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Barcelona's Primavera Sound festival expands into the USA with the addition of a Los Angeles edition, set to launch in 2020
By Anna Grace on 03 Jun 2019
The first-ever US edition of Primavera Sound will take place next year in Los Angeles, California, festival co-producer Live Nation has announced.
The new event, which accompanies Primavera’s flagship festival in Barcelona and Portuguese sister event Oporto, is scheduled from 19 to 20 September 2020 at the Los Angeles Historic Park. The move stateside follows a minority investment in Primavera Sound by American private equity firm, the Yucaipa Companies, in June 2018.
The Los Angeles edition coincides with the 20th anniversary of Primavera Sound’s inauguration in 2001. Initially taking place in open-air museum Poble Espanyol, the festival moved to its current site at the Parc del Fórum complex in 2005.
The LA event is the latest addition to the Primavera Sound family, following the creation of sister conference Primavera Pro in 2010 and the Portuguese outing of the festival, Primavera Sound Porto, in 2012. “We have been thinking about Los Angeles for many years now, and the celebration of our 20th anniversary felt like the perfect timing for the decision of crossing overseas,” says Gabi Ruiz, a Primavera Sound director.
“The celebration of our 20th anniversary felt like the perfect timing for the decision of crossing overseas”
“Our goal is to bring the Primavera Sound spirit and vibe to cities with a similar feel: creative, colourful and welcoming. And with this, to give something new to the city, to show a new side and new possibilities to be built and harvested together. So it’s a dream to finally say: yes, it had to be Los Angeles.”
Live Nation’s senior vice president of Los Angeles booking, Brian Smith, says his team is “thrilled” to be working with the festival’s Barcelona contingent to bring Primavera Sound, “an inspiring tastemaker festival”, to LA.
“The festival is a forward-thinking exploration of music and culture, and it will offer a unique and powerful experience to connect with fans,” comments Smith.
The lineup and ticketing information for Primavera’s LA event will be announced in the coming months. A limited number of early bird tickets will be released on 7 June 2019 at 9:00 a.m. PST. More information can be found on the Primavera website, and through social media channels.
The 2019 edition of Primavera Sound Barcelona took place from Thursday 30 May to Saturday 1 June, with headline performances from Miley Cyrus, Tame Impala, Solange and Rosalia. The festival made a “public commitment to gender equality” this year, booking as many female acts as male across its line-up.
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