The festival of the Cors Muts or Silent Choirs has a longstanding tradition at the Barceloneta neighborhood, a traditional fishing area nowadays integrated at the city center of Barcelona. During the Spanish dictatorship these choirs were not allowed to sing in the march, giving rise to the name of the festival. Once democracy was restored the choirs continued being silent and since then every year they celebrate the festival by dancing instead of singing, with movements and clothing of a satirical nature. These choirs are intimately linked to the neighborhood, determining their member’s social identity and the staging of the festival itself, characterized by an intensive occupation and use of the public space. The choirs claim their right to use public space on their own during the festival, a view that often clashes with tourist and newcomers’ understandings of the festival. On the other side, traditionally, these were men-only choirs and when female children had their first menstruation, they had to stop being active participants to become a (non-dancing) supporter. During the last decade several women-only choirs were created to fill this gap, serving to rework - to a certain degree - the gendered ideology surrounding the festival. In this presentation we will explore how the neighborhood’s identity is represented through the occupation of urban space and its accompanying bodily performances, incorporating different notions of inclusion and exclusion, and specifically how this incorporation of women into the celebration raises issues and causes contradictions