Barcelona’s world famous outdoor arts festival La Mercè 2025 will host Manchester as its official Guest City, displaying a program of music and street arts that will highlight the vibrant cultural connection between both cities.

To strengthen these ties the two cities, who collaborate within the UNESCO Cities of Literature Network, will also offer a new joint literary program that will bring novelists, poets and performers from Manchester to the literary festivals organised by the Institute of Culture of Barcelona.

Writers from Manchester will be present at BCNegra (Noir and crime writing theme), Barcelona Poesia (Poetry), Món Llibre (Children’s literature) and Festival 42 (Fantasy literature) throughout the year.

This follows on from Manchester City of Literature’s Festival of Libraries 2024 programming, that included a gripping exhibition on Barcelona’s air raid shelter’s by Ana Sanchez and hosted at Eccles Library, and we’re looking forward to collaborating further on this cultural exchange within the dynamic UNESCO Cities of Literature network.