Primavera Sound Festival

Starting life in 2001, the Primavera Sound Festival has grown over the last 20 or so years to become one of the largest and most prestigious festivals in the whole of Europe, let alone Spain and Barcelona. A city festival that takes place in late May / early June of each year, Primavera has several things going for it, that many other similar events worldwide can’t compete with.

First of all there’s the arena: a vast and surreal urban landscape in the form of Parc del Forum, that seems almost purpose-built for the job of hosting the party. Secondly there’s the almost-guaranteed great weather (take that Glastonbury!). And thirdly, call us biased, but there’s the fact that the PSF takes place in none other than Barcelona…

Unlike Barcelona’s other renowned modern music fest, Sonar, which concentrates almost entirely on electronic beats, Primavera Sound boasts a diverse line up, year after year, of artists that cover genres such as alternative, indie, pop, rap/hip hop, electro/dance, folk/world music, jazz and pretty much anything else you can think of.

To name all the greats that have taken centre stage over the years would take more space than is allowed here, but just a few names you’ve missed would be: Arcade Fire, The Cure, The Beach Boys, Orbital, Pulp, Smashing Pumpkins, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Blur, NIN, White Stripes, Interpol, Motorhead, Primal Scream and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The one thing all the artists have in common is that they are pioneers and experimenters, and the festival takes pride in promoting new sounds and up and coming bands…

And whilst the headliners every year may be household names, the real strength of the festival is the depth of great music provided by the bands that you love, but your mother has never heard of. Acts like Bauhaus, Caribou, Warpaint, Wet Leg, Kings of Convenience, Disclosure, Battles and Khruangbin for starters. In recent years there’s been a concerted effort to bring more diverse acts from the world of pop, reggaeton and hip hop, into the fold. So don’t be surprised to see Rosalia, J. Balvin, Tyler the Creator, ASAP Rocky, Solange, Janelle Monae and Jungle announced on the line up, as with previous editions.

The one thing all the artists have in common is that they are pioneers and experimenters, and the festival takes pride in promoting new sounds and up and coming bands, as well as celebrating those legends that have broken through into the mainstream.

Festival Format

The dates of the festival can be a little confusing for the first time visitor, as they are often quoted as an entire week. However, the vast bulk of the event takes place at the main venue, the Parc del Forum, over a three-day weekend of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The extra dates include the additional “A La Ciutat” programme of city-wide concerts, which take place in clubs and cultural spaces around the city like Poble Espanyol and Sala Apolo nightclub. These gigs are usually free for ticket holders, and in fact there are usually some concerts, featuring big bands, that are free for the general public too, often on the Wednesday night preceding the main event.

Getting to Primavera Sound

The huge concrete Parc del Forum is on a small hill by the coast on the Northern border of the city and easily accessible by the line 4 of the metro (aka ‘the yellow line’). Just alight at Maresme el Forum, which is a few minutes walk away from the venue. After that you can follow the crowds (you can’t miss them!) to the festival grounds.

A one journey ticket costs just over 2 euros, or you can buy a T-Casual card which gives you 10 journeys for just over 11 euros.

On the way back, the metro is also the best bet… as long as it’s still running. The last metro leaves at midnight on Thursday night, 2am on Friday night and runs all night on Saturdays through to Sunday morning. It starts up again around 6am, so if you’re willing to pull an all-nighter you can even catch it on Thursday and Friday nights, early the next day.

Otherwise you could try fighting the crowds for taxis, which are pretty cheap in Barcelona, or look out for a special Primavera Sound shuttle bus which zips between Forum and Plaça Catalunya every 10-15 mins and costs 2 euros per leg (as in journey leg, not per leg you want to bring on board… just in case that wasn’t clear!).

Accommodation Options

The clever festival-goer might want to put a bit of thought behind the location of their PSF accommodation. Essentially you want to be on a metro stop near the yellow line for easy access to and from the Parc del Forum. El Borne is a cool, albeit slightly touristic district, where you can hop onto Jaume I. Depending where you stay in the Gothic District, that same metro stop could be close by.

Either the Vila Olimpica area or the Poblenou district are perfect places for ticket holders to book accommodation, as they are even closer. If you are literally coming to Barcelona for the festival and the festival alone, then you could opt for one of the big high rise hotels around Diagonal Mar… within easy walking distance of the entrance gates (but a fair distance from the rest of the city’s attractions).

