Mediterranean waters wash ashore the balmy summer sands of Barcelona’s beaches as over 290,000 festival-goers assemble to dance the night away to the sounds of performing artists at 2025 Primavera Sound Barcelona. Double the size of the Coachella Music Festival population, Primavera Sound’s 23rd edition has welcomed a record-breaking number of attendees. With the draw of pop headliners, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan—the leading singers have brought in a global audience. Even a statue of the Powerpuff Girls stands above attendees who are about to be knighted by the current princesses of pop over the weekend. At the first entryway, the lit-and-motion-powered Primavera Sound sign prepares newcomers and festival veterans for a time to remember.
These new-age artists have predominantly queer fanbases, and many arrived in Barcelona for a liberating weekend of music and letting go. Since 2019, Primavera Sound has made a conscious effort to curate a gender-balanced lineup. This year showboats a trio of headliners that represent musical innovation and the contagious spirit of dance. International reach is a major characteristic of this event as well and this factor separates the all-day-and-night party from other renowned music festivals. From June 4 to June 8, Barcelona transforms into a site for music lovers seeking to discover the local music scene and new favorites.
Across Barcelona, Madrid, and Porto, Kendrick Lamar performed at Primavera Sound’s multiple summer festivals in 2023. The Los Angeles rapper expanded more opportunities for the festival’s future programming to feature more Black artists. Indie artists and commercial musicians all encapsulate the tastemaker’s approach to a special Primavera Sound lineup. Lamar paved the way for American rappers like Denzel Curry to take action in the 2025 festival.
Thursday, the Baltimore-raised indie artist, Marcus Brown of Nourished By Time, played a daytime set, and he transformed the crowd into a retro-soul function. Experimental artist FKA Twigs executed a flawless, nighttime performance of her Eusexua tracks. Queer Black dancers made the stage their own—voguing and sweating choreo next to an athletic FKA Twigs who sang operatic vocal arrangements. The crowd roared to her “Oh My Love” sequence as she floated across the stage with fluidity.
On June 7, contemporary hip hop artists Aminé and Central Cee wowed festival goers with their late-night sets. At the Cupra Stage with a scenic sight of the sea calmed by the moonlight, Aminé celebrated the release of 13 Months of Sunshine with its first live performance of the tracks. Inspired by the symbols of Paris and his homeland of Ethiopia, the animated artist rapped “Arc de Triomphe” with zeal that mandated the audience to groove.
West London’s finest, Central Cee fronted with charisma and style while he spit verses from his debut album Can’t Rush Greatness. As a UK rapper, Central Cee’s fandom draws strongly from the European countries adjacent to England. With more British grime infused in his hip-hop lyrical prowess, rapper Florence Sinclair added more UK flair to the Primavera Sound programming. Virginia-bred instrumentalist, Yasmin Williams, displayed her mastery of the acoustic guitar with a classic performance. She illustrated to the Barcelona audience that the foundation of music and sound is found in instrumentation.
Primavera Sound Barcelona is an eclectic listener’s festival where one can travel between the 80’s and early aughts to present day to acknowledge the true range of auricular pleasure. With a record-high population and a push for showcasing new Black talents, Barcelona’s Primavera Sound set the stage for a horizon that looks brighter and more inclusive than ever before.