Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival keeps growing in size, budget and visitors
The independent music event held in Barcelona occupies 20,000 square metres, has a budget increase of 7% (reaching 7.5 million euros) and an estimated public of 150,000 only on its main stage, the Parc del Fòrum. Nick Cave, Animal Collective, Blur or My Bloody Valentine are just some of the leading indie figures to play in the Catalan capital between the 22nd and the 26th of May.
Barcelona (CNA).- Primavera Sound Festival reaches its 13th edition raising higher expectations than ever. Organisers have calculated that around 150,000 music fans from all over Europe will attend Barcelona’s Parc del Fòrum, a huge stage next to the sea, to see their favourite bands. This estimated audience is an increase with respect to last year, as 150,000 was the number of visitors attending the whole festival in 2012.
150 groups have confirmed their attendance, and most of them are gathered in just three days (23rd, 24th and the 25th of May), which means that, like every year, festival-goers will have to choose between one group and another playing at the same time on different stages. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are one of the main attractions of the programme, as well as Animal Collective, The Vaccines, Phoenix, Tame Impala, Band of Horses, The Breeders, Grizzly Bear or Swans.
Among the electronic bands Apparat, Simian Mobile Disco, Hot Chip, James Blake, The Knife and Fuck Buttons stand out. Rappers Wu-Tang Clan and the Australians Dead Can Dance, who will make their re-emergence in this festival, are also names to keep in mind.
Music continues beyond the stage
Aside from the Primavera Sound performances, Barcelona is embracing these days other important events related to music. “Primavera a la ciutat” offers free concerts in different spaces of the city, such as parks in “Primavera als Parcs”, on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th. Bars, restaurants and hotels also turned into music stages in “Primavera als Bars”, which took place between April 24th and the 18th of May.
Four films will also be projected within the In-Edit Festival on documentary and musical cinema. One of them is “Searching for Sugar man”, which won the Oscar for best documentary and tells the story of Rodríguez, the American musician who was meant to play in Parc del Fòrum on Saturday 25th of May but had to cancel on the last minute.
There is a place for professionals of the music industry as well, in “PrimaveraPro”. Participants will attend conferences and meetings in the “Day Pro Conference”, but also enjoy more than 20 showcases among the “NightPro” event. “PrimaveraPro” is expected to have 22% more attendees than last year, coming from 43 different countries.