Welcome to Madrid

The Primavera Sound festival is holding its 2023 edition in a different way and on this occasion, it will be enjoyed in two Spanish cities. As usual, the festival will be held on the first weekend in June in Barcelona (Parc del Fòrum de Barcelona-Sant Adrià del Besòs), but it will come to Madrid from 8 to 10 June, more specifically to the Ciudad de Rock in Arganda del Rey. Under the slogan, I’ll be your mirror, the festival will offer more than 200 performances at each venue, highlighting the presence of artists like Depeche Mode, Kendrick Lamar, Blur, Rosalía, Halsey, FKA twigs, Skrillex, St. Vincent, The Moldy Peaches, Calvin Harris and Le Tigre.

The Madrid and Barcelona festivals will share a plural line-up in which the audience will be able to see more than 200 names over two consecutive weekends. The line-up is the same over a distance of 620 kilometres, with a slight exception, where the punk and k-pop, reggaeton and metal, techno and salsa genres go hand in hand to celebrate music in all of its forms by major references.

Primavera Sound is one of the most important music festivals in Spain and is held in many other cities around the world, such as Oporto, Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Santiago de Chile. This year, it is celebrating its twentieth anniversary, after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

As part of the line-up, the presence of the legendary British group,  Depeche Mode, stands out in what will be a comeback on stage following an absence of five years.  For the occasion, they will present their latest album, Memento Mori. The artist,  Rosalía, will also be present in her comeback as a worldwide phenomenon, along with the alternative rock band from London,  Blur to perform its Brit hymns; or the American rapper, composer and record producer, Kendrick Lamar.

The American artist, Halsey, will show off her pop versatility; the British singer and composer,  FKA Twigs will present songs from her latest album,  Caprisongs; and the British DJ, singer and producer, Calvin Harris will spin his best tracks. They will be joined by the singer, Skrillex, and his clubbing rhythms, the magnetic American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, St. Vincent, the resurrection of the American Indie group, The Moldy Peaches, and Le Tigre on its return to the stage.

The organisation offers a free shuttle bus service for ticket-holders that will link Madrid and the Ciudad de Rock. A Faz Zone has also been organised, which will be the meeting point for the festival’s fans at the Cívitas Metropolitano Stadium and it will also be the departure point to reach the Ciudad del Rock on the free shuttle service.

Primavera a la Ciutat (5, 6, 7 and 11 June)

The best music is not limited to the venue at Arganda del Rey, but some of the most emblematic concert halls  in Madrid are also participating with a special programme.  The extension of the programme will be distributed around concert halls like  La Riviera, El Sol, Independance, Shôko, La Paqui and Clamores on 5, 6, 7 and 11 June with the presence of Pet Shop Boys (who will round off its two weeks at Primavera Sound by adding two concerts at the welcome days), Loyle Carner, black midi, The Comet is Coming, Black Country, New Road, The Chills, Cloud Nothings, Gilla Band, PUP or  Blondshell, among others. Furthermore, The War On Drugs, St. Vincent, Tokischa, Julia Jacklin or Nation of Language will further enrich each side of Primavera a la Ciutat.

Welcome and End of Festival Day (7 and 11 June)

The welcome day will be held on 7 June at Cívitas Metropolitano with free entrance until capacity is full. In this celebration, the presence of the British synth-pop duo, Pet Shop Boys, will stand out but they will not be alone. The British rock folk music singer and composer, Jake Bugg, the enthusiasm of Confidence Man from Australia and the traditional rock of La Paloma will accompany Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe in this event that will be the warm-up for the festival.

The festival will also have its well-deserved end of festival, in a new collaboration between Primavera Sound and Brunch-In. On Sunday 11 June,  the audience will put the finishing touch to the festival at the Cívitas Metropolitano Stadium with a luxury Brunch -In led by Vitalic and rounded off with Diplo and Ben Böhmer, CamelPhat, Carlita and Two Ex.