I think flamenco would be boring for kids. 15th August is verbena de la Paloma, you will see chotis & chulapos. Jota will be difficult to find, I know 15th May there are groups dancing almost the whole day in Pza Mayor, sometimes also 9th november. I used to dance in a group, and some years we danced for S.Federico around 15 of July in the Dehesa de la Villa, maybe you could ask in Parroquia de S.Federico or in the tourist office if they know of any event. Maybe in any village close to Madrid like El Escorial they plan to do something like that in fiestas, they are also in August. Almost of village fiestas are on summer and in lot of them they have groups dancing.

I didn't see the flamenco show at Casa Patas, but my sister and I showed up there at 10:30 on a saturday night without a reservation, and they found a table for us right away and we had a great meal with a fabulous bottle of wine personally picked out for us by our waiter. That was cool. I highly recommend it to everyone.

I went to Casa Patas for the flamenco show last friday night and had a terrific time. I was in Spain visiting my son, who is a student there,so we met him there with 8 of his friends from his university. We went to the early show (9pm) and had a terrific time! I think it's an experience that nobody should miss. Maybe next time i'll go at 10, have dinner in the restaurant (which was packed, so reserve ahead) and then see the later show. Anyway, we had sangria, tapas , and enjoyed a very high energy show. I recommend it highly.

[originally posted by espanola on 2-12-01...]

I will be visiting Madrid this weekend and am wondering if I will need a reservation to go to a flamenco performance at Casa Patas on either Friday or Sat. night.

espanola, not sure if you will or not. It all depends on many factors. Kurt, on his above posting on 1-24, said he walked in on a Saturday night at 10:30pm and got a table immediately without a reservation. I think it's always a good idea to have one. If you arrive on Saturday I would call them immediately to see if you can even make a reservation. Have you seen the Casa Patas website yet? It doesn't say if they even accept reservations, but you could call them upon arrival to find out. OR, if you look at their site, there's an email address where you can ask and maybe even make reservations now in this way. Not sure if they'll really reply or not, but you never know. It's worth a try! Good luck!

Saludos, MadridMan

Nuria - I just saw your post - nearly 6 or 8 weeks after you sent it. I totally 100% agree with you about the need for communications to be open and for assuming responsibility for oneself! A perfect example is the way alot of parents and their teenagers in the US treat alcohol - a 'forbidden thing' that ends up being abused. The opposite - in Spain, France, etc. etc. - and by many parents in the US - kids are allowed a glass of wine or beer - it's no big deal. The allure - the 'I'm a grown-up' feeling is more or less supervised - kid learns you can drink without getting drunk and so forth ...

[originally posted by karenwishart on 6-7-01...]

Any recent comments available on Casa Patas? Was unable to access their website given on an earlier thread. We're looking for flamenco or something more folkloric for a Monday night out, June 25.( wow it's getting close!)
I just tried again and got on website. But still looking for any comments from recent visitors.

Madridman,
Casa Patas web site is at http://www.casapatas.com I hope to be there on Saturday June 23.

[ 06-09-2001: Message edited by: Antonio ]

breibach, I went back to your original post and see you also will have 2 teens (mine are 17) attending the show. I did email Casa Patas and within hours got a confirmation of my reservation and current prices (2.500 pts per person over 12 yrs.)We should try to meet up!

karenwishart,
When are you going to be in Madrid? I am spending 8 weeks in Spain with with my duaghter (12) and her 13 year old friend. We will only be in Madrid for 2 days at the begining of our trip and 2 days at the end (the rest of the summer we are at language school in La Herradura). We are planning on Casa Patas on Saturday June 23. Is that the day you are going and if so, what time did you make your reservation?