I look forward to every year!
Oooh that sounds amazing! If I have time I’ll definitely go. Thank you for letting me know about it!