June plans in Madrid smell of jasmine, sun cream and a touch of chlorine, because there is nothing more refreshing than a dip in some Madrid pool. June in Madrid is the last month in which you can make summer plans before the sun goes down, without hating the heat, so it’s time to take advantage and enjoy all the plans that the capital offers us.
An exhibition with objects of Rosalía, C. Tangana or La Zowi (from June 6).
Now that we have caught your attention… yes, it’s going to happen. The SGAE presents the free exhibition Urban music, pop and high culture inside its headquarters: the modernist palace of Longoria. It is an exhibition that, in the words of the SGAE itself, “celebrates the talent of those figures who, like Rosalía, C. Tangana, Bad Gyal, La Zowi or Quevedo, among many others, are leading the greatest cultural revolution of the 21st century”.
What will we find? Memorabilia of artists such as awards, illustrations, original photographs, accessories, scenographic elements, song lyrics, handwritten notes… That is, from Rosalía ‘s robe from the Motomami World Tour to Quevedo ‘s university-style jackets or the top worn by La Zowi during her tour La Reina del Sur made with Spanish coins from 1937. Also, Bad Gyal ‘s pink jacket from the Blin Blin videoclip or the original painting of C. Tangana created by artist Iván Floro. And much more.
📍 Fernando VI, C. de Pelayo (Chueca)
A Summer Story (June 21 and 22)
Two days of pure sneakers in the City of Rock. Arganda del Rey will host this festival that is already “home” for lovers of the electronic and techno genre but also urban. This year, A Summer Story adds two great parties: on the one hand, BRESH, the most beautiful party; on the other, already iconic in this festival, the Oro Viejo party by DJ Nano. And, of course, a lineup full of beats: Fatima Hajji, Don Diablo, Richie Hawtin, Carl Cox, Wade, Morten, Oguz…
📍 Valencia highway km.33, (Arganda del Rey)
💸 Day ticket from 43€; season ticket from 70€.
Berlin Wall. A World Divided (all month)
Madrid and Berlin. Two cities twinned for decades that these months come together, more than ever, in this impressive retrospective on the construction and destruction of one of the great symbols of division in recent times. The Berlin Wall. A World Divided gathers more than 300 original objects as well as testimonies of families who lived separated on both sides of the world… and 20 original meters of the Wall.
📍 Castellana Room 214 (Canal Foundation, Canal).
Pride Festival (from June 28)
Mr. Gay Spain, the reading of the proclamation from Pedro Zerolo square, the heel race down Pelayo street… and, of course, the LGBTIQ+ Pride Parade. June is synonymous with Pride and Madrid the queen that every year proposes new ways to celebrate freedom, diversity in all its forms. With the programming of this year 2024 still to be closed, we already know two of the key dates of this great celebration (and claim): on June 28, International Pride Day, the proclamation will be held; the demonstration, will be already in July (on the 6th).
📍Various locations.
Book Fair (until June 16)
83 editions. 83 years of Book Fair. This 2024, the theme will revolve around sport and its connection with literature, a leitmotiv that will be reflected in the presentations, workshops, talks… and in the presence of organizations such as the Spanish Olympic and Paralympic Committees. Once again this year, writers, publishers and bookstores will display all their charms in Madrid.
📍Several locations.
Las Noches del Botánico (from June 4)
With the heat, the musical furor in the shade of the trees of the Royal Botanical Garden Alfonso XIII. Yet another edition, Noches del Botánico will prescribe a good dose of nature and live music with performances this month by Sen Senra, PJ Harvey, El Columpio Asesino, Sidonie, Mikel Izal, Tom Jones, Israel Fernández, Queens of the Stone Age…. Impressive.
📍Avenida Complutense, s/n (Moncloa – Aravaca)
DEMM 2024: European Day of Music at Matadero (June 18 to 23)
This year, Matadero celebrates 15 years, three lustrums, of DEMM celebration. Although the official day is June 21, this cultural center dedicates several days to contemporary music: “Between bets and consolidated names, the DEMM 2024 wants to offer an enjoyable and thoughtful tour of the music that moves us today, but we also have our sights set on the music lovers of the future and, therefore, two special events will be offered for the little ones,” says the organization itself. The concert program will be announced on June 4, so stay tuned!
📍Plaza de Legazpi, 8 (Arganzuela)
Rosario de Velasco (from June 18th)
An exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza dedicated to the figurative painter Rosario de Velasco that brings together some thirty works including paintings, drawings and illustrations, produced between the 1920s and the 1940s. “It aims to rediscover and highlight the work of one of the great artists of Spanish art in the first half of the 20th century,” the museum says. As a curiosity, one of the curators of the exhibition is her granddaughter, Toya Viudes de Velasco.
