There are cities that live the summer waiting for the heat to pass. There are others that take advantage of it to go out into the street and remember that culture is also a way of meeting. Sant Joan Despí is part of this second group. With a new edition of the Nights of July, the city once again transforms its squares and parks into places of coexistence full of music, tradition, cinema and art, with a program that runs from July 2 to the first Saturday of August.
The program includes great pop-rock hits, which invite you to sing without complexes, social poetry, traditional dances, cinema under the stars, family activities and more intimate theater. A mix that reflects an idea of open, popular and shared culture, where neighborhood associations, local names and proposals designed for young people all have a place.
Solarium Night: music that transforms into a gesture of solidarity
One of the most unique axes is again the Solarium Night, which combines music and social commitment. Every Thursday in July, the solarium of the Salvador Gimeno sports center —with access through the Mil·lenari park— transforms into an open-air stage starting at 10 p.m. Going there goes beyond entertainment: with a donation of €2, the proceeds are allocated, through the Basic Needs Attention Services Coordination Table, to the purchase of food for the city's families who need it most. A way to remember that culture can also generate community when accompanied by commitment.
The cycle kicks off on July 2 with Ismael González and his Escúchame Tour, a show full of strength and sensitivity suitable for all audiences. On July 9 it will be the turn of La Noche Quilombera, a cover band that lives live as a shared party, with a repertoire that goes from Sopa de Cabra and Estopa to Lady Gaga or Bad Bunny. On July 16, El Último Tributo will perform, a tribute band to El Último de la Fila faithful to the songs of Manolo García and Quimi Portet. And the cycle will close on July 23 with Mala Vida, who propose an "interactive show" and a forceful review of Spanish pop-rock of all eras. Tickets can be purchased in advance at teatresdespi.cat, with limited capacity.
Cinema under the stars and squares transformed into stages
Summer also brings back one of its most beloved rituals: open-air cinema. Watching a film outdoors still has something of a shared, almost domestic experience, which an individual screen can hardly replace. Throughout the month, neighborhood associations fill this ritual with content for all ages: the AVV Eixample programs sessions in Plaça del Sol Solet —Inside Out 2, The Princess Bride, Lilo & Stitch or Jurassic World—; the AVV El Pi brings titles like Inside Out 2, Paddington: Adventure in the Jungle or Is it the enemy? (the latter, already on August 1st) to Plaça de la Sardana; and the AVV Pla del Vent-Torreblanca opts for summer cinema in Torreblanca with Migration and Rondallas.
This desire to occupy public spaces extends to proposals as diverse as open-air chess in Plaça del Pi, organized by the Sant Joan Despí Chess Club, or concerts organized by neighborhood entities, such as the summer concert of the AVV El Pi in Plaça de la Sardana or the II Open-Air Concert with Fills del Sr. President, a proposal of sardana-infused and erotic-festive pop blues in Marta Mata Park. Any square can become, for a few hours, a stage.
The Festes del Carme, the pulse of tradition
Popular culture in its most traditional character also maintains a leading role. From July 10 to 16, the Festes del Carme, in the Les Planes neighborhood, will fill the streets with giants, batucadas, dances, and botifarrades. On Friday 10, the proclamation arrives, by C.E. El Tricicle, and the entities' dance, with the collaboration of the Cor de la Flora and the Esbart Dansaire; on Saturday 11, the entities' fair, the charity raffle, the Colla Geganters and the popular dinner; and on Sunday 12, children's water activities, the batucada and the foam and Holi party. Honoring the name of the festivity, the festivities will conclude on Thursday 16 with the mass and the offering of flowers to the Virgin at the Parish of Carme.
This dialogue between heritage and contemporaneity is also evident in other proposals. The reading of Poesia de barricada, in Plaça de Mercè Rodoreda, vindicates the word as a critical tool; the II Meeting of Dance Troupes highlights traditional Catalan dance by the Esbart Dansaire and other esbarts from the territory; and the picnic dinner with sardana dancing, with the Cobla Ciutat de Granollers and the Colla Sardanista, recovers one of the most identity-defining expressions of Catalan culture.
Pride, youth, and a forward-looking program
At the same time, the program incorporates activities that reflect a diverse and updated society. On July 3, the Cargola't amb Orgull party commemorates International LGTBI Pride Day in Miquel Martí i Pol square, presented by Pepo Flores and featuring a performance by Krystal Karma, a musical bingo, a fluor makeup workshop, and an Irisat point. Young people also have a host of their own proposals promoted by Despíjove: refreshing workshops at El Bulevard —such as the ice cream cake workshop—, the Padel Americana at the Francesc Calvet sports center, the foosball championship, and the D'Tardeo White Party, a white party with DJ Jefelo and DJ Erixen that will be held on July 18 at the Salvador Gimeno sports center solarium, with tickets already on sale at teatresdespi.cat.
One of the most anticipated moments will arrive on July 30 with the preview of Temps, Quim Masferrer's new show, at the Teatre Mercè Rodoreda and before its return to the Teatre Borràs. With the question of what we would do if we only had ninety minutes left to live, the actor proposes a reflection on the passage of time, memory, and the way we inhabit our days. A proposal that fits with the spirit of the Nits de Juliol themselves: to stop the daily rhythm to share an experience that only makes sense when lived with others.
Because, after all, the value of a summer is not always measured by the kilometers traveled. Sometimes, a full square, a familiar song, a movie under the sky, or a conversation that extends after a concert is enough. And it is precisely this shared summer that, once again, Sant Joan Despí puts at the center.
