The month of May has always been a month of celebration that kicks off with a long bridge and culminates in the middle of the month with the san Isidro festivities 2024 one of the patrons of the city that will fill the streets of fairs, chotis, doughnuts chulapas and chulapos.
And beyond San Isidro, May is full of events and plans to enjoy the good weather and the best cultural offer: from concerts and popular festivities to sporting events and free visits. Don’t miss them!
Table Of Contents
- Mundo Pixar (until May 26th)
- San Isidro (from May 9 to 15)
- New exhibition at the Royal Palace (all month long)
- Book Fair (starting May 31)
- If you still want to see something... (from May 8th)
- Getaway to Segovia with Titirimundi (May 10-15)
- Royal Collections Gallery (anytime)
- Free concerts at Mad Cool for San Isidro (May 11)
- She Sounds (May 29 and 30)
- The Berlin Wall. A World Divided (all month)
- Madrid Brillante (from May 11)
- MMMAD (from May 9 to 31)
- Candlelight Spring (several dates)
- The largest historical representation of the city (May 2nd)
- Catching the Spirit, Consuelo Kanaga (from May 30th)
- Popular Festivities of May 2nd (from April 27th to May 2nd)
- Warhol & Vijande, appointment in Madrid (from May 17th)
- Goyaesque Market (until May 5)
- Jurassic World by Brickman (until May 26th)
- Art and social transformations in Spain (1885-1910) (from May 21)
- Sorolla in 100 objects (from May 13)
- Melting Galaxy Lab (May 2, 3, 4 and 5)
- Documenta Madrid (from May 28)
- A train ride (anytime)
- DarkMad (May 11 and 12)
- The Science of Pixar (from May 8)
- Beermad 2024 (May 24-26)
Mundo Pixar (until May 26th)
This month marks the end of one of the city’s great family experiences: Mundo Pixar will close its doors on May 26 and, until then, the thirteen sets from Pixar’s most iconic films will continue to make the little ones (and not so little ones at home) dream.
📍IFEMA Space 5.1: Avenida del Partenón, 5 (district of Barajas)
San Isidro (from May 9 to 15)
Parades of giants and big-heads, the reading of the proclamation, the pilgrimage in the Pradera de San Isidro, the silly and smart donuts, the carnations, the chulapas and chulapos, the free outdoor concerts throughout the city… San Isidro returns and returns the most Madrid celebration to honor the saint Labrador. Check here for the complete Program concerts, pilgrimages…
📍Variouslocations
New exhibition at the Royal Palace (all month long)
Beyond realism: figurative art from China and Spain. With this title, Contemporary Art returns to the Royal Palace. More than one hundred works are on display in this privileged environment (half of them from China and the other half from Spain). This exhibition is an artistic celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. We will find works by Antonio López, Isabel Quintanilla, Carmen Laffón, Julio López Hernández, Quan Shangshi, Jin Shangyi or Tuo Musi. To access this exhibition, the ticket is at the Arco de Santiago (between Requena and Bailén streets).
📍 Calle Bailén s/n (Palace)
💸 Tickets from 18 euros (includes generic ticket to the Palace and the exhibition)
Book Fair (starting May 31)
The Paseo de Coches del Retiro is already getting ready for the 83rd edition of the Madrid Book Fair. This year it will take place until June 16 and will be dedicated to sports. There will be 358 booths, including 117 bookstores (59 specialized) and 212 publishers.
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- Hours during Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: from 10:30 am to 2 pm and from 5 pm to 9 pm.
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- Hours during Friday, Saturday and Sunday: from 10:30 am to 3 pm and from 5 pm to 9 pm.
📍Paseode Fernán Núñez (Parque del Retiro)
If you still want to see something… (from May 8th)
The new exhibition at the Sala Alcalá, 31 is a reflection of the artist Eva Lootz on the disappearance of the world we know. It does so through various artistic disciplines, such as drawing (the exhibition includes more than 1,000 works by Lootz) and an artistic installation that occupies the entire lower floor as a network that brings together luminescent pieces, minerals… that will challenge the limits of our perception.
📍Calle Alcalá, 31 (Downtown)
Getaway to Segovia with Titirimundi (May 10-15)
Titirimundi is that time of the year when the performing arts invade the city. In other words, one of the best times of the year to visit Segovia, just a stone’s throw from Madrid, and to do so with the family to enjoy the best puppet and marionette shows on the national and international artistic scene. You will be able to discover here all performances as well as to reserve your tickets.
📍 Segovia, various parts of the city.
