PRIMAVERA SOUND: THE BARCELONA FESTIVAL THAT BRINGS 200,000 TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE MUSIC
For 18 years now, Primavera Sound, Barcelona’s biggest and one of Europe’s most important music festivals of the year, has provided the coastal city with live music for all generations to enjoy.
During its first four years, Poble Espanyol played host. Then, starting in 2005, where it has been held each edition since, Parc del Fòrum welcomed the festival to its grounds. The change made a huge difference. Primavera Sound went from averaging 8,000 people in attendance to around 50,000. That number continued to grow with each edition until it broke the 200,000-mark for the first time in 2017. Of the 200,000 people who show up each year, over 50 percent come from outside of Spain; Brits make up the bulk of that statistic.
Ikati Esengxoweni during Primavera Pro 2018
Primavera Sound is the music festival for independent artists and also invites some of the music industry’s biggest names (i.e. The Cure, Pixies, Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, Neil Young, Kendrick Lamar, The Black Keys, Interpol, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Portishead, Patti Smith, The White Stripes, Phoenix, LCD Soundsystem, Wu-Tang Clan, Blur, etc. in previous editions of the festival).
Conttra during Primavera Pro 2017
During the course of the three-day festival, over 52 hours of live music are provided. Not only that, but the festival has a series of concerts at Sala Apollo and at its sister club, La (2) de Apolo, it offers in the days leading up to the festival to full-festival ticket holders. There are even secret concerts at pop-up stages that the festival announces via the Primavera Sound app just hours before they take place. Once the festival goers receive these in-app announcements, they are directed to the temporary stages.
Local Natives during Primavera Sound 2017
And then there’s Primavera Pro, an event the festival has held since 2010 that features conferences, debates, workshops, networking sessions, mentoring sessions, etc. to members of the music industry. This event is a perfect opportunity for addressing the industry’s challenges and offering up ways to innovate it. That might sound all well and good to you, but what will pique your interest most about Primavera Pro is that it offers free concerts at the CCCB to showcase new and upcoming artists. This part of the event is called Day Pro. The artists that are showcased during Day Pro take the Night Pro stage on the festival’s grounds so that ticket holders can also enjoy their music.
Priests during Primavera Pro 2017
If you add up the sum of its parts, Primavera Sound offers up good reasons for being a festival season favorite for both music fans and the artists and reps of the music industry; it won Artists’ Favourite European Festival at the European Festival Awards in 2014.
Whether you decide to purchase a ticket or simply want to check out the free events, you’re assured to enjoy the music Primavera Sound has on tap.
PRIMAVERA SOUND 2019
When: May 30th to June 1st
Where: Parc del Forum
Ticket prices: Full-festival tickets, 195€; Day tickets, 80€
Artists: Erykah Badu, Future, Interpol, Tame Impala, Cardi B, Janelle Monae, Solange, J Balvin, Rosalia, FKA Twigs, Nas, Deerhunter, Mac DeMarco, Christine And The Queens, Courtney Barnett, Charli XCX, Guided By Voices, Robyn, Carly Rae Jepsen, Suede, Liz Phair, Mura Masa, Jawbreaker, James Blake, Kali Uchis, Jarvis Cocker, Primal Scream, Pusha T, and many more.
To buy your ticket, click here.
PRIMAVERA PRO 2019 FREE CONCERTS
When: May 29th to June 2nd; 11:00-18:00
Where: CCCB, Carrer de Montalegre, 5
Artists: 5K HD (AT), Belau (HU), Bonish (UY), Eli Almic (UY), F5 (UY), Lonker See (PL), Mayberian Sanskülotts (HU), Phoro (UY), Teskno (PL), We Will Fail (PL), and more.
By EMILY BENSON
Photos by ISABEL TROYA
Information gathered from:
To see some of our photos from past editions of Primavera Sound (inaugural days) and Primavera Pro, here are the links:
Primavera Sound + Primavera Pro 2017
Primavera Sound + Primavera Pro 2018
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