It is estimated that over a million people will take part in the wide-ranging activities which Matadero Madrid will offer each year. From programmes for creators and professionals, to events directed at a large number of people; from locals from Madrid, Arganzuela and Usera, to millions of visitors, both Spanish and foreign, who come to the city each year, partly attracted by kind of cultural attractions of which Matadero Madrid will henceforth be a part.

Programming will focus on promotion, communication, production and inter-disciplinary training in the fields of plastic arts, visual arts, stage arts, music, literature, architecture, town planning, design, fashion, gastronomy and new media.

Painting, sculpture, engraving, installations, video art…Matadero Madrid's programming in plastic arts will be wide and varied, including:

By means of a partnership agreement between the Region of Madrid, IFEMA and Madrid City Council, the ARCO Collection - covering more or less the full range of trends in contemporary art - will be shown as selected temporary exhibitions, featuring talks and workshops on key concepts, expressionism, minimalist trends, geometries and figuration.

A programme of important exhibitions and art installations by Spanish and international artists, specially commissioned and conceived for Matadero Madrid exhibition spaces

A programme of practical training: courses, workshops, master classes and projections in each area of the plastic arts.

Art-related debates and promotional activities.

The visual arts will also have an important role in the Matadero Madrid programming, including cinema, photography, video and new media.

Ongoing cinema programming, from experimental or independent film to more commercial works, represented by different programmes and cycles.

Cinema, documentary and photography festivals such as the Documenta Madrid International Documentary Festival and the PhotoEspaña International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts, as well as launches and premières.

Exhibitions, training activities and programmes to support creativity in photography, cinema, video and new media.

Matadero Madrid will devote a large part of its facilities and resources to theatre and dance programming, open to different genres and proposals, and for different types of audience: large-scale theatrical productions, performances, drama readings, multidisciplinary shows, street theatre, choreography, projections, special themes, workshops, and master classes.

Matadero Madrid will include a space for reflection and debate, managed and programmed by El Teatro Español (the Spanish National Theatre), where the new avant garde trends and stage languages can confront each other.

The presence of the National Dance Company and the Spanish National Ballet will also be the driving force behind the most contemporary production and training proposals.

Matadero Madrid will additionally play host to Madrid's important festivals and events, helping to make it the home of the most daring shows and performances.

Matadero Madrid will be committed to music, with its own programme of concerts, cycles and festivals in many different styles, as well as tour dates and other events linked to its programme, including Veranos de la Villa, the Madrid Jazz Festival and Cultura Urbana.

In addition, it will offer a programme of courses, seminars and workshops specializing in the field of music, and provide rehearsal space and studios.

Moreover, the live music venues will provide wide-ranging, quality night-time entertainment, thereby reflecting one of the most important aspects of urban culture.

In spring and summer, the music programme will take to the streets, moving out into Matadero Madrid's open air spaces.

Matadero Madrid will be a platform for literary promotion and marketing, and will feature a special area in which Madrid's people can come together and enjoy literature and reading: the Casa del Lector (Reading House). Sponsored by the Germán Sánchez Ruipérez Foundation, it will be responsible for activities designed to develop a relationship between adults, youths, children and reading.

The Casa del Lector will be a place for literature information, training, research, experimentation and promotion, in accordance with a wide-ranging concept, stretching from the printed word to the new communicative platforms; from the linguistic to the audiovisual, with special emphasis on the role of new technologies and media. Its essence is the idea of reading as a tool for knowledge.

Matadero Madrid will be a reference point for information on design and its promotion, a key aspect of cultural and economic development. Thanks to the participation of the Association of Madrid Designers (DIMAD), design, in its manifold forms (graphic, industrial and web), will have a permanent place in the programming, which will include exhibitions, experimentation programmes and training activities. The Matadero Madrid logo itself is the work of a team of prestigious designers, resulting from the collaboration between DIMAD and the City Council.

The design centre, a central part of Matadero Madrid, will include everything from the experimental to teaching activities, as well as examples from everyday life. It will be another platform for interaction between companies, design professionals, students and citizens.

Architecture, town planning and contemporary landscaping, which are emerging as new forms of artistic expression, will all have a permanent presence at Matadero Madrid.

Promotion, experimentation, and information on contemporary architecture are the principal objectives of the Matadero Madrid architectural centre, which will feature the collaboration of the Official Madrid Architects' College Foundation.

Planned activities include the establishment of an international ephemeral architecture competition, to take place in a pavilion of special architectural value situated within the Matadero Madrid grounds. The building will hold exhibitions, performances, artistic displays and receptions.