Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held at the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain during late May and early June. It was founded in 2001 by Pablo Soler as “a showcase for Spanish noise bands”, originally held at the Poble Espanyol before moving to the Parc del Fòrum, a much larger site on the seafront, in 2005. It is one of the largest and most-attended music festivals in Europe and the biggest in the Mediterranean.
The festival’s image was originally oriented around indie rock, but in recent years has seen a larger presence of genres such as hip hop, electronic dance music and pop. In contrast to most other European festivals, traditionally the first bands go on at 4:00 pm, the headliners begin at midnight, and the latest acts play until 6:00 a.m.
Originally a one-day event, a second day was added beginning in 2002, and the 2004 edition became the first to feature a three-day lineup. In 2008, the festival began hosting free shows for ticket holders in local venues across Barcelona, beginning a tradition now known as Primavera a la Ciutat. No festival was held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned in 2022 with a two-week format for the first time, combining most bookings from the missed years, before reverting to a one-week event in 2023.