📍Paseo del Prado, 8 (Center)
The V Modern Italian restaurant parties (every Thursday)
Who wouldn’t like a good summer party? But… What if we tell you that this one is held every Thursday in a fun environment, with live music, tasting delicious Italian cuisine and toasting with a good signature cocktail? Bites & Beats are the parties of the restaurant V Modern Italian where DJ sessions are held, live music performances…
📍Calle del General Díaz Porlier, 57 (Lista)
Galería de las Colecciones Reales (all month)
The Royal Collections Gallery celebrates one year since its opening. Inside, some 650 pictorial, decorative and historical pieces that Spanish monarchs have collected from the Catholic Monarchs to the 21st century.
📍 Calle de Bailén, 8 (Downtown)
Manzanares el Real Medieval Market (June 14 to 16)
Crafts and popular gastronomy will fill for three days the Plaza del Pueblo de Manzanares el Real celebrating a medieval market that honors the origins of the town.
📍 Town Square (Manzanares el Real)
Patron saint festivities (various dates)
How we love in Madrid a good verbena. The dancing, the orchestra, the fried foods, the carnation in the hair and the feeling of neighborliness are unbeatable. June is the start of the festivities in several neighborhoods such as Aluche (in fact, they start on May 31), San Antonio in Moncloa and Malasaña, Usera, Butarque, Marconi, Dehesa de la Villa, Moratalaz… June is what happens while we dance from verbena to verbena .
📍Various locations
MaxiBingo for Ladies with Lorena Castell (June 14)
What this lady does is out of this world. Lorena Castell knows no other terrain than the stage, where she performs with ease, joy and mischief. And now, to celebrate an infinite succession of sold outs in every Bingo for ladies held at Florida Park, she is holding a MaxiBingo for Ladies. That is, the requetebingo. There will be surprise performances, exceptional guests, crazy performances … and all this at the Palacio Vistalegre Arena.
📍Calle de Matilde Hernández, s/n, Madrid.
Colonial Memory in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections (from June 25)
A critical, reflective exhibition on the imprint of colonial power in the iconography of the Thyssen-Bornemisza‘s works. The exhibition, composed of a selection of paintings, delves into the stories that are not seen on the canvases about the struggle for civil rights and all its tentacles (enslaved labor, maroonage, racial domination…).
📍Paseo del Prado, 8 (Downtown)
The municipal swimming pools of Madrid (whenever you want).
Since last May 15, the municipal swimming pools are alive and kicking for yet another summer season. In these months, they will open a total of 28 (20 outdoor and 8 indoor with solarium). Among them, there are novelties such as the pools of Tetuán, Barajas, Orcasitas and Vicálvaro (the latter two, reopen after maintenance works). However, the Arganzuela pool will remain closed this summer 2024.
📍Different locations.
Danza en la Villa (from June 19 to 30)
Seven dance companies will perform ten shows about movement and music: from flamenco to contemporary, urban or neoclassical dance, this fourth edition of Danza en la Villa will take place in the Guirau and Jardiel Poncela halls of the Fernán Gómez. Centro Cultural de la Villa, as well as including activities such as workshops and a modern dance masterclass.
📍 Plaza de Colón 4 (Salamanca district)
Free dramatized visits in Nuevo Baztán (from June 2).
As every summer, the Centro de Interpretación de Nuevo Baztán activates what can already be considered “classic” dramatized visits, a way to get to know and recognize this town from a historical point of view. There will be two types of themed visits from June 2 and throughout the summer:“Between factories and palaces: a walk through Nuevo Baztán” and the night visits “A romantic sainete with Don Juan de Goyeneche“. To reserve your place (these activities are free) you can call 918736238 or send an email to cinbaztan@madrid.org.
📍 Calle del Arco, 1 (Nuevo Baztán).
Picnic Sessions: “Fui al monte y traje cosita buena pa uté” (all month long).
The CA2M (Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo) in Móstoles, starts in June (and until July 4) its Picnic Sessions on the terrace. A series of ceremonies that aim to reconnect us with the environment and with ourselves in a sort of artistic rituals.
What does this mean? Better they explain it in their own words: “we will activate a ceremony in six stations (Breaking, Prayer, Prayer, Trance, Manifestation, Coronation) to break with the ethnographic lenses that burden our bodies, territories, geographies, spiritualities and creations with exoticizing and simplifying narratives. To sanctify ourselves with Caribe pica-pica before crossing the sea with the license of the dead women who renew it with tears every day. With license of the blood, the chains and the orishas that live there”. We will have to try it.
📍 Avenida de la Constitución, 23. (Móstoles).
Ellas son cine’ (from June 4 to 8).
The festival of African women film directors will be held again this year 2024 at the Sala Berlanga of the SGAE Foundation. Organized by the Women for Africa Foundation, five films by female directors from Senegal, Rwanda, Morocco, Cameroon and Tunisia will be screened. Let’s name them. Let’s make them visible:
Banel et Adam a, by Senegalese Ramata-Toulaye Sy; The Bride, by Rwandan Myriam Uwiragiye Birara; Animalia, by Sofia Alaoui; Mambar Pierrette, by Rosine Mbakam, and Les filles d’Olfa, by Kaouther Ben Hania.
