Do you have your holidays planned? No!? Read this post and prepare yourself for a Spanish festival spree with your family and friends. It’s just like Glastonbury and Woodstock, only with less mud!
As a recent review in The Guardian about music in Spain said, “Spanish music isn’t all about clubbing in the islands.” In the past few years, we’ve seen many festivals come and go, but the best ones always stay. The festivals below are the ones for which you don’t even need to know the line-up before buying the whole pass — you already know you are going to love it like a kid loves candy. Maybe it’s because of each festival’s spirit, the environment, the people you go with and/or the ones you meet, the bands, the organization, the place, the weather… all these components make you want to go year in and year out.
Of course, there are plenty of festivals in Spain focusing on different genres of music: Pop, Rock, Dance, Folk, Electronic… and depending on which one you prefer, you may be transported to incredible locations. For example, if you like Worldwide Folk music, head over to Pirineos Sur in a beautiful valley in the Pyrenees. If you prefer Electronic/House, get a ticket to Monegros Desert Festival. Or you can always opt for a sunny beach show on the Valencia coast at Arenal Sound or FIB.
Ticket prices can vary from 50 to 200 Euros max depending on how many days you are going to stay and where, and the quality of the line-up. (That said, most of them consistently have great artists coming to Spain to amaze festival fans.) Enjoy these prices while you can, because next year you’ll be paying 21% more of taxes in culture and show tickets in Spain!
So, are you convinced you should be going to Spain to enjoy our sunny summer, great food and wine, and even better, amazing music? To help you decide when and where to come, I’ve handpicked a selection of our top festivals in this Spanish Festival Guide, with the bands and artists that came by/are coming through this year. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until next year to enjoy the first few, which means you’ll have plenty of time to build up the excitement! Or, you can book your ticket now for our August/September shows…
May:
SOS 4.8 (May 3rd- 6th) — Murcia: The Flaming Lips, Pulp, Gossip, Friendly Fires, 2manydj’s, Buraka Som Sistem, Simian Mobile Disco, Antònia Font, Bigott, CSS, Gossip, John Talabot, Love of Lesbian, Maika Makovski, Mogwai, Rusty Warriors, The Kills, The Magnetic Fields and more.
HARD ROCK HELL ROAD TRIP (May 30th –June 6th) — Ibiza: Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, Electric Boys, Vice Squad, Attica Rage, Criminal, Pat MacManus, Spit Like This, Mother Ruin, Evil Scarecrow, Severenth, Spirytus, Fatal Smile, Hammerhead, and more.
SONISPHERE (May 25th-26th) — Madrid: Metallica, Slayer, Evanescence, Soundgarden, Limp Bizkit, The Offpring, Machine Head, Mastodon, Within Tempation, Fear Factory, and more.
PRIMAVERA SOUND (May 30th – June 3rd) — Barcelona: Archers of Loaf, Beach House, The Cure, Death Cab for Cutie, Death in Vegas, The Drums, Kings of Convenience, Franz Ferdinand, Godflesh, Jeff Magnum, Justice, Lisabö, Neon Indian, Sbtrkt, Shellac, Saint Etienne, Spiritualized, Wilco, The XX, The Cure, Yo La Tengo, and more.
June:
SONAR (June 14th – 17th) — Barcelona: New Order, The Roots, Fat Boy Slim, Deadmau5, Hot Chip, Richie Hawtin, Die Antwoord, James Murphy, Lana del Rey, James Blake, Metronomy, Laurent Garnier, Flying Lotus, Squarepusher, John Talabot, The Suicide of Western Culture, and more.
PIRINEOS SUR (July 13th- 28th) — Lanuza, Huesca: Julieta Venegas, Bomba Estéreo, Terrakota, Fábrica de Rimas, Ethiocolor, Munnit y Jörg, Tutero, Garotas Suecas, Emir Kustrurica, Barry, Manu Chao, Bebe, Souad Massi, Muchachito Bombo Infierno and more.
ROCK IN RIO (June 30th – July 7th) — Madrid: Rihanna, Maná, Lenny Kravitz, David Guetta, Macaco, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus, Carl Cox, 2 Many DJs, Cristian Varela, Steve Lawler, and more.
