July says goodbye and August arrives with the height of summer. While many rest, others continue exploring Madrid in search of free plans to experience the region in a special way. This week does not disappoint and brings activities for all tastes: from the joy and movement of popular festivals to the tranquility of art exhibitions and classical music concerts.
San Cayetano Festivals
El Rastro and Lavapiés kick off the August verbenas with the San Cayetano festivals, which this year have SAMUR-Civil Protection as their announcers. The festival starts on Tuesday with the exhibition of Giants and Big Heads, and the program has activities that will extend until Friday. During the afternoons and nights, the main protagonist will be music, with concerts by various artists and DJs.
The reading of the proclamation will be on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m., in Plaza del General Vara de Rey. At 9:30 p.m., in the same place, the concert of the musical group Raya Real will take place. The party will continue with DJ Mario PG, with a set starting at 11:00 p.m.
The main concert of the festivals will be by the Madrid singer Soleá Morente, with the sound of flamenco influenced by pop and rock. The artist’s performance will be on Thursday, in Plaza del General Vara de Rey, at 9:30 p.m.
- Date: from Tuesday, August 4 to Friday, August 7.
- Place: Centro District. Check the program.
View this post on Instagram
Soraya at the Soto del Real Festivals
The municipality of Soto del Real, an hour from Madrid city, celebrates its patron saint festivals from July 31 to Tuesday, August 4. This year, as a precaution against the forest fires that have affected the region, the traditional fireworks display will not take place.
The festival program has as its main event the concert of the Valencian singer Soraya Arnelas, who will perform at the closing event on Tuesday, August 4, in Plaza de la Villa. The complete agenda with all the activities of the Soto del Real festivals can be consulted by clicking here.
- Date: Tuesday, August 4.
- Place: Plaza de la Villa de Soto del Real.
- Transport: from Madrid city, bus 726 from Plaza de Castilla to Avenida Víctimas del Terrorismo – Calvo Sotelo.
Exhibition on American Democracy
In a year marking the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States, the PSJM collective presents at Casa de América the exhibition American Democracy, composed of two shows: American Colors and American Democracy. These projects integrate the plastic procedure called “social geometry,” with minimalist compositions based on statistical data or electoral recounts.
American Colors (2009-2010) is the series with which the collective began its “social geometry.” It consists of different works that use the five colors conventionally applied to races and subject their composition to the census percentage of population, prison population, and poverty index by ethnicities. The exhibition is in the Guayasamín room. American Democracy (2022) is an installation of 59 historical paintings that compose a pictorial portrait of the political history of the United States interpreted in geometric key. It is exhibited in the Torres García room.
View this post on Instagram
- Date: until September 30. Monday to Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sundays and holidays, closed.
- Place: Casa de América. Calle del Marqués del Duero, 2.
- Transport: Banco de España Metro station (line 2).
A Violin in the Sierra Norte
Escape to a mountain village to enjoy a classical music concert? A dream plan that can become reality. Within the framework of the Summer Classical Concert Festival, the Church of Santa Catalina, in the municipality of Robregordo, becomes an auditorium to host the presentation of chamber musician Guillermo Santonja.
The festival schedules a cycle of concerts in municipalities with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants. Churches, castles, monasteries, and other emblematic spaces become stages for this new cycle.
- Date: Friday, August 7, at 8:00 p.m.
- Place: Church of Santa Catalina, Robregordo.
- Transport: bus 191 from Plaza de Castilla.
Cinema and Mathematics at Conde Duque
As part of the Veranos de la Villa Festival, the Conde Duque cultural center opens its doors for the screening of the film A Beautiful Mind (2001). The film, starring Russell Crowe, tells the story of mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr., who, despite suffering from schizophrenia, managed to develop his career and win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994.
A Beautiful Mind, directed by Ron Howard, won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress. Admission to see the screening at Conde Duque is free until full capacity is reached.
- Date: Thursday, August 6, at 8:00 p.m.
- Place: auditorium of the Conde Duque Contemporary Culture Center.
- Transport: Ventura Rodríguez Metro station (line 3). Bus 002.
The Pantheon of Spain, in Madrid
The Pantheon of Spain (formerly called Pantheon of Illustrious Men) is a space aimed at maintaining the memory and projection of representatives of the history of Spanish democracy. The building houses magnificent sculptural ensembles of some of the most influential politicians in Spanish history. The idea of the national pantheon is characteristic of European constitutional regimes since the French Revolution and develops from the English example of Westminster. In Spain, it was the regent queen María Cristina of Habsburg who promoted the construction of this Pantheon.
In the Pantheon, you can visit the mausoleums of politicians and military figures such as Sagasta, Cánovas del Castillo, Dato, Ríos Rosas, Canalejas, or Gutiérrez de la Concha. These are magnificent sculptural ensembles from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, among which stand out those made by Mariano Benlliure, Pedro Estany, and Agustín Querol.
- Schedule: Tuesday to Saturday: from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sundays and holidays, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (access until 2:30 p.m.).
- Place: Calle de Julián Gayarre, 3.
- Transport: Atocha Metro-Renfe Station (metro line 1 and Renfe lines C1, C2, C3, C4, C4a, C4b, C5, C7, C8a, C8b, C10). Bus lines 10, 14, 24, 26, 32, 37, 54, 57, 140, 141, and Circular.