Sant Jordi Day, celebrated every April 23rd in Catalonia, is a holiday that combines culture and tradition, where the streets are filled with book and rose stalls, symbolizing love and literature. This day, inspired by the legend of Sant Jordi (patron saint of Catalonia), has become one of the region’s most iconic celebrations.
In the Maresme region, the celebration of Sant Jordi will be marked by a variety of cultural and festive activities such as book and rose markets, craft workshops, concerts, and activities for all ages, encouraging citizen participation and promoting local culture in a festive and welcoming atmosphere.
Each municipality in the Maresme region has its own program of events for these dates. However, the one in its capital, Mataró, is especially extensive and entertaining. Here’s a preview!
TUESDAY, APRIL 22
• Open Library (starting at 9:00 a.m., in Plaça Santa Anna):
The Environmental Education Plan and the Mataró Libraries are organizing a book discovery space for children in preschool, primary school, and kindergarten. Advance registration is required.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23
• Bring the bookmarks to the street! Designer bookmarks (all day, at La Riera):
The Sant Lluc per l’Art Association is organizing a new “Designer Bookmarks” exhibition to celebrate Sant Jordi Day. You can find the stand at La Riera, number 38!
For the third consecutive year, and following last year’s success, the exhibition is taking to the streets and transforming into a stand selling bookmarks and roses. The artists associated with the organization have adapted their pieces, works, and creations to be transformed into unique bookmarks.
• Mataró Giants and Nans Gathering (starting at 7:00 p.m., at various locations):
The Robafaves Family and the Nans invite the city’s giants and nans to celebrate Sant Jordi with a parade through the city streets.
The streets of Mataró will once again be filled with giants and dwarfs from different organizations, neighborhoods, and schools, dancing to the rhythm of flutes, jackdaws, and tabales.
– 6:30 p.m.: Gathering of giants, dwarfs, and dwarfs in Plaça de la Brisa. The mayor presents roses to the giants.
– 7:00 p.m.: The parade begins with the following route: Plaça de la Brisa, Carrer de Josep Anselm Clavé, Carrer de les Monges, Carrer del Portal de Valldeix, Carrer de San Francisco de Asís, Plaça de Santa Maria, Carrer Nou, and Carrer La Riera, leading to the Town Hall.
– Then, in front of the Town Hall: dances.
• Human tower performance (at 7:00 p.m., in front of the Town Hall):
The Capgrossos de Mataró Castellera Group will perform to celebrate Sant Jordi Day, once again building their castles, towers, and pillars in front of the Town Hall.
• The Fogonada (starting at 10:00 p.m., at various locations):
The streets of Mataró will once again be filled with magic and fire to explain to the people of Mataró the adaptation of the legend of Sant Jordi, with the Dragon of Mataró as the protagonist. Together with the Devils, they will tour the streets of the historic city center.
THURSDAY, APRIL 24
• Poetry and song (at 7:00 p.m., at the Ateneu Cultural Center):
Saint George’s Day concert by the La Perla de l’Havana choir
FRIDAY, APRIL 25
• Sant Jordi Jam (from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the Pompeu Fabra Library):
An initiative to create experimental video games and the seed of future projects. All video games and digital experiences must focus on Sant Jordi Day and its legend.
Activity for young people aged 14 and over. Free admission. Limited capacity.
• Brass Band, Big Band, String Orchestra, and Folk Group (at 7:00 p.m., at the Cafè Nou Theater):
The permanent ensembles of the Mataró Municipal Music School present a sample of their best repertoires, ranging from jazz to folk, as well as classical music.
• Poetry Night (7:00 p.m., Gatassa Civic Center):
The event will be a tribute to the great poets of the Golden Age.
The recital will be led by the Poetry Workshop of the Cerdanyola Cultural Association, with musical accompaniment by Rubén Bravo on guitar.
• GospelSons & Ensemble Jazz Maresme (at 9:00 p.m., at the Teatro Monumental):
Concert celebrating GospelSons’ 20th anniversary. The Teatro Monumental in Mataró will become the stage for a grand musical celebration. GospelSons and the powerful Ensemble Jazz Maresme join forces to offer an unforgettable evening full of energy, emotion, and rhythm.
