The Palau has put on this concert for several Christmases, but the 2026 dates are not out yet. In the 2025 season it played December 25 at 7pm, January 3 at 6pm, January 4 at noon and January 10 at 6pm, with tickets from €28 to €55.

The narration is in Catalan. The music and sand drawings carry most of the story, so it helps to tell kids the plot beforehand: Clara's nutcracker comes alive, fights the Mouse King and takes her to a kingdom of sweets.

The Palau recommends it for ages 4 and up. It lasts 70 minutes with no break, so a quick bathroom stop before it starts is a good idea.

Can we see the building too?

In 2025 the Palau sold a package with a self-guided visit of the building before the concert, from €38 (€45 on Christmas Day). Look for it again when 2026 tickets go on sale.

No. There are no dancers: it is the orchestra, a narrator and the sand artist on stage, a shorter version of the story made for families.

The Nutcracker with Sand Art at the Palau de la Música

Featured inChristmas with Kids in Barcelona 2026

The Nutcracker with Sand Art at the Palau de la Música photo 3

PerformanceCiutat Vella

Where

Ciutat Vella, Palau de la Música Catalana

Ages

4+ (best for 4–10)

Duration

70 min

Setting

Indoors

Plan for

About an hour and a half

Language

Catalan narration

Music

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite, live orchestra

Original title

The Nutcracker with Live Sand Art at the Palau de la Música

Sand art

Drawn live and projected on a big screen

Length

70 minutes, no break

What you need to know

Live sand drawings on a big screen, made in time with the music, so kids can follow the story even without the words
70 minutes with no intermission, a good length for a first orchestra concert, recommended from age 4
Inside the Palau de la Música, the modernista hall of colored glass and mosaics; in 2025 some dates came with a self-guided visit of the building before the show

About

This is a concert, not a ballet. An orchestra plays the best-known parts of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, like the march, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers, while a narrator tells the story of Clara and her toy soldier. At the same time a sand artist draws the story live on a lit table, projected on a big screen, and each picture melts into the next. The room is half the show. The Palau de la Música is a modernista concert hall covered in colored glass and mosaics, and kids tend to spend as much time looking up at the ceiling as at the stage.

€28 to €55 in 2025

Dates to be announced

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Where it is

Palau de la Música Catalana

Carrer Palau de la Música, 4-6, 08003 Barcelona

Getting there

Metro: Urquinaona L1/L4 (3 min walk), Plaça Catalunya L1/L3 (6 min walk), Jaume I L4 (6 min walk)
Bus: Rda. de St. Pere 21-23 (3 min walk), Trafalgar - Bruc (3 min walk), Pl. Catalunya - Fontanella (5 min walk)