Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as Primavera) is an annual music festival held at the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain, during late May and early June. It was founded in 2001 by Pablo Soler as "a showcase for Spanish noise bands", originally held at the Poble Espanyol before moving to the Parc del Fòrum, a much larger site on the seafront, in 2005.[4] It is one of the largest and most-attended music festivals in Europe and the biggest in the Mediterranean.[5]
The festival's image was originally oriented around indie rock, but in recent years has seen a larger presence of genres such as hip hop, electronic dance music and pop.[6][7] In contrast to most other European festivals, traditionally the first bands go on at 4:00 pm, the headliners begin at midnight, and the latest acts play until 6:00 a.m.[8][9] Beginning in 2019, Primavera Sound became the world's first major music festival to achieve gender-equal lineups under the tagline "The New Normal".[10][11] It was also the first to use exclusively mobile tickets.[12]
Originally a one-day event, a second day was added beginning in 2002, and the 2004 edition became the first to feature a three-day lineup. In 2008, the festival began hosting free shows for ticketholders in local venues across Barcelona, beginning a tradition now known as Primavera a la Ciutat.[13] No festival was held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned in 2022 with a two-week format for the first time, combining most bookings from the missed years, before reverting to a one-week event in 2023.
The success of the festival led to an international expansion to Porto in 2012 at the Parque da Cidade, which takes place a week after the main edition.[14] In 2022, the festival hosted its first editions in Los Angeles, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and São Paulo.[15][16][17][18] Primavera Sound continued to expand to Asunción in 2023.[19] The festival held a 2023 edition in Madrid a week later featuring a nearly identical lineup, an experiment which only lasted one year.[20][21] A much smaller version of the festival, Primavera Weekender, has been taking place in Benidorm each November since 2019.[22]
Each Primavera Sound between 2009 and 2022 set new attendance records, growing from its small origins of just 7,700 tickets sold in 2001. The 2022 festival was visited by 460,500 people, the fourth-most attended music festival in the world that year, while generating €349 million in revenue for the city of Barcelona.[23]The New York Times noted in 2014 that "the festival is sometimes called the Coachella of Europe", but without the "celebrity spotting" and "fashion and marketing trends" that the American festival is known for.[24]
History
2001–2004: Beginnings at Poble Espanyol
The name "Primavera Sound" was first used for a series of concerts held at the Sala KGB venue in Barcelona in 1994, the first on 9 April.[25] It continued to promote local indie and noise shows in Spain throughout the 1990s, but founder Pablo Soler was able to take the name back for a festival that he began planning in 2000. The first edition was held on 28 April 2001 at the Poble Espanyol, an open-air architectural museum on top of the Montjuïc hill.[26] It featured four stages and 19 acts including Armand van Helden, Carl Craig, Los Planetas, Unkle and Yasuharu Konishi, the former frontman of Japanese band Pizzicato Five.[27] Soler said he wanted to start the festival "as a showcase for Spanish noise bands." The festival differed from most of its other European counterparts like Glastonbury by being held within a city rather than in a large camping site.[4] A ticket cost 5,000 peseta (€30).[28]
Amidst the financial crisis in Spain, the 2009 event continued to break attendance records, aided by the cancellation of the competing Summercase festival.[43] It was headlined by Neil Young, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. Aphex Twin, Bloc Party, Jarvis Cocker, Yo La Tengo, The Jayhawks, Spiritualized, Throwing Muses, Saint Etienne and The Jesus Lizard were also given prominent billing. It was Young's first Barcelona concert in 22 years, and he became the festival's most expensive headliner booked to date, ending a four-year pursuit to secure him.[44][45] My Bloody Valentine also performed one outdoor and one indoor set.[46] Performances in city venues began on the Monday of festival week, while more sets at the Parque Joan Miró extended the music to Sunday. Clash commented that Primavera Sound was the "younger brother" of Sónar, Barcelona's longer-running music festival, drawing praise for its "holier than thou indieness" despite the latter's international reputation.[47] Festival booker Abel Suárez noted six years later that booking Young "was a turning point in terms of growth" because Primavera Sound "started to be known as one of the most important festivals in Europe from that point on."[48]
