Flamenco in Valencia

Radio City is a mega popular club in Valencia that puts on a full-on party on weekends and a cultural programme during the week. Flamenco every Tuesday is part of that programme. There are several flamenco groups that come to play here regularly, all of them well-known flamenco artists in Valencia. You will always get the full set - the guitar, the voice, the percussions and the dance (either male - usually Leo Molina or female - usually Cristina Simon). This is not the kind of flamenco party where everyone joins in with all the energy - more like the watching of a serious performance. You are ensured a genuine, high level flamenco experience here.

5€ with 1/2 pint of beer included

La Claca is another cosmopolitan nightlife spot popular with the foreigners, expats and internationally minded locals in Valencia. La Claca offers pretty much the same flamenco experience as Radio City, with the same flamenco artists on the roster, only on Sundays and at an earlier time.

Cafe del Duende is a small and inimate bar on the edge of Carmen. It is a cosy space for some of the most authentic flamenco in Valencia. Some of the flamenco artists of Radio City and La Claca perform here, but Cafe del Duende also has a number of its own favourites. The flamenco here doesn't tend to have the dance part often - usually the guitar and the voice. Check their website if that is important - if you see "baile", then there will be dance as well. Check the website in any case, since the flamenco shows here are sometimes more irregular than in other venues - while Thursday is reliable, Friday isn't always and sometimes performances are on Wednesday. Arrive early as the place is really small.

El Toro y La Luna gives three hours of flamenco for 3 hours 4 days a week. The catch is that it's a strange place. They have a resident flamenco group which can put a decently average performance but this group usually shares the stage time with another group. This another group changes often and can be anything from a decent flamenco to unbearably awful pop synthesisers. It is a strange ambience - a restaurant with a stage, with a strictly above 40 years old clientele. And overall the place doesn't project an ambience of high culture if you catch the drift. However, the resident group is a charismatic, if somewhat crude, set of characters and you may find a fair bit of humour and more light-hearted air in this quirky bizarre place. An adventurous traveller would enjoy this.

entry free but drinks are 8€ for a beer and 9€ for a spirit / mixer. You have to buy a drink.

Bodeguita Cavallers (don't confuse with Taberna Caballeros just opposite) is a small bohemian tapas bar on Calle Caballeros - the main drag of Carmen. Normally a quiet place for a tapa with some flamenco CDs, every now and again, after midnight, it sporadically breaks into a real free-style flamenco party with everyone grabbing whatever they can to jam in, or just clapping and dancing along. This is a truly amazing and authentic experience, real fun and good time. It is a really spontaneous occurence so they only way to catch it is to be passing by when it happens to take place.

free entry, free party

La Linterna Jazz Cafe has an occasional flamenco performance in its programme of weekly live music. Call them to inquire.

9€ (1 drink included)

The Valencia's Palace of Music (Palau de la Musica) has stretches of flamenco art in its programme from time to time. Check their programme, you may get lucky and be here durig a flamenco season. This will be a serious opera-like watching and the level of performance will be exceptionally high, likely featuring some big names in Spanish flamenco.

variable

IVAM has a tradition of putting on free concerts for the public. In August (sometimes also part of July) it has a season called Flamenco Art - four performances of flamenco over a month.

free entry

You could also call the Museum of Fine Arts - they have a flamenco performance in the spectacular central hall under the cupola from time to time.

free entry