Primavera Sound Announces LA Edition 2020

Spanish Festival Primavera Sound has announced its first LA edition, which will go down Sept. 19-20, 2020, celebrating the festival’s 20th anniversary. The LA edition is co-produced by Live Nation, and will take place at Los Angeles State Historic Park.

It’s not the only new addition to the Primavera portfolio. Prior to the LA edition, a new event called Primavera Weekender will open the anniversary celebrations, Nov. 8-9, at the Magic Robin Hood resort in Benidorm, Spain. Confirmed artists include Belle & Sebastian, Primal Scream, Mura Masa, Idles, Sleaford Mods, Cigarettes After Sex, Whitney, Weyes Blood, John Talabot and Carolina Durante.

Tickets for Primavera Weekender go on sale June 17 for €180 ($201).

The lineup for Primavera Sound LA hasn’t been announced yet. That’ll change this coming Friday, June 7, when “a small number of tickets” will go on sale at 6 p.m (CEST) “for a few hours only” and “at a special price.”

The portfolio of promoting company Primavera Sound S.L., run by the management team of Gabriel Ruiz, Pablo Soler, Alberto Guijarro and Alfonso Lanza, also includes NOS Primavera Sound in Porto, Portugal, which takes place this coming weekend, June 6-8. The lineup includes Sloange, Erykah Badu, Rosalía, Nina Kraviz, Stereolab, Interpol, J Balvin and many more.

The Primavera Sound homepage currently displays all four existing Primavera events, plus one mysterious hidden event, which suggests another event is to be announced in the future.

Last year, Pollstar revealed that Los Angeles based investment firm The Yucaipa Companies had acquired a minority equity stake Primavera Sound. Yucaipa Companies principal Frank Quintero told Pollstar at the time: “We each saw each other as a partner who shared the same ethos and vision to continue to grow the brand.”

The deal included Primavera Sound subsidiaries, including the music business conference Primavera Pro, which takes place at the same time as the original festival in Barcelona, where it launched in the Poble Espanyol in 2001.

It has grown from an audience of 7,000 at the premiere to 220,000 at Primavera Sound last year. The 2019 edition featured performances by FKA Twigs, Charli XCX and Christine and the Queens, who debuted a collaboration on stage, Tame Impala, Janelle Monáe, Nas, Carly Rae Jepsen, Rosalía, J Balvin, Solange, James Blake, Stereolab, Jarvis Cocker and many more.

Commenting on the LA launch in 2020, Gabriel Ruiz said: “We have been thinking about Los Angeles for many years now, and the celebration of our 20th anniversary felt like the perfect timing for the decision of crossing overseas. Our goal is to bring the Primavera Sound spirit and vibe to cities with a similar feel: creative, colourful and welcoming. And with this, to give something new to the city, to show a new side and new possibilities to be built and harvested together. So it’s a dream to finally say: yes, it had to be Los Angeles.”

Added Brian Smith, SVP of Los Angeles Booking at Live Nation: “Primavera Sound is an inspiring tastemaker festival and we’re thrilled to be working with their Barcelona team in bringing it to Los Angeles next year. The festival is a forward-thinking exploration of music and culture, and it will offer a unique and powerful experience to connect with fans.”