Maria Cristina Avenue, in Montjuïc, will once again be the setting chosen by Barcelona City Council to festively welcome the new year. As has been tradition since the time of Mayor Xavier Trias, the Palau Nacional and the replica of the Quatre Columns of Puig i Cadafalch will frame the show, which this time will be carried out by Groupe F, a prestigious company specialized in this type of large-scale productions. Format.
Yesterday's evening was used to fine-tune the show, in which two elements take on great prominence. It is, on the one hand, an immense ball of light located 75 meters high and which, starting at 11 p.m., will preside over the official farewell to 2023 in the Catalan capital. The second prominent protagonist of this event, which will surely bring together thousands of people on Maria Cristina Avenue, are the half a thousand illuminated drones that will fly over the party scene at about 250 meters high, drawing the grapes with the twelve grains which, to the rhythm of twelve bells, mark the beginning of the new year.
After the bells and the grapes it will be the turn of the Desig Barcelona show, which combines lights, fireworks and technology. The party, however, will begin three hours before midnight with a musical selection to warm up the atmosphere. On this occasion, the gigantic ball of light replaces the water choreographies of the Font Màgica, which as a result of the drought restrictions will not work.
The success of this 2024 reception ceremony has been entrusted to Groupe F. Its track record is a guarantee of spectacle. For this occasion, it has prepared a program that aims to “celebrate life and reclaim marine nature”, paying tribute to Barcelona and its deep relationship with the sea, coinciding with the dispute in 2024 in the waters of the Catalan capital of the 37th edition. of the America's Cup sailing, one of the great events that will mark the pulse of the city this year.
Groupe F is a production structure that conceives and carries out pyrotechnic shows and open-air theater works. Founded 30 years ago by Christophe Berthonneau, this company is a multidisciplinary team of 270 people who offer light and fire shows around the world and who in recent years have incorporated the use of drones into their most celebrated productions. Groupe F was, for example, responsible for the largest drone show seen in Europe, in the Swiss city of Geneva.
This year, the French company multiplies during New Year's Eve, since, in addition to the one in Barcelona, it is also responsible for the ceremonies at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai; of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and Kula, in Serbia.
