Barry Can’t Swim, But He Can Get Londoners Dancing

Barry Can't Swim

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The Blessed Madonna

Primavera Sound is an annual music festival steeped in history and one that’s paved the way for many other major music events from around the world. Held at 

 in Barcelona, Spain during late May and early June, the festival was founded in 2001 by Pablo Soler, and is now one of the largest and most-attended music festivals in Europe and biggest in the Mediterranean.

The festival has expanded in every sense possible since its establishment over twenty years ago - now a multi-genre hotspot for not only Spanish natives but tourists from every corner of the globe. 

The grand-scale gala has been so successful that it’s grown from its small origins of just 7,700 attendees in its first year, to now over 500,000! Each annum it sets new attendance records, becoming a greater and more sought-after destination year in, year out.

The success of the festival led to an international expansion to Porto, Portugal in 2012 which took place a week after the main edition. In 2022, the festival hosted its first editions in Los Angeles, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and São Paulo. Primavera Sound continued to expand to Asunción and Bogotá in 2023, and now a much smaller version of the festival, Primavera Weekender, has been taking place in Benidorm each November since 2019.

Primavera Sounds original location was Poble Espanyol, an open-air architectural museum on top of the Montjuïc hill in Barcelona. This differentiated the festival from most of its other European counterparts like Glastonbury, by being held within a city rather than in a large rural area. 

In 2005 the festival relocated from the Poble Espanyol to the Fòrum site due to demand - a new 14-hectare multipurpose public park meters away from the Mediterranean Sea, best known for its public art, the Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona and its underground auditorium.

Originally an event made to showcase local noise bands of the indie rock genre, no one could have foreseen what the future held, with the festival hotspot now home to all kinds of genres with our beloved electronic dance music very much at the forefront of it.

Headliners over the years have included the likes of the Pet Shop boys, Kendrick Lamar, Dua Lipa, Charlie XCX, Burna Boy, Gorillaz, Tame Impala, as well as incredible electronic music acts including such as 

We may have just finished summer 2023, but who’s to say we can’t plan ahead for next summer already? If you’re thinking of taking the plunge to embark on your euro summer of a lifetime, we’ve got two words for you - DO IT!

With this being said, Primavera has announced the return to its homeland in 2024, for its 22nd edition, set to take place 

. Primavera Sound will also debut in Peru this year, marking the festival’s latest expansion.

Mura Masa – live from Boiler Room x Cupra at Primavera Sound Barcelona.

Mura Masa | Boiler Room x Primavera Sound Barcelona 2023 by Boiler Room

The globally renowned festival employs a different theme each year, inspiring its attendees to dress and express themselves in out-the-box, imaginative ways, to build on the community feel of the mega event. Last year the theme was ‘I'll be your mirror’, this year the theme is ‘love’. We’ll leave the enigma down to you guys.

Primavera Sound puts diversity and equality at the forefront of what they do, with an all equal (42.36% women, 42.36% men and 15.28% mixed projects) line-up. This year, they’ve reeled in a hefty line-up of your favorite house and techno artists including 

Also, seeing as though you’re pretty much next door, why not make a double trip out if it and head over to the clubbing capital of the world that is Ibiza (if you can hack it).

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