Cruïlla music festival back in full swing after pandemic

Cruïlla is back in full swing. Thousands of fans enjoyed the first day of the music festival on Wednesday night, as Latin rap and reggaeton urban pop was the order of the night. 

Artists are just as delighted with the return of festivals as fans are, and Trueno, Rels B, 31 Fam, Toteking, and Judeline got one of Catalonia’s biggest music festivals underway on the first day.

Across the next few days, Cruïlla will see international stars such as Duran Duran, Jack White, Editors, Hot Chip, Seed and Rubén Blades come to Barcelona, while local Catalan artists performing include Els Catarres, Joan Dausà, Ginestà and Buhos.

Dozens of people queued up before the doors opened as rain threatened to pour on the city, but the weather remained mostly calm in the end, although umbrellas and raincoats appeared at one point in the afternoon when some rain did fall. 

Divided into three stages – Estrella Damm, Cruïlla Enamora and Four Roses – the festival is back to its larger format this year. 

Also back this year are the host of international artists, as last year only two non-local acts performed: Morcheeba and Two Door Cinema Club.

Speaking to the Catalan News Agency, the festival's director, Jordi Herreruela, said that organizers feel a "great desire" for the festival this year, anticipating a record attendance. 

"There's a lot of desire for a music festival like the ones before the pandemic, a collective celebration and a big party," he explained. In this sense, he says the festival programming is based on "diversity," with a wide array of musical genres on different days, based on tastes enjoyed in the city of Barcelona.

"We've done a lot of pandemic concerts with distancing, masks, and set seating, and this edition is for dancing," he celebrates.

For one festival-goer, Agnès, attending Cruïlla means regaining "normality" after the pandemic. "We needed the atmosphere and to get back to normal," she told the Catalan News Agency. 

"I came to Cruïlla before the pandemic but last year I missed it because I had covid," Vicky said.

For his part, Àlex said that he decided to buy tickets after working at Primavera Sound, and for him, the priority of the day was to see Rels B, Trueno, and 31 Fame. 

Back after pandemic-affected version last year

Last year, Cruïlla was one of the very few music festivals that went ahead despite the pandemic, but did so with tight restrictions, such as the obligatory use of face masks at all times when not consuming food or drink. Additionally, organizers tested all attendees for Covid-19 every day of the festival.

The festival came under criticism for struggling to ensure that all visitors complied with these rules at a time when a new wave of the pandemic was taking off last summer.