Check out our hotel guide, hostel guide and article about short term apartment rentals for some of the best beds in town.

Festival Tips

It’s the little things that make a difference between enjoying a festival and spending half of it in a queue, or shivering from cold for 10 hours on the first day.

One thing that’s definitely well worth doing is getting there early on the first day, to get your festival wristband before the masses arrive. Time this wrong and you could spend well over an hour with a close up view of the back of someone’s neck. I would suggest getting there around 5pm.

In terms of what to bring, an extra layer is definitely helpful come the evenings. While it can be boiling hot in the afternoon, when you’re setting off, the sea breeze means things can get pretty cool at nights.

A festival bag with survival snacks (cereal bars and bananas are always good!) and, depending on the weather forecast, small umbrella, might be handy too.

Large cameras and drinks are forbidden… although if your alcohol budget is super tight, you could sink a few cheap cans before entering. There are some cornershops near the metro station and hordes of party-goers will be sitting in circles drinking cut price booze before making their way into the official grounds.

The Parc del Forum is pretty massive and it can be a five or ten minute walk between stages, so we’d definitely advise comfort over style when it comes to footwear.

Buying Tickets

Tickets go on sale via the festival’s official website, and there’s usually great prices for early birds, while the festival tends to sell out, sometimes months ahead of time… so if you are keen on attending don’t hang around!

Meanwhile, the festival’s success means you can find Primavera Sound events taking place in Porto, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Bogota and more in 2024.

Line Up & Dates for 2024

Book your tickets to Barcelona for 29th May to 2nd June… the 2024 dates and line up have been announced.

Topping the bill are Lana del Rey, Pulp, Sza, Disclosure, FKA Twigs, Justice, Mitski, The National, Phoenix, PJ Harvey, Vampire Weekend, with able support from the likes of Bikini Kill, The Deftones, Charli XCX, Amyl and the Sniffers and Roison Murphy. Plus many many more.

Just check the poster for the full roster (well, they may add one or two more bands nearer the time!).

Barcelona Tips

Aside from visiting the festival, we recommend you find some time to explore the rest of Barcelona. Here is our list of things to do in May and June.

From the Archives…

Wanna know who played in previous editions? Check below for some sweet nostalgia…

2023 Line Up & Dates

The year 2023 will see giants like Blur, New Order and Rosalia return to Barcelona to headline the festival, alongside Kendrick Lamar, Calvin Harris and Depeche Mode, with Pet Shop Boys playing a free show on the Wednesday.

Check out the poster below to see a full roster of artists, bands and DJs.

2022 Line Up & Dates

The year 2022 saw the the biggest Primavera Sound line up EVER! To compensate for the lack of live music during the pandemic, the organisers threw two full 3-day festivals during consecutive weekends, with a series of sensational concerts sandwiched between. On the bill were Beck, Dua Lipa, Gorillaz, Interpol, Jorja Smith, The National, Pavement, Jamie XX, Disclosure, Tyler the Creator, Phoenix and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2021 Line Up & Dates

The 2021 edition was cancelled due of Covid.

2020 Line Up & Dates

The 2020 edition was cancelled due of Covid.

2019 Line Up & Dates

The main festival starts on the 30th May and continues until the 1st June, with some free concerts in the days leading up to the party. As for the line up, there’s a distinct feminine feel to proceedings with half of the 226 acts booked being female artists… so congratulations Primavera Sound for championing women musicians in what they have dubbed to be “The New Normal”.

Headliners include Solange, Tame Impala, J Balvin, Erykah Badu, Future, Janelle Monáe, Nas, Rosalía, Deerhunter, Big Red Machine, Mac DeMarco, FKA twigs, Liz Phair, Robyn, Carly Rae Jepsen, 070 Shake, James Blake, Danny Brown, Slowthai, Clairo, Jarvis Cocker’s JARV IS, Snail Mail, Interpol, Suede, Kali Uchis, and Stereolab, back together for their first performance since 2009. Cardi B was scheduled to play but has been replaced by Miley Cyrus.