July:
CRUILLA (July 6th-7th) — Barcelona: Nneka, Depedro, Iggy & The Stooges, M.I.A, The Specials, Cypress Hill, Julieta Venegas, 2 Many DJs, La Pegatina, Gogol Bordello, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Amadou & Miriam, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, Quimi Portet, Bigott, Arnaldo Antunes & Toumani Diabate & Edgar Scandurra, Las Migas, Mendetz, Astrio, and more.
BBK LIVE (July 12th- 14th) — Bilbao: The Cure, Radiohead, Garbage, Keane, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, James Murphy, The Kooks, Mumford and Sons, Étienne de Crécy, Glasvegas, Sum 41, Eli “PaperBoy” Reed, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The View, Noah and the Whale, and more.
CAP ROIG (July 14th – August 18th) — Calella, Girona: Bob Dylan, George Benson, Tony Bennett, Ben Harper, Paul Anka, Milow, James Morrison, Chambao, Simple Minds, and more.
FIB (July 12th- 16th) — Benicàssim: Bob Dylan, The Stone Roses, New Order, Noel Gallagher, David Guetta, Crystal Castels, The Horrors, The Vaccines, Yuksek, The Maccabees, Jessie J, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Antlers, Dave Clarke, Ed Sheeran, The Crookes, and more.
COSTA DE FUEGO (July 20th – 21st) — Benicàssim: Guns n’ Roses, Marilyn Manson, Warcry, Opeth, Satyricon, Barón Rojo, Obús, Nightwish, In Flames, Lacuna Coil, Amorphis, We Are The Ocean, Architects, Nocte, Hamlet, Cancer Bats, Paradise Lost, Katatonia, and more.
MONEGROS DESERT FESTIVAL (July 21st) — Monegros, Fraga: The Prodigy, 2 Many DJs, Ben Sims, Billix vs Floitek, Borgore, Carlo Lio, Caspa & Rod Aslan, De La Swing, Dope DOD, Dubfire, Umek, Joseph Capriati, Loco Dice, Luciano, Marc Maya, Marco Carlo, Richie Hawtin, The Bloddy beetroots, Pet Trio, Underdogz, Wu Tang Clan, and more.
LOW COST FESTIVAL (July 27th – 29th) — Benidorm: Suede, The Sounds, Placebo, Fanarlo, Citizens!, Kasabian, Kakkmaddafakka, 2 Many DJs, The Whip, We Are Standard, Étienne de Crécy, Vetusta Morla, The Zombie Kids, Annie Be Sweet, and more.
August:
ARENAL SOUND (August 2nd – 5th) — Burriana, Castellón: Metronomy, Cristal Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs, Crookers, The Sounds, Monarchy, CyberPunkers, Mendetz, Sidonie, Two Door Cinema Club, Felix Da Housecat, Los Campesinos!, Kakkmaddafakka, Catpeople, The Ting Tings, The Wombats, Digitalism, and more.
CREAMFIELDS (August 10th – 11th) — Jerez de la Frontera: The Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Tiësto, Steve Aoki, Above and Beyond, Aeroplane, Bony Stuche, Carl Craig, CyperPunkers, Ego Troopers, Oscar Mulero, Scuba1, Four Tete & Caribou, Miss Kittin, Crookers, Foreign Beggars, Modeselektor, and more.
ROTOTOM SUNSPLASH (August 16th – 22nd) — Benicàssim: Derrick Morgan, Beres Hammond, Sly & Robbie, Ernest Ranglin, Tyrone Downiw ft. Bitty Mclean, Mogan Heritage, Tanya Stephens, Michael Rose, Alborosie, Etana, Jah Mason, Barrington Levy, Steel Pulse, Freddy McGregor, Marcia Griffiths ft. Andrew Tosh, The Bluebeaters, and more.
September:
DCODE (September 14th – 15th) — Madrid: Sigur Ros, Justice, Kings of Convenience, Deus, The Shoes, The Killers, The Kooks, Triangulo de Amor Bizarro, Dorian, Supersubmarina, Djando Djando, and more.
