Excited fans return to Barcelona for 2023 Primavera Sound with Blur, Halsey, New Order on first big night

Thursday marks the first big day of Barcelona’s 2023 Primavera Sound, with international artists and over a dozen stages, a day festival-goers have been waiting for since they bought the tickets almost a year ago:

Excited fans rushed to the main two stages, Estrella Damm and Santander, to make sure they had a good spot before the start of the biggest concerts of the evening, starting with the British band Black Country, New Road at 6 pm.

The other big acts playing at the main stages on the first night include NxWORRIES (Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge), New Order, Halsey, and Blur.

Also performing on Thursday are Nigerian Afropop star Rema, J-Pop trio Perfume, and US rapper Pusha T, among many others. (Check out the full programme here.)

Primavera Sound is expecting around 70,000 attendees each night from Thursday to Saturday, the days featuring the festival’s big acts. Day tickets are available for €125, and full festival tickets for €325 (€275 with resident discount).

The Primavera Sound started with free concerts on May 31 and finishes on June 3, the last night featuring Catalan superstar Rosalía and DJ Calvin Harris.

Also featured on the stellar lineup are American rapper Kendrick Lamar, British new wave band Depeche Mode, Four Tet, Avalon Emerson, Built to Spill, Channel Tres, Christine & the Queens, FKA Twigs, JPEGMafia, Maggie Rogers, Pusha T, Skrillex, St Vincent, and The War on Drugs. 

"This is massive, this spectacular"

Primavera Sound is one of the events bringing more international visitors to Barcelona. Last year's edition, which run through two consecutive weekends, gathered nearly half a million people, 65% of whom were foreigners.

"It's my first time here and it's great," said Jeff, a festival-goer from the United States, on Thursday. Every year, he and his wife travel to a festival in a different city. Despite having been to many other festivals, they were still impressed by the sheer scale of Primavera: "This is massive, this is spectacular."

Primavera Sound gathers people from almost 140 different nationalities. On top of the list with most festival-goears are the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, the United States, and Mexico.

Organizers estimate the festival draw in 349 million euros to the local economy last year, and say foreigners spent over 1,423 euros on average.