Sónar will change its map and operation this year in Barcelona and l'Hospitalet de Llobregat. The festival will unify Sónar de Día and Sónar de Nit for the first time at the Fira Gran Via venue, with a single ticket that will allow free entry and exit during each day.
The main novelty comes as the event aims to grow beyond the 160,000 attendees of the last edition and, at the same time, address the controversy surrounding its link with the investment fund KKR, pointed out for its relationship with the Palestinian genocide. The format change also coincides with François Jozic's arrival at the direction.
The festival will open at 5:00 PM and extend music until 7:00 AM
The new configuration will concentrate all the main programming at Fira Gran Via in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat. There will be up to six stages, half of which will be outdoors, with more than one hundred performances and up to fourteen hours of music daily.
The venue will open daily at 5:00 PM. On Thursday, it will close at 3:00 AM, while on Friday and Saturday, the activity will extend until 7:00 AM.
François Jozic, the festival's new director, framed the change as a new stage with a unified format in Gran Via.
"It will be like a zero edition of a new stage" - François Jozic, director of Sónar
With this model, the organization eliminates the physical separation between the daytime and nighttime programs and facilitates public mobility with a single ticket for the entire day. The Fira Gran Via venue thus assumes an edition in which the festival aims to increase attendance compared to last year.
The lineup adds The Prodigy and moves Sónar +D to Llotja de Mar
The Prodigy will headline a lineup that will also include sets by Amélie Lens and Chris Stussy, as well as live performances by Cabaret Voltaire and Kelis. The programming will exceed one hundred performances spread across the venue's various spaces.
In parallel, Sónar +D will move to Llotja de Mar on June 18 and 19. This part of the festival will also maintain an immersive installation at the main Fira Gran Via headquarters.
Outside the l'Hospitalet venue, Sónar Kids will return to Parc del Fòrum on June 20. The edition will thus combine the concentration of the bulk of the festival in Gran Via with two specific activities at Llotja de Mar and on the Barcelona coastline.
The main lineup will bring together The Prodigy, Amélie Lens, Chris Stussy, Cabaret Voltaire, and Kelis in an edition with more than one hundred performances and up to six stages at Fira Gran Via.