Madrid bids farewell to August with The Weeknd, ABBA and festivities across the region

The largest event will take place at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. The Weeknd will perform on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights as part of his After Hours Til Dawn Tour, accompanied by Playboi Carti. Three consecutive concerts will bring songs such as Blinding Lights, Starboy and Save Your Tears to the stadium and draw thousands of journeys towards the east of Madrid.

For anyone who prefers a free plan, attention will shift to Enrique Tierno Galván park on Saturday. The Orquesta y Coro RTVE will close Veranos de la Villa at 9.30 pm with Siempre ABBA, a show created for the festival that transforms songs such as Dancing Queen and Chiquitita through symphonic and pop arrangements. Admission will be free until capacity is reached.

Friday will also have a rather different proposal right in the centre. At 9.30 pm, the historic cloister of IES San Isidro, on Toledo street, will host TimeLapse. Jazz, an encounter between a jazz trio and a string quintet that revisits great works from the classical repertoire through improvisation.

The theatre rounds out the programme without having to leave the centre. Luisa Fernanda will remain at Teatro La Latina until Sunday the 30th, with performances of this well-known zarzuela about love, ambition and social differences. At Teatro Alcázar, Rafael Álvarez “El Brujo” continues with La segunda venida de Cristo o el yoga de Jesús, a monologue combining humour, spirituality and Eastern philosophy.

Outside the M-30, local festivities offer another way to close the summer. San Sebastián de los Reyes is going through some of the main days of its celebrations, with bull runs and concerts such as those by Cali y El Dandee, Malú and Siloé. El Pardo begins its Real Sitio festivities on Saturday in the Mar Océana park, with an opening address, music, children’s activities and a programme that will continue until 6 September.

Anyone wishing to travel further back in time can do so without leaving the Comunidad. Navalcarnero celebrates the Bodas de Felipe IV and its Real Mercado Siglo de Oro from Friday to Sunday, while Bustarviejo transforms its streets with a medieval market, street parades, magic and a music, dance and fire show on Saturday night.

There are also quiet plans left for those wishing to escape the noise of major events. The end of August makes it possible to enjoy exhibitions, cinema and cultural activities spread across the districts, as well as the final days of some summer series before September completely changes the programme.

Madrid thus reaches the last weekend of August without a feeling of farewell. Full stadiums, music beneath the trees, festive squares and streets turned for a few hours into markets from other eras leave a city that is beginning to welcome back residents after the holidays without yet giving up the long summer nights.