This year's edition of Primavera Sound is just around the corner, headlined by powerhouse artists like Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan. Since its inception in 2001, the Spanish music festival has become one of the biggest hotspots for the world's most popular artists. However, it wasn't always that way, nor was it even the original intention behind the festival. In fact, the festival was initially supposed to be a lot more niche.
The festival's roots trace back to 1994, with a series of concerts under the "Primavera Sound" banner at Sala KGB in Barcelona. These events continued throughout the 1990s, promoting local indie and noise bands. In 2001, founder Pablo Soler adopted the name and transformed this concept into a full-fledged festival, held at the Poble Espanyol, an open-air architectural museum located on Montjuïc Hill. The inaugural event featured 19 acts, attracting approximately 8,000 attendees.
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♬ original sound - Primavera Sound
By 2002, the festival expanded to two days, featuring headliners like British bands Pulp and Spiritualized. The following year, it partnered with the Barcelona-based beer brand Estrella Damm, officially becoming "Estrella Damm Primavera Sound." Attendance grew rapidly, reaching over 24,000 by 2003. The following year, the festival would adopt the current three-day format, with the then newly reunited American rock band Pixies performing their first European show in over a decade.
In 2005, due to increasing demand, Primavera Sound moved to the Parc del Fòrum, a larger venue by the Mediterranean Sea. This relocation allowed for more stages and a broader range of performances. Headliners that year included New Order, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, and Sonic Youth. The festival continued to grow, both in size and reputation. By 2019, it attracted 220,000 attendees, solidifying its status as one of Europe's premier music events.
In 2019, it became the first major music festival to achieve a gender-balanced lineup, under the tagline, "The New Normal," featuring artists like Erykah Badu, Tame Impala, Solange, and Rosalía. Their "Nobody is Normal" protocol also advocates for the free expression of sexuality and gender. The festival has also embraced technological advancements, becoming one of the first to implement exclusively mobile ticketing to prevent scalping, which is the process of buying tickets only to resell them at a higher price.
Primavera Sound's success in Barcelona led to international editions. In 2012, it expanded to Porto, Portugal. Further editions were held in Los Angeles, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo in 2022, and in Asunción and Bogotá in 2023. After a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival returned in 2022 with a two-weekend format, combining bookings from the canceled years. The 2022 edition attracted a record 460,500 attendees.
In 2025, Primavera Sound continues its tradition of diverse and inclusive lineups. The upcoming edition, scheduled for June 5–7 in Barcelona, will feature headliners Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan, among others.
Originally published on Latin Times
