This week, Madrid is preparing for the next holiday, All Saints’ Day, which will extend the enjoyment of the weekend. As the November long weekend arrives, the city proposes through the music of Raquel Vega and Alana Sinkeytwo artists who mix rhythms from different parts of the world with jazz, within the FeminaJazz Festival, to the puppet shows of the Festival TítiriMadroño.

The cultural center Slaughterhouse It is celebrating at this time the 100 years of history of the architectural complex that today houses the best of contemporary arts. The catalog includes exhibitions and a lighting installation in one of its most emblematic places: the elevated water tank. The Canal Foundation brings one of the most unknown facets of the French artist Henri Matisse, with an exhibition of small format sculptures. Lastly, the National Library celebrates an open day, the second of the year, to reveal the best kept secrets of the institution. This is a selection of free plans from October 25 to November 1.

Jazz concerts with a feminine seal

The festival female jazz In its sixth edition, it features several presentations by women jazz musicians from around the world. Raquel Vega Quartet It will be presented on Friday the 25th at 7:00 p.m. at the Fernando Lázaro Carreter cultural center in Carabanchel. The rhythms that this group mixes announce a safe musical enjoyment: jazz, bossa nova and bolero. Raquel Vega will offer her particular look at the genre from the harmonica and her voice, and will be accompanied by Carlos Gutiérrez, on guitar, Francisco Loque, on double bass, and Daniel García, on drums. Some of the songs they will perform belong to the repertoire of harmonica masters, such as Stevie Wonder and Toots Thielemans.

On Saturday the 26th it will be the turn of Alana Sinkeysinger and composer representative of Latin folklore and jazz, at the Casa de Vacas cultural center, in Retiro, at 7:00 p.m. The artist, who has recently begun a solo career, will bring a special proposal in which she fuses African rhythms, jazz, flamenco and electronic rhythms.

• Date: Friday, October 25 and Thursday, October 26, both at 7:00 p.m.

Open day at the National Library

The National Library of Spain will hold an open day next Saturday, October 26, the second of the entire year, in honor of Library Day, which is celebrated on the 24th of this month. This is a special opportunity to tour some of the areas that are normally closed to the general public, such as the Department of Preservation and Conservation of Funds, as well as the most emblematic reading rooms and research spaces.

The visit allows you to learn from a hundred workers about the work of the institution and its work for the preservation, custody and dissemination of the national bibliographic and artistic heritage. Among the curiosities that can be seen on this occasion are an edition of Quixote printed in 1605of the manuscripts by Lope de Vega, drawings by Mariano Fortuny and a selection of photographs from the Spanish Civil War.

The National Library’s open days attract up to 1,000 visitors each time, and admission is free until capacity is reached. From 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, numbered tickets will be given to attendees in order of arrival, for group access between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

• Date: Saturday, October 26, 8:45 am, ticket delivery begins.
• Place: National Library of Spain, Paseo de Recoletos, 20-22.
• Transportation: National Library bus stop (line 5, 14, 27, 45, 150), Colón Metro (Line 4).

100 years of Slaughterhouse

The architectural complex that today houses the Matadero Madrid Contemporary Creation Center turns 100 this October. The early 20th century complex that previously served as a municipal slaughterhouse and livestock market, inspired by the Berlin slaughterhouses of that era, is one of the best preserved of its kind in Europe. The cultural center it houses offers a program of free activities to commemorate the century, and the first of them will be a lighting installation on the emblematic water tank in Legazpi Plaza, which previously served to supply the venue. The lighting intervention has been created by the Nave 10 Matadero team and can be seen from October 24 to October 27.

Ship 0, which previously served as a cold room, will have an art installation which will create “an immersive and ghostly experience” thanks to the sounds and images collected from its 100 years of history, and will be available from October 24 to November 17. Also from October 24 until spring 2025, the complex will have the photographic exhibition The construction of the Reader’s Housethrough which visitors will be able to learn about the transformation of this unique space for the enjoyment of literature.

• Location: Matadero Madrid, Plaza de Legazpi, 8.
• Date: starting October 24 (check specific times).
• Transportation: Legazpi metro station (Lines 3 and 6) and Casa del Reloj bus stop (Lines 6, 18, 62, 78, and 148).

Exhibition of Matisse sculptures

The Canal Foundation offers a unique exhibition of the painter, and also sculptor, Henri Matisse. More than 30 sculptures are part of Matisse. Metamorphosis. Sculptures and drawingsbelonging to the least known facet of the French artist, very prolific in other techniques such as drawing, canvas, engraving and collage. All the sculptural pieces are small format and represent Matisse’s obsession with the study of the human figure.

But these will not be the only works by the artist that can be enjoyed in the exhibition, which has the collaboration of the Matisse Museum in Nice and the Kunsthaus Museum in Zürich. The exhibition also includes other works such as drawings, lithographs and a canvas, as well as photographs and documents from the time in which the creator lived. The exhibition is open every weekday and holiday, from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., except Wednesdays, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

• Date: from October 22 to January 12.
• Location: Canal Foundation, Mateo Inurria Street, 2.
• Transportation: Plaza de Castilla metro station (Lines 1, 9 and 10).

Madrid Puppet Festival

The district Vallecas Bridge It is the headquarters of the 15th edition of the Madrid International Puppet Festival TítiriMadroñofrom October 21 to 27. This year the event has the participation of 10 companies, two of them foreign, which present shows both for the family and for adults only. To finish the event this weekend, at the Lope de Vega cultural center on Friday the 25th there will be a presentation Sunrisea show for the adult audience by the Brazilian company Mask Research Center in which an “intimate and delicate” story about human relationships is created.

On Saturday the 26th you can enjoy several shows for all audiences in the Amós Acero park: at 10:30, there will be the premiere of Manolito and the dragona production of the Castilian-La Mancha company 099 Productions; at 12:00 there will be Circus of Threads with live music from the Basque group Picuentos; and at 1:00 p.m. it will be the turn of Animals of Brazilof the set Pia Frausin which there are giant puppets, body puppets and dance. Also on Saturday, but at 7:00 p.m. at the El Pozo del Tío Raimundo cultural center, it will premiere Einstein’s lost blackboard of the Aragonese Aunt Elena’s Puppet Companya show for ages six and up with translation into Spanish sign language.

The weekend will end with the presentation at 12:00 Putxi and Neli, dismantling routines, also for all audiences and with translation into Spanish sign language, at the El Pozo del Tío Raimundo cultural center, run by the Catalan company The Mà de L’Artista.

Visit to the gardens of the Vista Alegre Estate

The gardens of the palaces of the Finca de Vista Alegre, located in the Carabanchel district, can be freely visited every day of the week from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. This is one of the largest gardens in the city and has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest and a Historical Garden for its great landscape and architectural value.

Although some of the buildings are being rehabilitated, among the most representative sites of the estate that can be visited are the Romantic Garden, the Plaza de las Estatuas, the Rías and the Parterre.

• Date: Monday to Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Transportation: Oporto metro station (Lines 5 and 6), Plaza Vista Alegre bus stop (Lines 34 and 35)