Sónar unveils single-venue format merging day and night shows

The new management team at Sónar has announced that the 2026 festival will merge its traditional day and night programmes – Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night – into a single, continuous event.

The organisers of the electronic music festival say the revamped format will offer "non-stop music throughout the afternoon and night" to deliver an "enhanced experience" for festivalgoers.

All concerts at other activities will take place across six stages – three indoor and three outdoor – at one venue, Fira Gran Via.

The change in format for the 33rd edition of Catalonia's second-biggest music festival comes less than a month after Sónar's three founders, Enric Palau, Ricard Robles and Sergio Caballero, announced their departure.

The festival is now led by Belgian promoter François Jozic, founder of Brunch Elektronic.

The three founders sold a majority stake in the festival in 2018 to Superstruct Entertainment, but had continued to oversee its artistic direction until now.

Their decision to step away after more than three decades comes amid criticism and boycotts over the festival's links to KKR – the investment firm that acquired Superstruct Entertainment in October 2024 and has faced scrutiny for its investments in Israeli-linked companies.

At the end of the most recent edition, the organisers, still under the leadership of the three founders, had already announced that Sónar 2026 would mark the beginning of a new chapter in the festival's history, featuring "a radically new proposal that integrates all performances and activities from Sónar by Day, Sónar by Night and Sónar+D."

The 33rd edition of Sónar will take place on 18, 19 and 20 June 2026 at Fira Gran Via, which straddles Barcelona and the neighbouring municipality of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.