The Sónar festival counted down the hours this Saturday afternoon to conclude a 30th edition that has brought together more than 120,000 people, a figure very similar to that reached last year and close to the record of 126,000 achieved in 2018. The organization has highlighted that, if the inaugural concert that has not been held this year is excluded, it is the edition with the most public success in history.
This assistance has been distributed between the 51,000 people who have attended Sónar by day and the 69,000 who have attended the night edition. The daytime session, held at the Fira de Montjuïc, has brought together between 15,000 and 18,000 people daily, while the two night sessions that are held at the Gran Via de l’Hospitalet venue attracted 34,000 people per day. This public has come from 101 different countries, with 68% national presence and 32% foreigners.
Ricard Robles, director of the festival, has defined this edition as “one of the most successful at a quantitative and qualitative level”, highlighting that the Montjuïc and Gran Via venues have become a “common meeting space for talent that reaffirms the festival as a cultural celebration.
For his part, Enric Palau, another of the directors of the event, has highlighted the presence of local talent, a “diverse scene” among which he has listed the Jokko Collective, Desert, Carles Viarnès, the piano performances in collaboration with the IA held in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion or the concerts by Alizzz and Bad Gyal that will close the party tonight. Palau has also highlighted how over the years the festival has made artists such as the Japanese Ryoji Keda, a musical outsider who has brought together a large number of people every time he has passed through the festival, become “classics”. He has also valued the musical experimentation that has also come from top artists such as Aphex Twin, “with moments of cinematic music” during his performance this Friday.
These artists are part of a cast that has brought together leading names in modern electronic music such as BICEP, Max Cooper, Oneohtrix Point Never, Eliza Rose, Fever Ray and Eric Prydz, who will add his holographic show Holo to the festival’s line-up this Saturday. A list to which are added leading spears of world clubbing that have made all attendees dance such as Black Coffee, The Blessed Madonna, Honey Dijon, Amelie Lens or Richie Hawtin among others.
The celebration of Sónar D has also been valued as a success by the organization, an event that has brought together 3,500 professionals, bringing together prominent voices in science and research such as the expert in robotics ethics Kate Darlong, the specialist in AI applied to music CJ Carr or the collaborations with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, present in a Project area that has brought together 84 projects from the world of industry and research.
The festival has already announced the dates for the next edition, it will be on June 13, 14 and 15, 2024, and the pre-sale will begin this Tuesday at 12 noon, although the public will be able to register from tonight to purchase them. .