The 2012 edition of the festival was headlined by Franz Ferdinand and Wilco on Thursday, The Cure on Friday and Justice on Saturday. Björk was supposed to headline Saturday but cancelled three weeks prior because of an inflamed vocal cord nodule.[56] Notably, The Weeknd performed his first career European set and Refused, who broke up in 1998, played as part of their Reunion Tour.[57]The xx, Death Cab for Cutie and Rufus Wainwright were also given prominent billing. Melvins, Sleep and El-P also dropped out. The Cure's headlining set lasted three hours, with 36 songs and three encores.[58] That year, the first edition of Primavera Sound took place at the Parque da Cidade in Porto, Portugal, sponsored by Optimus.[59]
The 2017 headliners were originally Bon Iver, Aphex Twin, Frank Ocean, The xx, Arcade Fire and Van Morrison. However, Ocean canceled his headlining gig four days before his performance due to "production delays beyond his control", replaced by a Jamie xx DJ set.[75] Arcade Fire, Mogwai and Haim performed secret sets, while Slayer, Miguel, Grace Jones, Run the Jewels and Solange also played on the main stage.[76][77] On 31 May, Arcade Fire released their new single "Everything Now" exclusively on a 12" vinyl single at the festival's merch table.[78] The song was uploaded to streaming with a music video the next day, where the band debuted it live during their secret set.[79] More than 200,000 people attended[80] as the festival's budget grew to over €12 million.[31]Stereogum acclaimed it as "the best festival in Europe".[79]
On 21 June 2018, the American private equity firm Yucaipa Companies, led by billionaire Ronald Burkle, purchased a minority stake in Primavera Sound.[88] The festival stressed that it remained an independent organisation.[89]
2019–2023: "The New Normal" and double weekend model
With the 2019 lineup, the festival's organisers committed to begin a gender-balanced lineup which Primavera advertised as "The New Normal."[10][90] Female-fronted acts made up over half of the total performers, up from 35% in 2018.[91] The largely female headliners were Erykah Badu, Future, Interpol, Tame Impala, Cardi B, Janelle Monáe, Solange, J Balvin and Rosalía.[92] Cardi B cancelled her appearance due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Miley Cyrus, who fully premiered her brand new EPShe Is Coming.[93][94] The festival noted how it featured a "variety of genres that goes from extreme metal to reggaeton."[90]Big Thief, Courtney Barnett, Carly Rae Jepsen, Robyn and Kali Uchis also played the main stages, this year sponsored by SEAT and Pull&Bear. It was attended by over 220,000 people.[95] The festival also launched the "Nobody is Normal" initiative against homophobia and gender violence.[96] Later that year, Primavera Sound announced it would switch to exclusively mobile tickets for 2020, the first major festival in the world to do so, in order to combat scalping and environmental waste.[12][97] In November 2019, a smaller edition of the festival named Primavera Weekender began at Magic Robin Hood Camp in Benidorm, attended by over 3,500 people.[98]
As the 20th anniversary of the festival, it was considered an Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government's Ministry of Culture and Sports, the first international music festival in Spain to earn the distinction.[109] It was attended by 460,500 people, including 65% foreigners, and the average attendee spent €1,423 in Barcelona during the festival, generating €349 million ($367 million) to the city.[108][110]
Before Madrid's planned opening day on 8 June, the festival canceled all performances on Thursday due to weather concerns. Headliner Blur held a free makeup show at the 2,500-capacity La Riviera club.[118][119] Attendance in Madrid was lower than Barcelona, with 42,000 on Friday and 48,000 on Saturday, despite the festival grounds' capacity of 85,000.[120] On 22 July, Primavera Sound announced that it would not be returning to Madrid in 2024 because "the city does not have a site able to host an event of this magnitude and format in terms of audience demands, production requirements, and musical show."[21] Complaints were raised about the Ciudad del Rock complex's location 40 km away from Madrid's city center, long lines for shuttle buses to and from the venue, and overall poor logistics.[121]