2018 Line Up & Dates

Another year, another cornucopia of music talent descending on Barcelona. The year 2018 will see the Arctic Monkeys, Bjork, The National, Belle and Sebastian, Spiritualized, Chvrches, Beach House, Lykke Li, Four Tet, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Sparks, The War on Drugs, The Breeders, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chromeo, Haim, Mogwai, Mike D, Thundercat A$AP Rocky, Ariel Pink, Deerhunter, Grizzly Bear, Lorde and Slowdive all come to town. The party kicks off on the 30th May to the 3rd June.

2017 Line Up & Dates

Music lovers have plenty to look forward to (as usual!) in 2017, with some of the decade’s most exciting talents returning to Barcelona to caress (and occasionally assault) our ears with their audio-creativity during this year’s edition of Primavera Sound. Some Barcelona Life favourites include Arcade Fire, Flying Lotus, !!!, Aphex Twin, John Talabot, Kate Tempest, Metronomy, Seu Jorge, Saint Etienne, Skepta, Solange, Swans and the XX. As usual half of the joy of the festival lies in discovering your new favourite band… will it be Cymbals Eat Guitars, Her Little Donkey or Mannequin Pussy? These are just a few of the less known bands, that so often step out of the shadows of giants to put on some of the event’s best shows.

2016 Line Up & Dates

I know we say this nearly every year, but this time the good folk at Primavera have outdone themselves bringing what is surely the most musically star-studded line up to Barcelona of all time… with headliners including none other than Radiohead, Air, Sigur Ros, LCD Soundsystem and PJ Harvey and sterling support arriving in the forms of Tame Impala, Beach House, The Last Shadow Puppets, Beirut, Floating Points, Moderat, Suede, Dinosaur Jnr, Animal Collective, Black Lips, Hudson Mohawke and John Carpenter – and many many more. Tickets are selling like delicious chocolate-chipped hot cakes for this one, so move fast if you want to be going crazy in Parc del Forum this June (the dates at the 1st to the 6th). As always the official site has more info including complete line up and ticket purchase options.

2015 Line Up & Dates

Who’s coming this year? Well it’s another stellar rostra of talent, in the form of The Strokes, Interpol, Caribou, Belle & Sebastian, Patti Smith, Underworld, Tori Amos, Antony and the Johnsons, James Blake, Swans, alt-J and an editorial favourite from the early 90s (yes we’re old)… Babes in Toyland! That’s just the tip of the iceberg so check the list of artists on the official website or full line up. The dates are 28th to 30th May 2015, with bonus gigs from the 25th May.

2014 Line Up & Dates

Another seriously exciting year in terms of line ups, the 2014 edition of PSF includes: Arcade Fire, The Pixies, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, !!!, Chromeo, Cut Copy, Dum Dum Girls, Foals, Disclosure, Haim, Jamie xx, Metronomy, Mogwai, St. Vincent, Warpaint, Laurent Garnier, SBTRKT, Moderat, Pional, The War on Drugs and many many more. The dates are 28th to 31st May.

2013 Line Up & Dates

The big news for 2013 is that Brit-pop legends Blur will be headlining the festival, which is something to excite indie kids and ageing musos who remember them first time around alike! However as always with Primavera Sound there’s no shortage of big names and exciting newcomers to rock the mics… some bands that Barcelona Life are particularly excited about are Hot Chip, The Knife, Crystal Castles, Deerhunter, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Four Tet, Foxygen, Simian Mobile Disco, My Bloody Valentine, Wu-Tang Clan, The Knife, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Phoenix, The Postal Service, Fiona Apple, The Breeders, Swans, Band of Horses, James Blake, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, John Talabot, Disclosure, Dead Can Dance, Titus Andronicus, and Fuck Buttons. For a full list of acts check out the line up on the official site, where they also have an awesome video introducing the bands (embedded above)! The dates are 22nd to 26th May 2013.

2012 Line Up & Dates

Right so who’s coming to Barcelona this spring? Here’s a little teaser of headliners and highlights of the line up for 2012: Bjork, The Cure, Death Cab For Cutie, Saint Etienne, Death in Vegas, Erol Alkan, The Field, Justice Live, Kings of Convenience, Mazzy Star, Mudhoney, The Rapture, Spiritualised, Franz Ferdinand, The XX, Yann Tiersen, Yo La Tengo. For the full monte head to the official website, innit. The dates for the diary are May 30th to June 3rd.