music in barcelona

Organizers claim Sant Adrià de Besós council does not grant permission to hold music festival

Weeklong fair goes more local than ever, featuring Catalan artists and reaching new districts in push to avoid large gatherings

Ada Colau says major events gathering thousands will be last to be approved to take place after crisis passes

In 15 years, Primavera Sound has established itself as the most international musical festival in Southern Europe and a global point of reference in the realm of urban music events, particularly among indie and pop fans. With more than 190,000 festival-goers expected this year, the core of the show takes place in Barcelona's Fòrum Park - an enormous setup by the sea - from Thursday the 28^th to Saturday the 30^th of May. During this 3-day-session, a total of 193 concerts will be held, with international artists performing non-stop from the afternoon (around 5 p.m.) until the next morning. The 2015 line-up looks once again to be pretty spectacular: The Black Keys, Interpol, The Replacements, alt-J, Underworld, Damien Rice, Belle & Sebastian, The Strokes, Patti Smith, Tori Amos, Antony and the Johnsons, Ride, Caribou and many (many) others will be playing on the 8 main stages of the festival. 49 concerts can be followed in high definition streaming on both the web and via the festival’s official app.

The National, Queens of the Stone Age, Mogway, Television, Nine Inch Nails, Kendrick Lamar, Caetano Veloso, Saint Vincent, and Laurent Garnier are amongst the most outstanding artists to have joined the line-up of the 2014 Primavera Sound Festival. Until now, the Pixies, Arcade Fire, and Neutral Milk Hotel had been the only major announcements for the festival’s next edition, which will be held from the 29^th to the 31^st of May in Barcelona’s Forum. A few Catalan musicians will join these famous international bands, for instance Mishima, Standstill, Joana Serrat, Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Raúl Fernández.

‘Primavera als Bars’ is a pre-festival date of the city with one of its main music events, the Primavera Sound. This free show will bring 22 international and local music bands to fifteen bars, restaurants and hotels around the city of Barcelona. These concerts kicked off on the 24th of April and will finalize on the 18th of May. All these concerts are free and offer the chance to get to know young local artists like Núria Graham or to international bands such as the Americans Purling Hiss.

The Festival ‘Jardins del Palau de Pedralbes’ will take place between the 20th of June and the 8th of July in the Catalan capital. Josep Carreras, Julio Iglesias, Antony and the Johnsons, Natalie Cole, Roger Hodgson, Earth Wind & Fire and Crosby, Stills & Nash are some of the artists that will play at the first event. The private company Concert Studio is behind the initiative, which has the support of Barcelona City Council and the Catalan Government. Public funds will only cover 2% of the festival’s budget. Concert Studio have already organised the Cap Roig festival and the Festival del Mil·leni. According to them, they wanted to fill “an empty space” in Barcelona’s musical season.