The 24th edition of the Primavera Sound festival — coming a full quarter-century after a much more modest version of the festival initially debuted in 2001 — went down this week in Barcelona. While a handful of acts (including buzzy indie-rockers Wet Leg) officially kicked off the fest on Wednesday (June 3), and a few more (ending with legendary house DJ Carl Cox) will see it out on Sunday (June 7), the crux of the festival transpired over June 4-6, with three days of genre-and-globe-spanning artists adding up to one of the richest festival experiences currently available anywhere on the map.
Unfortunately, the first of those three main days got largely washed out, as the rains came in early evening and lasted till early morning. The weather resulted in messy conditions and great confusion, with poor communication between organizers, staffers and attendees, as nearly all the stages were at least temporarily suspended, and the night’s main-stage acts saw their sets suspended and ultimately canceled — including the trio of Wednesday headliners, U.K. trip-hop greats Massive Attack, U.S. pop-rap star Doja Cat and Spain rhythmic hitmaker Bad Gyal. (Several of the side stages ultimately reopened, with plenty of strong options remaining for those who stuck around.)
However, the festival rebounded with a drier and significantly less dramatic Friday and Saturday, as the second and third full days went on essentially without a hitch, bringing the stunning variety and consistently high quality of artists for which the festival has become renowned. Addison Rae, The Cure and Skirllex headlined the Estrealla Damm and Revolut main stages on Friday, while My Bloody Valentine, The xx and Gorillaz closed them out on Saturday. And the final full day also included a special treat on the Occident stage courtesy of pop superstar Olivia Rodrigo, who helped erase whatever memories still lingered of Friday’s disappointment with an exhilarating 11-song surprise set, including a returning guest from the previous night’s spate of headliners.
Below, see 10 of our favorite moments from the three (well, two and two-thirds) full days of Primavera Sound Barcelona 2026.
