Primavera Makes A Bow

The organisers of Spain’s Primavera Festival were happy to see their new Portuguese venture draw about 20,000 per day and are already lining up a second crack at the market in 2013.

They teamed with Portuguese promoter Ritmos & Blues to produce Optimus Primavera Sound, which was at the Parque de Cidade in Porto June 7-9.

The bill included Bjork, The xx, Afghan Whigs, Wilco, and Death Cab For Cutie.

The new festival takes its name from Optimus Telecomunicações, the Portuguese mobile operator that also sponsors Optimus Alive! Festival in Lisbon.

Local partner Ritmos & Blues, which last autumn partnered with Live Nation Spain to bring more international talent to Portugal, also co-produces the country’s Paredes de Coura Festival with Optimus Alive! promoter Everything Is New.

Initially the co-promoters said they’d be happy to get 10,000 per day in the first year, but they may not have been taking foreign visitors into account.

Primavera press officer Beatriz Pérez says about half of the crowd came from outside of Portugal, mainly from the UK, Spain, Sweden and France.

That certainly pleased local deputy mayor Vladimiro Feliz, who’s already proud that this year Porto is considered to be “the best European tourist destination.”

He said the next edition of the festival will enjoy the collaboration of big brands that are able to project the image of Porto and attract tourists to the city.

The other acts on Optimus Primavera Sound included The Drums, Explosions In The Sky, The Dirty Three, and Neon Indian.