Int’l Festivals: Primavera Sound Porto, OASG Switzerland, Download UK & First-Ever State Fayre Hail Successful Editions

30,000 Per Day At Primavera Sound Porto

Primavera Sound Porto has brought its 13th edition to a close, counting more than 120,000 attendees across all festival days, June 11-14, who enjoyed performances by Gorillaz, The xx, Ethel Cain, KNEECAP, Bad Gyal, Big Thief, Oklou, Slowdive, Massive Attack, IDLES, Amaarae, JADE, Mike D, Smerz, Yard Act, Peggy Gou and many more.

Once again, Primavera Sound Porto didn’t just carry the spirit of the original Barcelona event some 900 kilometers across the country to neighboring Portugal, but enriched the experience for fans with its own identity.

As Primavera Sound’s head of booking Fra Soler explained to Pollstar when speaking for our recent Spain and Portugal country focuses, “the Porto and Barcelona festivals share the same vision and a complete harmony that we have built and reinforced over the course of twelve years. They are two cities that are very closely connected culturally, with similar sensibilities and a similar way of experiencing music. The Porto festival began as a little brother in 2012, but it has already managed to develop a very unique personality of its own: more intimate, cosier, and with a very special bond with its environment and its audience. It isn’t a replica of Barcelona, but another expression of what Primavera Sound means.”

Dates for the 2027 edition of Primavera Sound Porto have been set for June 10-13 next year. Tickets are on sale, with a regular full-festival ticket going for €187.27 ($213.62) at the time of writing.

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Hecht Steal The Show At OASG

OpenAir St.Gallen, one of Switzerland’s main events, celebrated its 2026 edition across the weekend of June 25-28. A total 105,000 people visited the scenic Sittertobel in St. Gallen, where the festival takes place to witness headline performances by Twenty One Pilots, Zara Larsson, German singer Nina Chuba, and Swiss icons Hecht.

The first festival day was headlined by German singer, songwriter and rapper Jan Delay and his band Disko No. 1. The weather was brilliant all weekend, the team had created additional shaded spots and added water stations to help survive the heat.

One emotional moment came during the headline set of Hecht, one of the country’s most popular acts singing in the Swiss German vernacular. One of the band’s songs, “Mon Amour”, has been turned into the anthem for local soccer club FC St.Gallen, and during their set, Hecht first brought fans of the club onto the stage before introducing a few players from the club, who walked out holding the Swiss Cup trophy, which the club had recently won for the first time since 57 years. Needless to say, fans, players and band all sang along enthusiastically.

Hecht are a real phenomenon, and the first domestic act to sell out Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, where they’ll perform on June 12, 2027. 50,000 tickets, sold out in 90 minutes. Stefan Wyss of promoter Gadget abc Entertainment told Pollstar, “This is a huge success—not just for the band. It’s also a special milestone for Gadget. As a 360° agency, the team has been supporting Hecht in the areas of management, booking, publishing, and the label for 15 years, and together they’ve brought countless live shows and projects to life: Olivier Joye, Head of Booking & Promoter at Gadget has been with the band since the beginning.”

Hecht were followed by Twenty One Pilots, who made up for not appearing in 2020, when their scheduled OASG performance well victim to the COVID lockdowns. Other notable sets came from Wet Leg, Florence Road, Jalon Ngonda, as well as newcomers like Splendid, also a Swiss Mundart artist, Floodlights from Australia, or Swiss rapper Luuk.

The onsale for OpenAir St.Gallen 2027, scheduled for July 1-4, is underway. Four-day tickets are currently going for CHF 269 ($333).

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23rd Download For The Ages

Download Festival once again united fans at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England, June 13-15.

Traditionally a no-nonsense rock event, with Donington Park known to Download fans as “the spiritual home of rock”, Download 2026 nonetheless boasted its most diverse lineup to date – from returning champions of the main stage, to the genre’s most formidable acts and hotly tipped newcomers, this year’s festival had something for everyone.

“Limp Bizkit kicked off proceedings on Friday, sparking waves of crowd-surfing as far as the eye could see. Rock and roll legends Guns N’ Roses followed on Saturday with a vast catalogue of classic hits, while Linkin Park, returning 12 years after they last headlined Download, cranked up the volume with lead vocalist Emily Armstrong, bringing the weekend to a powerful close,” a press release from promoter Live Nation sums it up.

The bill also features Halestorm, Architects, A Day to Remember, Cypress Hill, Trivium, Bad Omens, BABYMETAL, Black Veil Brides, Ice Nine Kills, Pendulum and Dogstar. Visitors of Download 2025 also got treated to more crossover and surprise appearances than ever, including secret sets from the likes of Skindred and Creeper, and guest appearances from Enter Shikari frontman Rou Reynolds during Pendulum’s set, as well as UK rap veteran Professor Green during Native James’ performance.

In 2027, Download Festival will return to Donington from Wednesday June 9 to Sunday June 13. Tickets are on sale. A five-night festival ticket including camping went for £330 ($437) at the time of this writing.

Successful State Fayre Premiere

Live Nation also celebrated a festival premiere this June, staging the inaugural State Fayre at Hylands Park in Chelmsford, England, June 26-28.

More than 50,000 people across three days witnessed the mix of music and bbq the festival, which is inspired by American state fairs, their long summer nights and tailgate parties.

State Fayre also satisfies the UK demand for classic rock, country and folk, which have only grown in appeal over the last few years.

The lineup of the first State Fayre was led by Kings Of Leon, Alanis Morissette, The Lumineers, Amble, Avery Anna, Buffalo Traffic Jam, Counting Crows, Dylan Gossett, Kingfishr, Kip Moore, Max Mcnown, Orville Peck, Sierra Ferrell, Skunk Anansie, Stephen Wilson Jr, The Black Crowes, with many more on the bill.

BBQ fans were treated to a wide range of themed delicacies and culinary spectacles in the so-called FUME Pit, including the largest live-fire cooking display ever seen in the UK, by Live Nation’s own admission.

Reflecting on State Fayre’s inaugural edition, festival organizers Anna-Sophie Mertens (Senior Vice President, Touring, Live Nation UK), and Alex Simmonds (VP, Touring, Live Nation UK) commented, “We wanted to create a festival that delivered good music, good food and good times, bringing together artists from both sides of the Atlantic. From start to finish, it has been truly moving to see festival-goers embrace everything State Fayre is about – from iconic headliners with catalogues that have soundtracked so many of our lives, the most exciting artists across a multitude of genres, and phenomenal new voices to the very best in BBQ food brought together with our partners at FUME. What’s made it all the more special is the reaction we have received from everyone who came down this weekend. Welcoming, friendly and ready to take in every new experience, we couldn’t have asked for anything more. This is just the beginning, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back when State Fayre opens its doors once more in 2027.”

No dates for State Fayre 2027 have been announced yet, but it will return in 2027, with dates and further details to be announced in due course.

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