Upon the release of the 2024 lineup, with headliners Pulp, Vampire Weekend and Justice on Thursday, Lana Del Rey, The National and Disclosure on Friday, and SZA, PJ Harvey, Mitski, FKA Twigs and Charli XCX on Saturday, the festival advertised the edition as showing "love for its own history."[122][123] On 14 May, the festival announced FKA Twigs' set was postponed until 2025. A stage was renamed for Steve Albini, who died suddenly the week before and was scheduled to play with Shellac for a 16th edition.[124]Phoenix headlined the free Jornada Inaugural opening day at Parc del Fòrum on 29 May.[125] Del Rey showed up nearly half an hour late to her headline performance on 31 May, which received negative reviews from publications including Rolling Stone and NME.[126][127] A heavy rainstorm began during Harvey's headlining set on 1 June, culminating in lightning as Mitski performed hours later.[128]
The festival's stages are named after its sponsors. The two main stages, where the headliners and other popular acts perform, are located on the Plataforma Marina, a large flat terrain that was scheduled to hold a marine zoo but that remained to be a fairground and multipurpose venue after the project seemed non-viable due to the Spanish financial crisis.[130] This area is colloquially referred to as Mordor due to its demanding environment and distance from the festival entrance.[131] It is the furthest point from the rest of the festival's stages.[55] As of 2023, the two main stages are currently sponsored by and named after Estrella Damm and Santander.[132] Two stages were placed in this area beginning in 2013.[133] From 2014 to 2019, the two stages faced each other.[134] Beginning in 2022, the stages were placed adjacent to oneanother to reduce crowd pressure.[135] Before 2013, the main stage was held at the entrance esplanade as the San Miguel/Estrella Damm stage depending on the sponsor, and the second-largest stage was placed at the Plataforma Marina.[55]
As of 2023, the other primary stages of the festival include an open-air amphitheater currently sponsored by Cupra (formerly Ray-Ban), two outdoor stages near the main entrance of the festival grounds sponsored by Amazon Music and Ron Brugal, a seafront stage with an emphasis on critically acclaimed artists currently sponsored by Plenitude (formerly Pitchfork), and another seafront stage with an emphasis on heavy music sponsored by DICE (formerly Ouigo and Adidas).
The Auditori Santander (formerly the Auditori Rockdelux) is an indoor 3,000-capacity auditorium under the triangular-shaped Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona building. It is the only seated indoor stage on the festival's grounds.[136] Past editions of the festival required a separate ticket for Auditori shows.[55] There is a strict no food or drink policy for the Auditori, and the most popular shows require queueing outside the building in order to get in. The Auditori is noted for its darkened ambiance and emphasis on acoustics.[137]
Stages which focus on electronic music include The Warehouse, which is sponsored by Stone Island (formerly NTS) located in an underground car park, the Boiler Room x Cupra, and the Pull&Bear stage (formerly sponsored by DICE and a part of Primavera Bits). From 2016 to 2022, Primavera Bits was home to up to three stages located on a beach in the nearby Sant Adrià de Besòs municipality, which was accessible via a bridge and a waterfront path. In 2023, the area was removed from festival grounds because the festival was barred from using the bridge that connected the main grounds to the beach.[138][139]
The ATP stage was ran by London-based festival organisers All Tomorrow's Parties and featured artist lineups that were personally curated by the organisation.[140] After All Tomorrow's Parties went out of business in 2016, the stage was renamed the Primavera stage in 2017.[141] In 2022, this stage was renamed after cryptocurrency exchange Binance.[142] However, the entrance esplanade which housed this stage was remodeled in 2023 to feature two adjacent stages.[143]
From 2014 to 2019, the festival was home to the Heineken Hidden Stage, which allowed for artists to be seen in a more intimate environment. The first band to play it was Girl Band in 2014.[65] In order to gain access to the stage, festivalgoers had to request a maximum of two tickets per each performer at the festival's information desk beginning at 4 p.m. of the respective day.[144] In 2017, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey performed their Dancefloor Meditations project on the Wednesday before the main festival.[145] In 2018, the stage was moved from the underground car park to an outdoor location where Arcade Fire had played a secret set the year prior, allowing for the abandonment of the ticket system. The stage was renamed to the Your Heineken Stage in 2019.[146] The concept was revisited in 2023 with "The Vision by Pull&Bear" stage, where artists including Japanese Breakfast, Tomberlin and Del Water Gap played on a floating stage in the Mediterranean Sea.[147]