Royal Collections Gallery (anytime)
It has been with us for a few months and never ceases to amaze: the Gallery of Royal Collections keeps porcelain, armor, tapestries, paintings … different artistic expressions that, over more than five centuries, has jealously guarded the Spanish Crown.
Currently, inside the building we can enjoy a curious exhibition called En movimiento. National Heritage vehicles and carriages. It displays 7 carriages, 5 small vehicles and 2 automobiles, as well as different tools and elements used in the royal processions and journeys, and tapestries and paintings that provide context to these “royal journeys” over the centuries.
📍 Calle Bailén s/n (Palace)
Free concerts at Mad Cool for San Isidro (May 11)
Matadero Madrid will be the free stage for Mad Cool’s San Isidro concerts. On May 11, with capacity for 8,000 people, Natalia Lacunza, Alfie Templeman, Crawlers and Lina del Sol will play. All you have to do is download your tickets here.
📍Plazade Legazpi, 8 (Arganzuela)
She Sounds (May 29 and 30)
The second edition of the She Sounds festival brings together great professionals from the music industry, covering the whole panorama from creation and inspiration to production. Thus, from May 29 to 30, artists, composers, producers… will create a space full of talent to share experiences in different talks open to the public (with the participation, for example, of Sara Socas). There will also be space for live music (with concerts by Marlena, Blackpanda and Mafalda Cardenal) and even a Composition Camp.
📍 The Music Station, Príncipe Pio (Palacio)
The Berlin Wall. A World Divided (all month)
This exhibition explores the history of the Berlin Wall from its construction to the present, reflecting on its role as the most emblematic symbol of division in history. It features a 20-meter section of the Wall itself as well as more than 300 original objects and testimonies.
📍 Castellana Room 214 (Fundación Canal, Canal)
Madrid Brillante (from May 11)
The Madrid Brillante festival will be held from May 11 through June at the Teatro Eslava.
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- may 8: Pinpinlinpussies, Shanghai Baby and La Trinidad.
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- may 31: Amor Líquido, Error 97 and La Juventud.
📍 Arenal Street, 9 (Sol)
MMMAD (from May 9 to 31)
The fifth edition of the Madrid Urban Digital Art Festival returns with a Program full of exhibitions, performances, workshops, installations, projections, conferences… that will invade many spaces such as Matadero, bringing together national and international profiles such as Adrian Notz, Sarah Sadik, Brooklyn J Pakathi, Ana Drucker, Lauren Lee McCarthy… and turning Madrid, once again, into epicenter of digital arts.
📍 Various locations.
Candlelight Spring (several dates)
With Primavera, songs! concerts! flowers! candles? All this is Candlelight Spring, the candlelight concert series that, this spring, adds a floral touch. As always, you can enjoy live music in various locations in Madrid, such as the Tribute to Queen at the Cívitas Metropolitano on May 15; a reinterpretation of Coldplay vs Imagine Dragons singles on May 19; a Taylor Swift special with string quartet on May 24 at the Ateneo… you decide.
📍 Various locations.
The largest historical representation of the city (May 2nd)
In the context of the celebrations of May 2nd in Madrid, the largest historical representation the aim of the event is to bring together more than a thousand people from ten different countries, 20 horses, 2 carriages and 2 cannons. The objective? Reconstructing one of the great episodes of the War of Independence in front of the Royal Palace. There will also be a parade from Plaza de Oriente to Puerta del Sol.
📍Plaza de Oriente (Palace)
Catching the Spirit, Consuelo Kanaga (from May 30th)
The Sala Recoletos of the Mapfre Foundation becomes a pioneer in Europe: it will be the first time that a retrospective of the photographer Consuelo Kanaga arrives on the continent. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Museum, this exhibition gathers Kanaga’s photojournalistic work since 1910 focused on denouncing poverty, precariousness, and the racial problems of African Americans in the United States.
📍 Paseo de Recoletos, 23 (barrio de las Letras)
Popular Festivities of May 2nd (from April 27th to May 2nd)
The commemoration of the 1808 uprising against the French occupation is celebrated in the city with activities that plague associations, bars and stores in Malasaña. In addition to the traditional re-enactment of the battle, the Plataforma Maravillas is preparing a series of self-managed activities including musical, children’s and cultural proposals… which are yet to be determined.
📍Variouslocations in the Malasaña neighborhood (Centro)
Warhol & Vijande, appointment in Madrid (from May 17th)
The Suñol Soler Collection brings to Madrid an exhibition that shows the trip that Warhol made to Spain in 1983 in the company of gallery owner Fernando Vijande. The Madrid movida as a backdrop and the works of photographer Cristopher Makos portraying this moment are the keys to the exhibition. The photographic series is called Altered Images and deals with gender identity. In addition, some of Warhol’s original works will also be presented.
