Catalan Hard Rock And EDM

The two new festivals growing on the beach at Barcelona both appear to have ambitions of making a longer-term effect on the Spanish outdoor market.

Photo: Manuel Vidal / Invision for Hard Rock International / AP Images

Hard Rock Rising at Platja del Forum in Bacelona had 15,000 fans per day to see a lineup including Robbie Williams, Kings of Leon, and Lenny Kravitz.

The local Live Nation office is involved in both, presenting Hard Rock Rising for the international café chain and Barcelona Beach Festival for national TV station and media group Atresmedia.

Hard Rock, which once worked with Live Nation UK to produce the Hard Rock Festivals in London’s Hyde Park, says it was happy to see 15,000 per day for a bill that included Robbie Williams, Kings of Leon, and Lenny Kravitz. Hard Rock and LN were happy enough with the result to say they intend another Hard Rock Rising in 2016.

The other acts at Hard Rock July 24-25 included Avicii, Steve Angello, Juanes, Narrow Plains, and popular Barcelona band Thalab.

On the same beach a little less than a week earlier, the second edition of Barcelona Beach Festival July 18 had LN promoter Paco Martinez happily watching the crowd grow around 30 percent from last year’s 25,000. Barcelona Beach is 11 hours of EDM, with a lineup that included David Guetta, Hardwell, Martin Garrix, and Axwell Ingrosso.

Former head of Live Nation Spain Gay Mercader once said not to run a festival in Spain unless you have a beach to put it on.