🍺 The Tapa Weekend: May 24
A beer festival, a new exhibit at the Prado and some Lorca for you noobs.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | May 24, 2024 | Madrid | Issue #55
🎉 Welcome to a new issue of The Tapa: Weekend Edition! An English-language newsletter about what to do this weekend in Madrid (plus memes!)
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Here Are 5 Things to Do in Madrid This Weekend
Happy Friday, everyone!
And we know it seems frivolous to talk about the weather in this introduction every week. But what else are we gonna talk about? Politics? That’s what the Thursday newsletter is for and trust us, for now we’ve had enough of that hot mess.
And to be fair, talking about the weather is great because otherwise how would you know that it’s gonna get really warm this weekend?
So warm, in fact, that it may near 30 ºC (for those of you still thinking in Fahrenheit, a) that’s pretty warm and b) don’t you think it’s time to understand Celsius by now?)
So if you were looking for a sign to organize some Saturday night debauchery with your friends, this is it (“Debauchery” may mean passing out drunk on the curb at 6 a.m. or falling asleep on the couch watching Paquita Salas on Netflix at 11 p.m. Both options sound fun to us).
1. A Beer Festival: BeerMad 2024
BeerMad is, contrary to what you may believe, advertised as a “family event” (which means parents are getting drunk inside while some kids are outside running around like savages à la Lord of the Flies).
But hey that doesn’t mean it’s not worth going.
Now on its 10th edition, this enormous artisanal beer market becomes a beer lover’s paradise every year as it offers over 150 types of beer from all over Spain and Europe.
But not only that, there are also tons of food trucks offering options tacos, burgers, pizzas, fries, croquetas and whatever else you’re in the mood for after chugging liters of ale (no one will blame you—as we mentioned above it will be hot). Oh, and before you ask, yes, there will also be vegan options.
There will also be live music (Potato Monster, La Rosa Negra and Laika Stone will be playing, among others), workshops on forgotten beers from around the world or on how to make your own beer, and tastings (beer tastings, in case it wasn’t clear).
If you like beer, don’t miss this one. It’s a lot of fun and, on the bright side, it’s day drinking at its finest.
BeerMad 2024. Pabellón de Cristal, Casa de Campo, Avenida Principal, 16, Madrid. May 24 to 26. Check website for opening hours. Tickets start at €8.
2. Some Opera: Nina Stemme at the Royal Theater
For the love of all things sacred, please do not go to the opera after the BeerMad. Those two things don’t mix and if you get rowdy and get kicked out of the Teatro Real we don’t want to be blamed for it. Understood? Great.
Nina Stemme is a legendary Swedish soprano singer and this Sunday she’s performing some of Richard Wagner’s most popular work, such as Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, Das Liebesmahl der Apostel and the final scene from Götterdämmerung. If you’re into opera music, you definitely know what we’re talking about (and if you’re not, you still definitely have heard them at some point).
It’s a 3-hour performance so be prepared! Next time you say we never recommend ritzy stuff, remember this one. Besides, it looks great on your Instagram stories.
Or maybe you’re not allowed to use your phone at the opera. We don’t know. Whatever.
Nina Stemme. Teatro Real. Pl. de Isabel II, s/n, Madrid Sunday, May 26, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at €15 (but visibility will probably be shit at that price, so pony up at least €100—it’s the opera, for chrissakes).
3. The Prado Presents: Art and Social Transformations in Spain
Look at us, so artsy! No judgement here. You can go get drunk tonight at the BeerMad and head over to the Prado tomorrow to learn about late 19th century Spanish art. Great cure for a hangover!
The exhibition halls A, B, C, and D in the Jerónimos Building of the Prado Museum are hosting an exhibition focusing on how the profound social changes that occurred in Spain between 1885 and 1910 are reflected in art.
The clearest example of these social changes is the emergence of “social painting”, which addresses these new themes with a naturalistic style (Rusiñol, Casas, Sorolla) or with a new expressiveness (Regoyos, Nonell, Picasso, Solana). The same thing happened in other fields such as sculpture and graphic arts, which experienced a significant boom.
Curated by Javier Barón, head of 19th century painting conservation, this exhibition offers a “unique opportunity to explore the interpretations of artists regarding the major social transformation that Spain underwent between 1885 and 1910”. (A few decades before it all went to hell.)
The exhibit includes some 300 works, most of which have never been on display before, so here’s a great excuse to return to the Prado.
The Prado’s Art and Social Transformations in Spain Exhibit. Prado Museum, Paseo del Prado s/n, Madrid. Through Sept. 22. Check website for schedules. Tickets: €15.
4. Festival Tomavistas 2024
Live music is never a bad choice, and even though it feels like Madrid has one of these every single weekend you may want to pay attention to this one.
Tomavistas is a leading two-day festival featuring multiple musical styles, and it’s celebrating its eight edition this weekend with performances by top artists such as Phoenix, The Blaze, Belle and Sebastian, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Editors, Villagers, and Joe Goddard, among many others.
There’s a new venue this year (Caja Mágica), which offers more stages, more bands, and more hours of music, while “always maintaining the distinctive character that defines Tomavistas”.
The French duo The Blaze are headlining the festival (it’s their first time in Madrid), and this acclaimed electronic duo will present tracks from their latest album, Jungle, released last year.
Get your tickets while they last!
Festival Tomavistas. Caja Mágica, Camino de Perales, 23, Madrid. May 24 & 25. Check website for schedule. Tickets start at €95.
5. Federico García Lorca’s A Poet in New York
If you still aren’t acquainted with the work of poet/playwright Federico García Lorca, who’s also one of Spain’s most emblematic authors, you may not want to miss this one.
Based on his work “Poet in New York,” this is a performance where the music of flamenco singer Niño de Elche and García Lorca’s poems are “juxtaposed to create a distance from the scene, akin to Japanese puppet theater, Bunraku, with the joruri (recitation) and the ningyo (human figure or puppet)”. Intrigued? Thought so.
The coexistence of actors, dancers, musicians, and puppets on stage aims to convey the poetics of this great work.
Lorca wrote these verses in 1929 when he stayed in New York for a hot minute. They explore “the connection between human beings and nature, freedom, spirituality, and the dehumanization of progress”.
Through his work, Lorca offered a “realistic view of the society and the world around him”. However, he never saw this work published as he was murdered in 1936.
The play features Niño de Elche, Elena Córdoba, Manuel Egozkue, Clara Pampyn, Jesús Rubio Gamo, and Enrique del Castillo.
Poeta en Nueva York. Naves Teatro Español, P.º de la Chopera, 14, Madrid. Through June 2. Check website for schedule. Tickets start at €20.
👨🏻💻 Viral Stories of the Week
⚽️ Best way to end the night? A penalty kick on the owner of the local bazar chino
✈️ When Ryanair’s stupid luggage charges push you to the edge…
🤬 Argentine President Javier Milei “leans in” to his fight with Pedro Sánchez
We try to stay away from politics on Friday, but Milei’s comments (and those of his fans) at his book signing were just too rich…
🔔 A Message From Our Sponsor
Secret Kingdoms is your English bookstore in Madrid. It specializes in Spanish history and literature, contemporary and classic novels, books for children and young adults of all ages, history and historical fiction, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, biographies and much more.
Located on Calle de Moratín 7 — a few blocks away from the Prado Museum — and with over 20,000 new and used books, Secret Kingdoms has something for everyone.
Find out more at www.thesecretkingdoms.com
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