Barcelona, city of festivals
Whether it's spring, summer, autumn, or winter, Barcelona boasts a large number of music festivals which, through perseverance, attractive line-ups, and word-of-mouth (the best endorsement there is), have managed to carve out a niche in Barcelona's cultural agenda, becoming a fixed event in the agenda-setting of the main media outlets and positioning our city as a European, if not global, capital for genres as varied as punk, electronic music, jazz, flamenco, international pop-rock, or heavy metal. So if you like Barcelona and want to be at the heart of the main events, today we present to you seven of the most trendy festivals organized in our city throughout the year.
1. Greek
Few festivals in our country have the tradition and prestige of the GREC Festival, the main cultural event of the Barcelona summer celebrated in July, featuring theater, dance, circus, and music concerts. Although the festival has grown so much that it takes place in various venues throughout the city, its most emblematic location, where the main performances are held, is the Teatre Grec de Montjuïc, an open-air venue that was inaugurated for the 1929 Universal Exposition. This is where it gets its name from, and it is one of the main attractions of the event: to enjoy a top-level show in a Greek-style theater and also feel the coolness of the Mediterranean summer in one of the highest areas of the city. All these elements have made it a benchmark in the European festival calendar.
2. SPRING SOUND
The Primavera Sound Festival was born in 2001 and today is one of the most renowned music festivals in Barcelona. The first editions of the concert took place at Poble Espanyol, covering 1,672 square meters. Nowadays, the event spans over 190,000 square meters at the Parc del Fòrum and is a staple between the end of May and the beginning of June. The festival's strong urban character and its integration into the city, as well as the wide range of bands represented, have made Primavera Sound an event where artists and audiences of different generations often come together, placing it among the most important in Spain, on par with festivals like FIB in Benicàssim or Viña-Rock in Villarobledo.
In addition to the concerts, the Primavera Sound program also offers a range of parallel activities, such as a record fair, electronic music DJ sessions, or even a mini-music area designed for children, where families will find various services to meet their needs, as well as a playful-educational space where boys and girls can get closer to the world of music.
3. SONAR BCN
The Sónar is one of the most important electronic and experimental music festivals in Europe and also one of the most historic, having been celebrated in Barcelona since 1994. Over its nearly 25 years of existence, Sónar has positioned Barcelona as the epicenter of European electronic music, and it is also one of the main attractions for cultural tourism, which experiences a peak in early June, coinciding with the festival. Furthermore, the festival's presence gives rise to many other events, presentations, and showcases that take place in the city and beyond the festival's scope, which also draw large audiences. Each year, Sónar brings together 3,500 industry professionals and attracts more than 80,000 spectators from over 90 countries around the world to Barcelona.
4. Cruïlla Barcelona
The best of the classic festivals without the usual overcrowding of these mega-events. That's the spirit of the Cruïlla Barcelona, one of the main summer festivals in Barcelona, where we can find a musical offering aimed at all audiences, from those nostalgic for past decades to fans of the latest trends in the music scene. Big rock stars, electronic music from around the world, and the best of Catalan bands and singer-songwriters come together for 3 days in an open-air stage by the sea. Without a doubt, one of the best plans you can find in Barcelona in the month of July.
5th Barcelona International Jazz Festival
For 50 years, our city has become a reference point for jazz lovers thanks to the Voll-Damm Barcelona International Jazz Festival, an annual event from September to December where you can enjoy the essential names of the genre. Diana Krall and Chucho Valdés are just some of the artists who have appeared at one of the most important events of its kind, thanks to attractive line-ups that combine the presence of great stars with new national and international talents. A festival that since 2016 has also embraced flamenco. Considered a “brother” genre to jazz, for the sentiment from which both styles emerge, the festival features De cajón, a series of flamenco concerts with renowned figures such as Estrella Morente, Antonio Carmona, or Diego “El Cigala”.
6. PEDRALBES GARDENS
History, summer, nature, gastronomy, the outdoors...and music, lots of music. Those are the main elements that have positioned the Pedralbes Gardens Festival as one of the benchmarks of the Spanish scene in just five editions. Part of its good reputation is due to the high quality and the huge impact generated by some of its attendees: Lana Del Rey, Josep Carreras, Buika, Zubin Mehta, Carla Bruni, Tom Jones (even on three occasions), Pet Shop Boys, Bob Dylan, Charles Aznavour or Sting, who have delivered great performances at the Barcelona event. Another point in its favor is that it is usually held in the second half of June, just when summer is knocking at the door and people are eager to enjoy outdoor terraces.
The festival is a great opportunity to firsthand experience one of the most beautiful gardens in Barcelona, where you can walk, run, and relax. The grounds belong to the Pedralbes Palace, a former estate of Eusebi Güell, who was a patron of the great Antonio Gaudí, and which was given to the Spanish Royal family as their residence in the city.
7. ROCK FEST
Old rockers never die. And the best proof of this is that for one weekend a year, usually in July, they gather at Can Zam Park participating in the Rock Fest Barcelona, a festival that has become a staple in the cultural scene of the city and brings together figures from hard rock and heavy metal of all times, such as Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Megadeth, Kiss, or Helloween. Alongside them, more than forty national and international bands complete a lineup that tends to delight nostalgics of a musical genre that refuses to fade away.
In the style of the great music festivals, the Rock Fest Barcelona offers around fifty non-stop concerts over three consecutive days. In total, more than 60 hours of decibels, great anthems, and nostalgia, lots of nostalgia. However, to avoid falling into the depression of a bygone era that may seem better, the organization also offers a range of parallel activities to diversify the entertainment of the event: Sessions with some of the most renowned rock DJs or signing sessions with the guest artists are just a couple of examples from their extensive agenda.
The list could go on with a great number of events and recitals offered in our city, especially in the summer, taking advantage of the cool nights to present festivals like the Barcelona Beach Festival or Barna’n’Roll, not to mention the multitude of concerts and musical offerings that can be found in diverse places such as La Pedrera, the modernist enclosure of the Hospital de Sant Pau, the cloister of the University of Barcelona, the Museum of History or the monastery of Pedralbes, which would allow us to assert that there is no musical genre that is not represented in the cultural agenda of Barcelona. Which one do you prefer?