📍 Calle de Andrés Mellado, 53 (Chueca)
Candlelight, the candlelight concerts (various dates throughout the month)
Candlelight has been, season after season, immersing the people of Madrid in dreamy evenings: special locations, dozens of candles projecting their magic, musical repertoires of various kinds interpreted by professional musicians in a classical key. From the epic rock of Queen to tributes to Hans Zimmer, Queen, ABBA, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Coldplay or classics such as Ludovico Einaudi and Vivaldi, Candlelight offers a program for the month of June that is surprising in form and content. And, also, the last stages of the Candlelight Spring format, concerts in which flowers take on the same presence as candles.
📍Various locations
One of monologues in the city
Madrid, musical city; Madrid, a city full of spaces for and for laughter. La Chocita del Loro, Soho Club Teatro, Perro Paco, Picnic bar… there are so many (and more and more) spaces dedicated to monologuists, to give space to new voices and to consolidate the greats of comedy. If you are in the mood for a few laughs, here is a good list.
📍Various locations
21st anniversary of Fabrik (June 29)
21 years of the biggest club in Madrid. 21 years of a place where every weekend a real electronic festival is held (not in vain, Fabrik’s lineup, week after week, far exceeds some festival line ups ). And it is that more than two decades of pumpum lead this room to select only the best and to celebrate the craziest theme parties.
On Saturday June 29 Fabrik celebrates itself with a sidereal party (there is no other way to define it). And with a protagonist: Solomun. There will be 7 dance areas where the music will play for 12 hours. Solomun will be the center of attention and the culmination of the celebration, the icing on the cake, but will be accompanied by a cast of essential DJs such as Âme, Helena Hauff, Clawz, The Martinez Brothers…
📍 Avenida de la Industria, 82, (Humanes)
PhotoESPAÑA (during the whole month)
Madrid becomes these months in pure photography. PhotoESPAÑA is the great event that highlights the visual arts in 84 exhibitions and the participation of 293 photographers (as well as visual artists). These exhibitions, which will flood various halls of the city (highlighting the Teatro Real, which will host its first PHE exhibition this year) are articulated around the concept of Perpetuum Mobile (“continuous movement”) Check here the full program. We highlight two of them:
Field Notebooks, by Javier Vallhonrat (from June 4).
In the Campo del Moro Gardens (free of charge and during regular opening hours) the work of the National Photography Award winner Javier Vallhonrat will be on display. The photographer visited La Granja de San Ildefonso to make a detailed and powerful photographic archive of the engineering of the ornamental fountains on the occasion of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of their creation by Philip V. This exhibition is part of a larger three-year project called Cuadernos de Campo, in which different photographers will be invited to photograph the natural spaces of the Royal Sites.
📍 Campo del Moro Gardens (Príncipe Pío)
Iwan Baan. Moments in architecture (from June 7)
In the context of PHotoEspaña, the first retrospective of photographer Iwan Baan arrives in Madrid. It will be on June 7 at the Museo ICO. The artist records, with his photographs, the growth of the megalopolises that contrast with those other snapshots of traditional and informal architectures. The Dutchman has traveled halfway around the world in search of the perfect capture of buildings by architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Herzog & de Meuron, Kazuyo Sejima and Tatiana Bilbao.
📍 Calle de Zorrilla, 3 (Centro)
Pokemon Go Festival (June 14 to 16)
Fans of Ash, Pikachu and company? Madrid’s Juan Carlos I Park (and other spots around the city) will be turned into one big gymkhana to celebrate the famous characters from the TV series and Nintendo video game. You will be able to access the game only at designated times (from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm in the park experience or from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm in the city experience) and to get it you will have to pay 32 ¤.
📍Various locations.
International Fado Festival (June 5, 7 and 8)
Carminho, Cristina Branco and Júlio Resende are the three artists who will represent one of the most nostalgic, delicate and sensitive musical genres: Fado. This XIV edition aims to commemorate “fado and freedom in the year that marks the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution,” according to the organizers.
📍 Caixaforum Madrid and Umusic Hotel Teatro Albéniz.
Music in the Village (from June 5 to 9)
This festival is defined as “roots music” and celebrates five years this year 2024 with styles such as flamenco and singer-songwriter music. In this context, will participate Raúl Rodríguez (who opens the festival accompanied by Martirio, Kiko Veneno or Javier Ruibal); followed by Rosario La Tremendita, continues with the Galician singer-songwriter Luis Fercán and with the coplas of María Rodés to close the festival Dorantes, who will celebrate 25 years of Orobroy.
📍 Plaza de Colón 4 (Salamanca district)
Piano City Madrid (June 7, 8 and 9)
Music returns to the streets with Piano City Madrid. There will be 62 piano concerts that will brighten the streets and neighborhoods of the city performed by veteran pianists and young talents. Three days in which Madrid will sound classical music, jazz, jazz-flamenco, contemporary and electronic music.
📍 Various locations