New Zealand music group Balu Brigada confirmed as first artist for 2026 Vida Festival

The New Zealand music group, Balu Brigada, has been confirmed as the first artist of the 2026 edition of the Vida Festival, an intimate music event taking place at Vilanova i la Geltrú.

Balu Brigada, formed by the multi-instrumentalist brothers Henry and Pierre Beasley and two other members, is expected to release its debut album, Portal, on August 29. 

"At Vida, we want to be ahead of music trends to be part of them, as we are music lovers," Dani Poveda, music festival director, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) on Thursday night, the first day of the 2025 edition. "Probably, a lot of people will not be aware of this New Zealand band," he added.

In fact, Brit Richard Hawley seduced the public at the Masia d'en Cabanyes area on the first night of the music festival, where around 10,000 people are expected every day of the three-day festival. He played for around one hour and enchanted the audience with many guitars and many hits from their nine different albums published throughout two decades.

And traveling from the other side of the world, Australian band Royel Otis also took to the stage on Thursday night at Vilanova i la Geltrú to delight fans, who also saw Catalan urban musician Mushkaa and the surprise concert of Figa Flawas.

Vida will see around 60 concerts spanning across the three days of the 2025 edition, with Ca7riel & Paco Hermoso, Kaetempest, and The Lemon Twigs on Friday, as well as Supergrass, Benjamin Clementine, and Ezra Collective on Sunday night.