Fiestas de la Merced 1962 Poster Barcelona cartell – Giralt Miracle Ricard

Fiestas de la Merced 1962 Poster Barcelona cartell This is a reproduction of a poster promoting the 1962 Fiestas de la Merced de Barcelona. The Mercy Festival or La Mercè is the annual festival of the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is the most important fiesta in the city. It is held in honour of the Virgen de la Merced, who was named patron saint of the city by Pope Pious IX in 1868. The festival is celebrated around 24 September and was first held in 1871. The poster for the 1962 event was created by the Spanish artist and graphic designer Giralt Miracle. His wonderful image depicts a tall ship sailing across the blue-green Mediterranean Ocean. The sailing boat is teeming with flags of many colours and designs. The poster reads:Fiestas de la Merced Barcelona. In the top right hand corner the month and year are given as September-October 1962 Fiestas de la Merced, La Mercè or The Mercy Festival La Merced, in Catalan La Mercè, is the biggest festival in Barcelona, ​​Spain. It annually gathers between 1.5 and 2 million people around different cultural, artistic and festive activities, being the most biggest party celebrated in Spaiin’s capital city. The SpainInfo website describes the programme for the fiesta as being specifically based on Mediterranean culture. It explains that today the event includes more than 500 activities to suit all tastes: from street entertainment and concerts to folk dances, theatre performances and dance shows in the street. It also includes traditional human castles, parades of “giants and big-heads”, and the Correfoc, characters in costume carrying flaming torches and flares, as well as an independent music festival. Fiestas de la Merced poster artist Giralt Miracle Giralt Miracle Ricard was a graphic designer, typographer and printer. His career began in the 1930s, using his talent to design posters, leaflets, book covers and bibliophile editions. He is widely regarded as one of Spain’s graphic design pioneers. In 1947 he founded Filograf, Institut d’Art Gràfic, where he combined tradition and innovation to create trademarks, plaquettes (small thin books), kaleidocopes, as well as typefaces. In addition to Gaudi, he also designed the typefaces Xenius, Helios, Gaya Ciencia, Biblos, Pompeya, and Maryland. In 1962 he received the ADIFAD Delta d’Or. Other awards followed. The Premi Ciutat de Barcelona  in 1983, the ICOGRADA Graphic Design Excellence Award in 1989 and he received the Spanish Premio Nacional de Diseño in 1991, in recognition of his long career and his contribution to Spanish graphic design.