Expect the unexpected

While a flurry of French and British cultural events has flooded the capital this spring, a small-scale yet interactive Spanish art festival is poised to make its mark next month, bringing the city to life in time for summer with art and music.

The 2012 Spanish Contemporary Live Art and Music Festival, starts on May 12, with talks, exhibitions and live painting shows from Spain's established street art group Equipo Plástico poised to engage the public.

Music group Monta?a Sagrada (Holy Mountain) will also provide an improvised Spanish soundtrack to the festival.

"By joining diverse fields through interdisciplinary crossovers between gastronomy, design and music, Migas will offer Beijing audiences a spectacular show and an amazing experience," promised María Domínguez Rodríguez with the organizer.

Equipo Plastico, consisting of artists Sixeart, El Tono, Nuria Mora and Nano4814, is a group representing modern art from around the world. Considering art as a lifestyle, it arouses public interest by combining art with urban landscapes.

The artists are set to arrive in the city in early May and will spend about two weeks strolling the capital's hutong, dining at small restaurants, taking photographs and mingling with locals before they get their hands dirty at a live painting show at the Nali Patio in Sanlitun on May 19.

Although street art is often linked to political appeal, the exhibition will focus on a personal interpretation of the city while fusing Spanish and Chinese culture, said El Tono, 37, a graffiti artist with 20 years' experience and whose works, though not easily identifiable, often penetrate the local scene.