SATURDAY, APRIL 26
• Sant Jordi Sardana Dance and Closing Ceremony of SardaMat (at 5:00 p.m., in Parque Central)
Sardana dance to celebrate Sant Jordi and the closing ceremony of the SardaMat project.
Parc Central Vell will host the Sant Jordi dance and the closing ceremony of SardaMat 2024-2025, featuring the Cobla Xaloc.
Sardana is a project that teaches copla and sardana in schools, with various classroom activities and two joint activities: an educational concert of copla and the final dance.
• A House of Surprises for Sant Jordi (at 5:00 p.m., at Casa Coll i Regàs)
Family tour to discover Mataró’s Modernist gem, a project by Mataró architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. An exploration activity and fun experiences for families with children ages 2 to 5.
• Mataró, the capital of knitwear (at 6:00 p.m., at Can Marfà)
Guided tour of Can Marfà to discover the city’s history linked to the knitwear industry. The tour also includes the Mataró Museum’s textile collections, which displays a selection of fashions from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Free activity. Capacity limited to 35 people.
• From Iluro to Mataró (at 6:00 p.m., at Can Serra)
A tour of the city’s history from Roman times to the present day, through some of the most notable objects in the Mataró Museum’s collections.
Free activity. Limited to 35 people.
SUNDAY, APRIL 27
• Art Workshop (at 11:00 a.m., at La Presó)
You can visit the La Presó building and the current exhibition in a different way: with an art workshop for the little ones.
• Dragalió Storyteller (starting at 11:30 a.m., from the Town Hall)
Dragalió will hold a parade to write their story for the city’s Giant Storybook:
– 11:30 a.m.: Storybook: Town Hall, La Riera, the Presó Wall, and the Café Nou Courtyard
– 1:00 p.m.: Storybook: Café Nou Courtyard, La Presó Wall, and La Riera toward the Town Hall
• 49th Giant Storybook (From 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Café Nou Courtyard)
Once again this year, the Giant Storybook returns, one of the most traditional and authentic events of Sant Jordi in Mataró. Everyone is invited to bring their own little stories from home, and several artists and illustrators from the city will come to bring them to life with their strokes and colors. This is how this year’s Giant Book will be born.
• Explain the exhibition (from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., at La Presó)
You can visit the current exhibitions, The Idiot and The Island House, with personalized explanations from artist Carla Aledo. You can also include the little ones at home.
Beforehand, children (ages 5 to 13) will have been able to participate in an art workshop, also centered around the exhibition.
• Materialitz’art for families (at 12:00 p.m., at Casa Coll i Regàs)
Sant Jordi Special. Family visit and workshop to discover the jewel of Mataró’s Modernisme, a project by Mataró-based architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch.
• The Spider (starting at 7:00 p.m., at the Teatro Monumental)
The Spider is a romantic tragedy that portrays the hopes and disappointments, love and heartbreak, fidelity and betrayal, of a couple unable to conceive a child. An uncomfortable play fraught with tension, a grocery store is the setting for the most hidden desires and the social pressures of a closed society.
This is one of the latest works to be discovered from Guimerà’s theater, coming to the stage for the first time with the dramaturgy and direction of Jordi Prat i Coll, who approaches the classic from a very personal perspective. The original play was set in Barcelona in 1908, but for personal reasons, Prat y Coll rewrote it and moved it to Girona in 1968 to highlight ordinary people, like his parents, who, from a shop far from the Gauche Divine, shared the oppression of a Franco regime that made it difficult for them to pursue their dreams.
• Flamingo’s Cocktail Bar (at 7:00 p.m., at Can Gassol)
La Romancera Teatre invites us to an open rehearsal for its newest show. This is the company founded by actress and creator Maria Santallusia with the goal of rediscovering herself as an artist and thus being able to practice the different disciplines she is passionate about: singing, music, puppetry, and visual art.
The company was born as a space for research and creation to find different languages to communicate stories—relative and essential stories—in order to create visual art and sound environments that can bring the proposed theme closer to audiences of different ages.
TUESDAY, APRIL 29
• Animals of All Colors (at 5:30 p.m., at the Pompeu Fabra Library)
Come and listen to and enjoy these stories and songs featuring a host of animals and lots of things to discover. Led by Clara Gavaldà.
For families with children ages 1 to 3. Limited capacity, with advance registration via the registration form or in person at the library.
Registration date: April 15th at 9:30 a.m.