In recent years, Barcelona has become the epicentre of the best music festivals in Spain, if not in Europe. Its cosmopolitan atmosphere makes it the ideal city to host prestigious festivals. Due to their international reputation, these festivals attract thousands of visitors every year from all over the world. Just like the city itself.
The Catalan capital comes alive with numerous music festivals for all music lovers. Rock, electro, jazz, indie… there is something for pretty much everyone! We have put together a list of the best festivals in Barcelona to celebrate music, art, culture and life throughout the year and spend some unforgettable moments.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sónar
Image Credit: Sónar – Laurent Garnier
Sónar is one of the biggest and most famous experimental electro festivals in the world, perhaps the biggest rave you’ll ever attend. Every year in June, it brings together the most famous DJs and their emerging counterparts. The week is marked by street parties and clubs all over the city, accompanied by unofficial mashups and goofy activities that only serve to highlight the tracks featured.
Around the summer solstice, the city literally begins to move to the rhythm of Sónar, whose endless events are difficult to describe in a few lines. The festival is hailed by many as Europe’s best electronic celebration, and taking a look at past editions can cause a rare form of retrospective jealousy. While music takes center stage, the festival also emphasizes multimedia art and design through stunning light shows, video presentations, and various performing arts.
Carrer de Zamora, 45, 47
Primavera Sound
Image Credit: Primavera Sound
Another great event that takes place in late May-early June that you cannot miss is Primavera Sound. It takes place in an iconic industrial space in Barcelona known as the Parc del Fòrum. It is a festival of pop rock music and underground trends that brings together different generations and has had an enormous development since its first edition in 2001. Artists such as Radiohead, Pavement, Patti Smith, and Arcade Fire, among many other legendary acts have performed here.
Being one of the most popular festivals in Barcelona, in each edition it has more than a dozen ‘headlining’ groups and you can expect nothing less every year. Ticket sales skyrocket and the full capacity is filled in just a few days, to the great surprise from locals, who usually receive their tickets just a few weeks before the festival.
Cruïlla Festival
Image Credits: Cruïlla – Andres Iglesias
The Cruïlla Festival is a bubbly event that brings together many musicians from all over the world with eclectic styles. It is distinguished from similar events by the criteria for selecting artists, fewer in number bur more curated. Thus, the stage of this festival that takes place every year in July has welcomed hundreds of groups and singers, from Iggy Pop to Robert Plant through Cat Power and Gogol Bordello.
A festival that offers dancing, jumping, but above all enjoying this summer more than ever. Without a doubt, it has climbed positions and has already become a reference festival, being a great competition of the greats. Taking place primarily in the Parc del Fòrum, like Primavera, this festival is the perfect place to see your favorite stars as well as emerging artists.
Parc del Fòrum, Carrer de la Pau, 12
DGTL
Image Credits: DGTL
For a year, the DGTL festival production team investigates the latest innovations and technological developments in the field of music and art. This festival brings everything together to create a unique experience based on discoveries and surprises. With a balanced mix of big-name artists and emerging talent performing on impressive stages, including a grand stage with lights and projections.
Combined with a strong focus on art and sustainability – striving to minimize its social and environmental impact – DGTL is another festival that’s held at the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona. This attraction keeps people coming back year after year, making visitors want to discover new talent.
Parc del Fòrum, Carrer de la Pau, 12
Vida Festival
Image Credits: Vida Festival
To go to the Vida Festival, you have to venture out of Barcelona and follow the beaches to the south. But the decoration is worth it: buried in the woods and having part of the venue overlooking the sea, Vida knew how to play in an idyllic setting to attract the local indie audience and their thirst for an intimate atmosphere. Bring the kids to relax at The Nest, bring your bike for a ride around the town of Vilanova, and bring a sense of wonder to enjoy all the art.
Vida is the evolution of the Faraday festival, of which it retains the same spirit. Every year it is celebrated in Vilanova i la Geltrú, this boutique festival has become a welcome addition to the Spanish summer. Unlike some of the other festivals included in this list, Vida includes camping so you can stay overnight at the festival.
Vilanova i La Geltrú
MUTEK
Image Credits: MUTEK
MUTEK is a week-long arts festival that celebrates art in all its forms throughout the city through eclectic and soulful productions. It has all kinds of works of art for you, from performing arts to painting, multimedia, pen drawing, crafts, sculpture and more. The exhibitions are accompanied by interventions and conferences by the many participating artists, which reveal the state of mind that animated them when they created the works.
Multidisciplinary at heart, the MUTEK dedicates the other part of its programming to new media and digital creation, with the help of screenings, conferences and workshops. So it’s more than a music festival; the event calls itself a “digital creation festival” and seeks to highlight the scope of the possibilities of interaction between audiovisual visionaries and experimental electronics. It’s an avant-garde posture that offers a refreshing counterpoint in a landscape of giant promoters.
Web: MUTEK
If you like music, you will not know where to go as there are many concerts and festivals in Barcelona during the year. Add a Barcelona Segway Tour to your agenda and you’ll have the best of the city.
