This festival combines all of the best things you can find in any festival for all ages to enjoy. Dancing of all kinds will be on display including swing dancing, line dancing, ballroom dancing and flamenco dancing. Music performances are just as diverse featuring blues music, classical music and choral music. In addition, all of the classic Spanish festivities will be present including great food, lots of fire and sky high human towers.

In its twenty-seventh year, the Barcelona Poetry Festival is already underway and is on for one more week. Poetry from around the world will be featured, however this event is famous for their focus on Spanish and Catalan poetry, which are both quite beautiful. Palau de la Musica Catalana is the epicenter of the event, however there are readings spread out around the city each night including the University of Barcelona, King’s Square, Palau de la Marquise and the Picasso Museum. Poetry continues to cultivate as a vital mode of expression across Spain so come check out this movement as it grows.

Live Music Update: Judas Priest – Wednesday, May 16th & Bruce Springsteen Thursday, May 17th, Friday May 18th

Dinner In The Sky is open until midnight tonight at the Magic Fountain at Avinguda de la Riena Maria Cristina. Just look up and you can’t miss it. A huge crane supports a large bar with seats (and safety belts) so you can enjoy some great food that is at the next level … literally! See Barcelona from what was, until now, an impossible angle.

If you are a fan of flowers then it is a fantastic time to be in Barcelona. This weekend is the twelfth International Roses Competition in Cervantes Park. Grooming roses is a popular and competitive occupation and top prize at this competition is no laughing matter, it is a coveted prize!

New roses are judged on a wide variety of qualities and judges are so meticulous that every rose is its own unique beauty for all spectators. There are lots of activities and displays of different kinds of flowers and best of all admission is free, so go check out these beautiful flowers and enjoy the sunny weekend.

Running simultaneously to the April Fair is La Festa Major de la Sagrada Familia, one of the first neighbourhood festivals of the year. Around the world’s most beautiful church is all of the Catalan traditions: fireruns, dancing, human towers, live music and tons of great people. There will be local hip-hop, rock and catalan music scattered throughout the week.

For all of you movie lovers out there, this week is an important one for you. All of the award-winning films that have been featured in festivals that were never in theatres in Spain are on display in Barcelona this week. Movies from all over the world will be playing at the Aribau Club and Filmoteca de Catalunya. It is inbetween four to seven euro for a ticket to one of the films and for twenty-five euro you can get a season pass to all of the films.

Want great seafood? Get to Montjuic Hill today for the GastroPop Festival where Spain’s best seafood will be in Barcelona for one day only!

Tomorrow is also St. George’s day in the city. This holiday celebrates the memory of Sant Jordi, and is a romantic day, where lovers shower each other with roses and books. Make sure that you check out Las Ramblas tomorrow because the street will be bustling with people and literature.

What was seem by many as a travesty last week, Barcelonans and a lot of football fans around the world are all anticipating a great comeback by FC Barcelona this Tuesday at 8:45. Camp Nou will be shaking from start to finish so if you can’t get to the game make sure you take to the streets and the bars to support the greatest soccer club in the world.

The Mecal Short Film Festival begins today and should be a huge success. In its fourteenth year, the international film festival has become increasingly popular and has thousands of submissions each year from countries all over the world. The festival lasts for just over two weeks and films are aired in different venues spread across Barcelona. Individual tickets cost four euro and a day ticket goes for eight euro. There are all kinds of different short movies including animation, comedies and dramas, each unique in their own way.

The Barcelona Ladies Open, the only female WTA in the country, is well underway and the quarterfinals are just around the corner. Some of the best tennis players in the world are still in the tournament along with Spain’s own star, Carla Suarez Navarro, who has cruised through the first rounds of this competition. It should be an incredible finish, and the clay surface only makes things more exciting, so keep watching.

The parades go from the parish church to the Cathedral of Barcelona then back to the parish church. The floats usually have large wooden sculptures atop them that have to be carried by at least thirty people. These marches are quite the spectacle and whether you are religious or not it is still very interesting to see.

If you haven’t caught one of these processions yet there are still two left in Barcelona, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, so get outside and take a look. To see one of these last two processions you will have to go to the suburb of Hospitalet. They are starting at Placa de la Bobila on Saturday at 20.00 hrs and on Sunday at 18.00 hrs.

Also this week is the fifteenth annual Barcelona Swing Festival, BarSWINGona 2012. This festival began this past Wednesday and runs until this Monday. If you have rhythm in you spirit and shoes then come out and dance up a storm. There are performances, lessons, group dances and swing parties that are sure to be a ‘bopping’ good time!

Barcelona prides itself by being environmentally friendly and aware of the huge and immediate dangers of climate change. Because of this, one of the many citywide initiatives to make our carbon footprint smaller takes place tomorrow night. Everyone in the city is encouraged to turn off all of their lights from eight thirty to nine thirty tomorrow night and not use any electricity during this time. Grab a good book or a board game, light some candles and spend some real time bonding with family or friends. Many of Barcelona’s landmarks will also have their lights shut off in support of this great cause.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, which kicks off the Easter celebrations. Fiesta de Ramos is sure to be a great time with tons of parades and events all over town. Get outside on Sunday and enjoy the holidays with the rest of the city.

Almost twenty thousand runners are expected to partake this year, so the festivities surrounding the race itself should be an amazing time. The race starts nice and early at eight thirty Sunday morning, but on Saturday there are lots of events for runners to get into the marathon spirit. For all of those of you who aren’t big into running this event is still a great way to spend this Sunday, as there are many different concerts, food stands and activities along the route for spectators.

Tomorrow night at eight o’clock, Barcelona FC is on the road against RCD Mallorca. Then later in the week, a match that many have been anticipating, AC Milan will host Barcelona FC in the first leg of the quarterfinals. The Championship league has less than two months before the finals, so every game until then should be intense.

Since you are already probably in a pub, you may as well stay to watch FC Barcelona storm into Sevilla FC and teach them something about football at eight o’clock. Then on Tuesday at nine o’clock, the Barca boys are back at Camp Nou hosting Granada CF. Both games are sure to be a clinic, with the best football team in the world keeping their streak alive.

Lastly, for all you party rockers out there, LMFAO is in Barcelona this weekend. Tomorrow night at the Sant Jordi club, one of the most popular musical performers right now will start performing at nine and should stay on until almost midnight. It’s not too late to get tickets, so if you still have any energy after Saint Paddy’s Day this is a good place to use it.

Although last week had some great musical options, this week also has its fair share. The Terrassa Jazz Festival is on this month just forty minutes outside of Barcelona. A festival and parade will kick off the festival next Monday and then over the next few weeks some of the world’s best jazz players will perform. Terrassa is a small, welcoming town just northwest of Barcelona and is nice place to escape the hustle and bustle of Barcelona for a couple of days.

Also for the next two weeks, the keys of the city will be played, as pianos are scattered around the streets for professional and amateurs to perform everything from “Heart and Soul” to “Beethoven’s Fifth”. The 58th edition of the Marie Canals Music Competition has begun and that means that the best pianist from around the globe will be in town competing for the prestigious title. Performances happen everywhere from popular venues to subway stations so keep your eyes and your ears open and chances are you will catch a show or two.