Music all year: Catalonia hosts 361 music festival events in 2023

Summer music festival season is underway. After the largest music festival, Primavera Sound, took place in early June in Barcelona, many will follow, as promoters organize around 60% of all music festivals in Catalonia between June and August.

These are figures obtained by the Catalan News Agency (ACN) through the Cultural Businesses Observatory of ICEC, Catalonia's cultural businesses institute.

Overall, in 2023, there were 361 events, almost one per day on average. Up to 150 took place between September and May, and it is not all focused on a unique site, as over half of the municipalities where home to a festival. Barcelona, however, hosted around 20% of them.

These are slightly inferior figures compared to 2022, when there were 379 music festivals, but higher than the 2020's 330 events because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which many had to see reduced attendance and health security measures in place. However, the recovery was very fast, as in 2022, there were more festivals than the 375 seen in 2019.

Summer is one of the key moments for music festivals, especially for the larger ones, as 58% of all events take place between June and August. However, there are other options across the year and across the territory.

Summer festivals guide 2024

On May 30th, under sun, thunder and lightning, Primavera Sound, the biggest festival in Spain descended on Barcelona’s Parc del Fòrum for the 22nd time, kicking off this year’s summer festival season in Catalonia.

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