Features
Primavera Sound Spain Gets Ready For Gourmet Edition
Besides headliners Arctic Monkeys, Nick Cave and Björk, food will take center stage at Barcelona’s Parc del Fòrum, where Primavera Sound takes place, May 28 to June 3.
Eric Pamies – Primavera Sound 2017
Up to 65,000 visitors per day come to Barcelona’s Parc del Fòrum right on the beach
This year, organizers are going beyond music to offer a culinary lineup under the banner of Primmmavera, with the intention of burying once and for all the cliché that it’s impossible to eat well at a festival.
“Conventional wisdom has it that there are three golden rules to survive a festival like Primavera Sound: sleep on a good mattress; stay hydrated; and eat as well as possible,” a Primavera Sound statement reads.
Hence, chefs Diego Guerrero, Eduardo ‘Lalo’ García and Douglas McMaster head a new pop-up restaurant in the Parc del Fòrum with tailor-made gourmet tasting menus, while one of Barcelona’s street food restaurant paellas by Kauai of Gavà and the traditional food trucks complete a gastronomic lineup catering for all palates.
The main stage at the 18th Primavera Sound still belongs to artists, of course. 200-odd artists are going to perform during Primavera week in front of more than 250,000 visitors in total. The main festival days at the Parc del Fòrum, May 31 to June 2, attract up to 65,000 visitors per day.
Arctic Monkeys, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and Björk are headlining. The festival makers around director Alberto Guijarro are particularly pleased with this year’s female lineup, which also includes Jane Birkin, her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg, Haim, Fever Ray,
In 2016, Primavera Sound introduced a electronic music oasis by the name of Primavera Bits, which adds a third stage this year, the Xiringuito Aperol. The three stages each offer electronic music at different speeds. The new Xiringuito Aperol stage for instance will host artists playing rhythms between 100-120 BPM, including Four Tet and Floating Points. Dutch festival Dekmantel is hosting an entire day.
Artists performing on the Bacardí open-air stage – Mount Kimbie, Madlib, Panda Bear, Chromeo, a Mike D DJ set and many more – prefer 120-135 BPM. The Desperados Club offers beats between 135-150 BMP from 6:30 p.m. each day until sunrise, welcoming Marcel Dettmann, Daphni, as well as disco sets by Seth Troxler and John Talabot.
Garbine Irizar – Primavera Sound 2017
Broken Social Scene live on stage
This year’s Primavera Award will be presented to the association Mujeres de la Industria de la Música (Women in the Music Industry), for their work giving visibility to women who work in the music sector.
The Primavera Award is traditionally presented at Primavera Pro, the industry conference embedded within the festival and taking place at both the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) and at the Parc del Fòrum May 30 to June 3.
Other topics touched upon during those five days include playlists, blockchain, the status quo of streaming, synchronization and more. The recent case of Spanish rapper Valtonyc, who was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for insulting Spain’s monarchy, is also going to be addressed by a dedicated panel.
Touring opportunities are going to be explored on panels including on addressing “the excellent state of health of the music industry in Central Europe,” one offering “a practical guide for those artists and professionals who want to tour in Asia,” and one talking about visas for artists.
The International Concert Venues Congress returns for a fourth time to Primavera Pro June 1 curated by European venues and festival network Live DMA and the venues association for the Spanish region of Catalonia, L’Associació de Sales de Concerts de Catalunya (ASACC). Questions on this year’s agenda include how to get better recognition as a venue, how to make venues a safer place for the audience, especially for women, and how to use venues data as a tool for advocacy. The congress will also explore whether music venues can inspire social change.
Paco Amate – Primavera Pro 2017
Networking