I literally just got back from a weekend in Lisbon, Portugal, but first I had to share the things I’ve done in the last week that are all backed up on my camera! #1 on the list: MULAFEST in Madrid.
Corinne & Liz helping to advertise at the entrance 
As soon as I found out about this… let’s say “alternative” festival, I was super excited and knew that I absolutely had to go. On the news, Madrid referred to it as a “festival of urban tendencies”, which I thought was pretty funny. Basically, it was a big showcase of various art forms like dance, graffiti, painting, and tattooing along with a free-for-all of BMX biking, skateboarding, motorcycles, and souped-up cars. How could I possibly miss seeing all of that craziness in one place?
First sight: Motorcycles galore
There were live bands at stages all throughout the convention center!
Mulafest graffiti artists made sure there was not a blank wall untouched.
Paint something!!
It spells “GRAFFITI”. Get it?
The BMX bikers made me feel lame for being on the ground.
Sk8r b0iz (Sorry, I had to.)
Corinne, Liz, & I in front of the GRAFFITI wall
Side story: I asked someone in Spanish to take this pictured and realized later that he probably didn’t speak any Spanish at all. Might have even been American. Oops!
Tattoo booths! As tempting as it was, none of us got anything done.
There was live karaoke with a band. This guy started it off, and was absolutely fabulous with his rendition of “Billie Jean”.
Dance class!
Crazy paintings – Wasn’t sure what this one was supposed to mean with its combo of brands and zombies.. Especially because all of the zombies were actually Snow White..?
I bet you thought the graffiti was over! It’s not!
We ended our visit hanging out and watching these dancers do crazy amazing things. It was sweet.
I don’t remember having an extremely artistic or urban experience when I was younger, but for some reason, being at this festival made me feel like I was in high school. Everyone was doing whatever they felt like doing, experimenting with random ideas, and was really passionate about the things that brought them the most joy. Mulafest’s main goal was to bring together artists from all backgrounds and places to collaborate in this one space and feed off of each other to allow their best work to come out. The result was more than impressive, and it highlighted a side of Madrid that I don’t think everyone gets to see. All of my waiting and anticipation was definitely justified. I know Pittsburgh has a lot of cultural and artsy festivals that go on throughout the year, so we'll have to see how they measure up!
- Alexa
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