Late spring and summertime bring a myriad of music festivals throughout Catalonia. Some of them have only lasted a few editions, but others have become true milestones at international level, such as the Sónar or the Primavera Sound.
This year’s the ‘Festival Grec’ pays special attention to French theatre and dance, both large productions and smaller innovative shows. It brings together both international and local productions, and includes theatre, dance, music and other stage arts. The festival begun on June 17th and will last until the end of July.
The Catalan capital is these days the electronic music world’s capital city. The 18th edition of the International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art Sónar kicks off in Barcelona. It the annual meeting place for electronic music fans and will take place from June 16th to 18th. This year it will have a parallel festival happening in A Coruña, Sónar Galicia. Barcelona’s Sónar Festival will also have a twin festival in Sao Paulo. Sónar Barcelona has also a programme for children called Sónar Kids and for professional called Sónar Pro.
Pulp, PJ Harvey, Belle & Sebastian, P.I.L, The White Stripes, Interpol, The National, Sufjan Stevens or Nick Cave were some of the participating artists. Barcelona’s indie music festival ended its largest edition with a record audiences, number of concerts and space occupied. The Primavera Sound music festival was held in Barcelona from Wednesday evening until Sunday.
The organisers stated that Barcelona’s Japanese twin festival of electronic and advanced music will take place despite the tsunami and the nuclear crisis. In addition, Barcelona’s Sonar Festival and its Galicia twin will give 25% of the money made at the box office to Japan’s Red Cross.
Some of the confirmed performances are M.I.A, Janelle Monáe, The Human League and Baraka Som Sistema. The music festival will be held in Barcelona from the 16th to 18th June. The festival will keep its Galicia showcase, scheduled on the 17th and 18th of June.
A total of 40 bands will play in this summer music festival in Barcelona. The ‘Primavera Sound’, the ‘Sonar’, and ‘Cruïlla Barcelona’ are the most important indie, pop and electronic music festivals in the Catalan capital.
Lluís Miñarro’s documentary film ‘Finisterrae’ scooped a top award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film is directed by the manager of the International Sònar Music Festival in Barcelona, Sergio Caballero. This was his first ever movie and it was actually the image of last year’s Sónar Festival. Rotterdam’s jury awarded ‘Finisterrae’ impressed for its riskiness.
The 2011 edition of the rock-pop festival Primavera Sound will be even bigger with 20,000 square meters more and a brand new bigger and stage. In total there will be 8 simultaneous stages, 2 of them for large concerts.
According to the artistic director of the festival Josep Maria Dutra "this year has the best line in the history of the festival”. The festival combines a broad international representation with a small Catalan one.
The famous English rock band Pulp is reuniting after a decade long hiatus to play Barcelona’s Primavera Sound.
The famous saxophonist Sony Rollins will kick off the 42nd edition of the Barcelona Jazz Festival tomorrow. The musician is perfoming at the Auditori de Barcelona as part of his 80th Birthday tour.
The pop-rock music festival will use one of its previous locations, the Poble Espanyol in Barcelona’s Montjuïc hill. The most talked about performances from the first round of confirmed acts are Ariel Pink, the Fiery Furnaces, Broadcast and Half Japanese.
The Vic Live Music Market Festival began yesterday with performances by the eclectic artists Pedro Javier González, Raúl Rodríguez and Trilok Gurtu. The 5-day event will include live flamenco, jazz, pop and Latin music shows from local and international artists.
The Sónar Music Festival of advanced music and multimedia art wrapped up its Chicago edition this weekend, filling the famous Millennium Park with concerts, projections and art. Festival organisers are very satisfied with the outcome in Chicago and are now planning editions in cities like London and Tokyo.