The major Spanish music festival Primavera will take place over two weekends in two different cities for the first time

FANS of Blur, Depeche Mode, Kendrick Lamar, Calvin Harris and a host of other big-name music acts can see their heroes headlining a Spanish festival this summer – and decide for the first time whether to do so in Barcelona or… Madrid… or even both.

Since 2001, Primavera Sound has attracted hundreds of thousands of fans to its base in the heart of the Catalan coastal city and will continue to do so for the first weekend in June.

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This year, however, the organizers have decided to “mirror” the festival in the Spanish capital the following weekend. This means that the two events will include around 200 performances with a “common cast at a distance of 620 kilometers apart with a few small exceptions”.

The Barcelona leg runs from June 1st to 3rd at Parc Del Fòrum, with Brunch Electronik on June 4th – following a free event with Pet Shop Boys and Jake Bugg in May
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The festival will then move to the Ciudad del Rock in Arganda del Rey in Madrid from June 8th to 10th, after the free event on June 7th and the Electronic Brunch at the Civitas Metropolitano on June 11th.

Thousands of Britons are expected at both festivals. Organizer Joan Pons explained why Primavera attracts such a large international audience that it is “due to the quality of the program” and the venues chosen.

“We have that credibility and people rely on us, but for Barcelona we are also the first big summer festival in Europe.

“Also, we are within the city limits, which makes it very convenient for people to return to a hotel or AirBnB. We have the weather, we have the sea, we have Barcelona.”

And now Primavera has Madrid too. Pons continued on what to expect from the new site:

“We chose this new venue because it’s like a dream location for a festival and it was built for that.

“We’d feel kind of silly if we didn’t take advantage of that. It will probably be better than the one in Barcelona because it’s built for festivals.

“The Barcelona location is beautiful, iconic and part of our heritage, but every year we have to adapt it for ourselves.”

Which artists will be performing at Primavera Sound and how do you get tickets?

Headliners include Blur, Rosalía, Kendrick Lamar, Calvin Harris, Depeche Mode and Halsey.

The Pet Shop Boys will headline the reduced line-up on the opening nights, May 31st in Barcelona and June 7th in Madrid.

Other highlights over both weekends include FKA Twigs, Sparks, Laurie Anderson, Japanese Breakfast, Sudan Archives, Four Tet, Le Tigre, Caroline Polachek, NxWorries, Turnstile, Kelela, Alex G, Alvvays, Pusha T, Death Grips, Baby Keem, Christine and the Queens, John Cale, St. Vincent and Drain Gang.

The fifth day’s closing parties will also feature performances by Diplo, Ben Böhmer, Camelphat, Purple Disco Machine (Barcelona only), Vitalic (Madrid only) and more.

The Moldy Peaches have reunited to play both weekends, with one each playing the War on Drugs and the Mars Volta.