For 15 days, Gastrofestival turns Madrid into a great Fiesta for the senses. The Festival program is packed with opportunities for getting involved in the world of gastronomy.  There's plenty to choose from, with special offers on restaurants, culinary routes, cooking and tasting courses, all aimed at making the culture of good food accessible to everyone's taste buds.

But Gastrofestival also steps outside the kitchen to venture into museums, art galleries and fashion brands to prove that gastronomy is as much an art as painting, design and literature. The program includes guided tours in museums and original initiatives in shops and stores, as well as a food-themed film season at the National Film Library.

An initiative of the Madrid City Government and Madrid Fusión.

Madrid's Gay Pride recently chosen by the viewers of MTV as the best Pride in the World, the event takes place over a 2 week period with a series of social, cultural and dance events, culminating in the Gay Parade, which takes place on Saturday the 2nd of July, followed by the Madrid Gay Pride Festival, which takes place on the city's leafy Plaza de Espana, from 6 pm into the evening.

The event, which attracts over 1 million people to the city for the parade is now one of the biggest tourist attractions for the City of Madrid. It makes national and international news.

In Madrid, it seems like the summer really sets in on International Gay Pride Day, when the streets in Chueca are lined with flags and garlands. Meanwhile the neighbourhood fills up with open-air bars and the main squares host live music performances. Staged over a whole week, the festivities reach their height on the Saturday (which this year falls on 2 July), with the parade in favour of LGBT rights. Each year the parade attracts a growing number of people from all over the world.

The whole Chueca neighbourhood, located a few metres from Gran Vía, is a good example of the tolerance and respect typical of a modern, open and cosmopolitan city. It is open to a whole range of lifestyles creating a combination that is fun and spontaneous, to say the very least. These festivities are not only celebrated by the homosexual community; instead, they are a favourite among people who want to live their lives freely. Proof of the fact is that instead of calling them the "Gay Pride festivities", we Madrilenians refer to "the Pride festivities."

As well as open-air concerts, chairs and tables out on the streets, multitudinous events and the madess typical of Chueca nights, MADO is also a week packed with cultural and protest activities programmed as part of the MUESTRA-T festival, hosted by different art galleries, cinemas, bookshops and associations that support the cause. In all, it is festivity for all tastes, for both those who want to plunge into nocturnal frenzy, and those who prefer to peacefully enjoy the day.

The Circulo de Bellas Artes In Madrid it has organized a series of guided tours around the Círculo de Bellas Artes from 16th July onwards. Designed by Antonio Palacios, the CBA's headquarters has great architectonic value and each year hosts nearly a thousand cultural activities related to the Visual Arts, Literature, Science, Philosophy, Film and Drama.

You may also enjoy some of the best and more spectacular views of the Madrid skyline from the terraced roof of the CBA, which can be reached directly via an elevator situated in the Hall area.

Visits will take place daily (except Mondays) between 10:00 am and 12.00 pm, and between 16:00 and 17:00 pm.

More info: 915 233 743 / visitasguiadas@cbamadrid.es