📍 Calle de Serrano, 122 (Salamanca district)
Goyaesque Market (until May 5)
Móstoles travels to the past from April 30 to May 5 in its Goyesco Market. This initiative, organized by Rivendell Thematic Markets, will be located in Antonio Hernández Street, Pradillo and Culture Square and Agustina de Aragón Street. In this large area, a Delorean: a return to the early 19th century with artisan products and gastronomic products.
📍Móstoles.
Jurassic World by Brickman (until May 26th)
Another experience that says goodbye to Madrid this month. The more than 50 dinosaur replicas made with LEGO will leave the city of Madrid at the end of the month. But, until then, you can still find them along with different scenarios in IFEMA’s space 5.1. Two of the highlights of the exhibition are the huge T-Rex and the Baryonyx model. Just for the record: it was created in 790 hours from 102,317 LEGO pieces.
📍IFEMA Space 5.1: Avenida del Partenón, 5 (district of Barajas)
Art and social transformations in Spain (1885-1910) (from May 21)
The Prado’s new exhibition takes us back to the last years of the 19th century, a time of social transformations, workers’ demands and paradigm change. All this was reflected in different artistic movements such as the triumph of naturalism: it was necessary, more than ever, to capture what was happening.
📍Callede Ruiz de Alarcón, 23 (Jerónimos)
Sorolla in 100 objects (from May 13)
The Sorolla Museum in Madrid proposes this exhibition in which to approach the Valencian painter in a new and surprising way. As if it were a cabinet of curiosities, Sorolla in 100 objects tells us about the artist through a selection of his paintings and collections “far from clichés, which sheds light on different facets of his work, his life and his work. He wants to discover not only the painter, but also the man: the father, the husband, the friend, the universal artist“.
📍Paseodel General Martínez Campos, 37 (Chamberí)
Melting Galaxy Lab (May 2, 3, 4 and 5)
There is something healing about doing manual activities, a reconciliation with our time and our abilities, having dedicated time to creation. Melting Galaxy Lab is a space dedicated to creativity: you will be able to make your own candles with a cosmic, space theme. That is to say: colors, brightness, mysticism… In this workshop, in addition to putting all your originality and creative capacity to work, you will take the result home with you.
📍Callede Irún, 23 (Príncipe Pío)
Documenta Madrid (from May 28)
The Madrid City Council’s International Film Festival is back and celebrates its 21st anniversary in 2024. In these editions, the festival has “maintained its commitment to an open and plural way of understanding the documentary genre, accompanying and promoting new models and authors”.
In order to maintain this ambitious task, this year it returns with its national and international competitive sections that will turn the Cineteca de Matadero into the great screening room for documentaries for yet another year.
📍Plazade Legazpi, 8 (Arganzuela)
A train ride (anytime)
Primavera holds that promise of blooming (of allergies, too, yes), of green, colorful, fresh and cheerful landscapes. One of the ways to enjoy these views is to do it from one of the historic trains that run through Madrid .
This is the case of arganda steam train which has been rolling through the Community since 1886. You can enjoy it the first Saturday of every month and every Sunday in May (it runs the 3,360 meters between the La Poveda station in Arganda and the Laguna del Campillo halt in Rivas Vaciamadrid). Also the Strawberry Train this is a trip along the Madrid-Aranjuez route to get to know the orchards of this fruit of the Royal Site and Villa.
📍 Various locations
DarkMad (May 11 and 12)
Let the music play… dark. The great festival of the genre dark lands this year at Autocine Madrid Fever: two days of post-punk, industrial, gothic metal and dark electronica concerts. In the line-up, Die Krupps, Ost+Front, Clan of Xymox, Putilatex, Estrella Xtravaganza, Onyx Unleashead, Lights of Euphoria..
📍Callede la Isla de Java, 2 (Fuencarral neighborhood)
The Science of Pixar (from May 8)
how are Pixar’s animations created, what technologies are applied, and what scientific precepts are they based on? The new exhibition of CaixaForum comes to discover everything behind the screen, the work of hundreds of people giving life to inanimate objects and bringing to life the most iconic characters: such as Buzz Lightyear, Dory, Mike and Sully…
📍Paseodel Prado, 36 (barrio de las Letras)
Beermad 2024 (May 24-26)
Beermad is the May festival that brings together beer lovers and craft brewers. This celebration of the foam adds, in its spring edition from May 24 to 26 and will be located in the Glass Pavilion of the Casa de Campo and will bring together 40 breweries offering more than 170 styles of beer.
📍AvenidaPrincipal, 16 (Puerta del Ángel-Lago)