In 2013, the festival featured a ferris wheel overlooking the ATP stage, which Pitchfork criticised as "now-cliched".[148][149]
Primavera a la Ciutat
Beginning in 2008, Primavera Sound hosts shows held at local Barcelona venues in the days surrounding the festival in a tradition known as Primavera a la Ciutat (English: Primavera in the City).[150] Access to the Ciutat shows is included with the purchase of a festival ticket, but 15% of the capacity is open to the general public.[151]
The first Primavera a la Ciutat show on 26 May 2008 was headlined at La [2] de Apolo by Scarlet's Well, the project of The Monochrome Set lead singer Bid. That year also featured Ciutat sets from Matt Elliott, The Clientele and The Radio Dept. It was promoted as "Primavera als Clubs".[152] The practice continued in 2009 with sets from David Gedge of The Wedding Present and Dälek.[153] During these years, the Parque Joan Miró was also used as a venue.[154] In 2012, Primavera a la Ciutat performances also took place at the Arc de Triomf.[155] Prior to their headlining performance in 2016, LCD Soundsystem played a free secret show at BARTS, a club with a capacity of 900 people.[156] The 2022 edition featured 14 separate venues across Barcelona used for Primavera a la Ciutat.[108] With 460,500 tickets sold that year and entry into each venue on a first-come, first-serve basis, festivalgoers reported queueing over three hours ahead of time to ensure access to gigs such as a Megan Thee Stallion performance in a 2,000-capacity club.[157]
The venues currently in use for Primavera a la Ciutat are Razzmatazz, Sala Apolo, La (2) de Apolo, Paral-lel 62 (formerly known as BARTS), La Nau and LAUT.[158]
In 2012, Primavera Sound launched a sister festival in Porto, Portugal, at the Parque da Cidade. Each year, this edition takes place one week after the main Barcelona edition and features a smaller selection of artists that play Barcelona.[160] Alberto Guijarro, the festival's director, stated that “after years in Barcelona we organised a first edition in Porto to take advantage of musicians on tour, but it is a different type of event; what we do in Portugal is a Primavera boutique, more well-kept, smaller and with its own personality".[59] From 2012 to 2014, Porto's festival was billed as Optimus Primavera Sound, and from 2015 to 2022, it was billed as NOS Primavera Sound.[161][162]
Upon the conclusion of the 2019 festival in Barcelona, Primavera Sound announced new editions in Los Angeles Historic Park in the United States, scheduled for September 2020, and London's Drumsheds venue, for June 2020. However, Primavera pulled out of the London plans over time constraints and concerns over permits and licenses. The London edition was scheduled to replace or merge with Field Day.[163]
The expansion into Latin America continued in 2023, with a one-day event in Asunción, Paraguay as Primavera Day Asuncion.[168] However, the Los Angeles edition did not continue because of an oversaturated American market and inconvenient scheduling.[169] A first edition was supposed to be held in Bogotá, Colombia, but on 17 October 2023, the festival was cancelled and rebranded as "Road to Primavera" featuring just five of the original 29 listed artists because of low ticket sales and instability in Colombia.[170][171] There was also a "Road to Primavera" in Lima, Peru.[172]The Cure were announced as headliners for all South American editions; other headliners included Grimes, Beck, Pet Shop Boys, Blur, The Killers and The Hives.[173]
Following The Cure's first-ever performance in Uruguay on 27 November 2023, a one-day event was announced for Montevideo on 21 November 2024 as Primavera Day Montevideo.[174]
Prizes of the Independent Music 2011 (organized by UFI): Better festival
Altaveu 2011 Award
Greener Festival Award 2012: in the category "Highly Commended"
European Festival Awards: Artists' Favourite Festival in 2014
Reward Waves of the Music 2014: Better musical spectacle
Premi Continuarà-Vespre to La2 of Culture 2015
Notes
^The inaugural edition of Primavera Sound Madrid was scheduled to begin on June 8. However, due to heavy rain, the venue booked in Arganda del Rey flooded, cancelling the first day of the festival, headlined by Blur, Halsey, and New Order.
^ abcdefRuiz de Cossío, Maria (2018). "Music Festivals in Catalonia in a European Context. Factors of Competitiveness of a Dynamic Creative Industry". University of Barcelona.