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The "three most important artists of the moment" Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter are set to top the bill
By James Hanley on 24 Oct 2024
Primavera Sound Barcelona has unveiled its “all-embracing, eclectic and unparalleled” 2025 lineup, headlined by Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter.
Hailed by organisers as “the three most important artists of the moment”, the trio are among the first 147 names to be confirmed for the festival’s 23rd edition, which features acts such as FKA Twigs, Haim, LCD Soundsystem, Anohni and the Johnsons, Beabadoobee, Wet Leg and Zaho de Sagazan.
Returning to Parc Del Fòrum from 5-7 June, the gender-balanced bill also includes the likes of Idles, Jamie xx, Beach House Stereolab, Sturgill Simpson, Paul Kalkbrenner, Alan Sparhawk, Caribou, Amaia, DJ Koze, Kim Deal, Armand Van Helden, Turnstile, TV On The Radio, Cat Power, Floating Points, Denzel Curry and Fontaines D.C.
Full festival tickets go on sale on 29 October, cost €295 (€265.50 for Revolut clients), with VIP tickets available for €495 (€445.50).
Primavera co-director Alfonso Lanza, head of press and public relations Marta Pallerès and head of bookings Fra Soler gave an insight into the success of the event in a keynote interview at last month’s International Festival Forum (IFF) in London.
“There’s no secret,” said Soler. “We’re music lovers, we enjoy what we do, and we love to listen to music. So, I think that enables us to get some of the artists before they break through on a global stage. We always take pleasure in discovering and meeting bands, and that’s helped us build lasting relationships with them.
“Some of the headliners played at Primavera before they became headliners for little money, and they appreciate the fact that we spotlighted them from the beginning. And the other thing is we try to avoid super big headliners and create a big gap between them and the rest of the lineup.”
“The effect a gender-balanced lineup has had for us is reflected in our audience demographics”
Pallerès went on to discuss launching the first gender-balanced lineup in 2019.
“No festival of our size had done that before, and it was quite noticeable because we made headlines for it absolutely everywhere that year,” she said. “The effect a gender-balanced lineup has had for us is reflected in our audience demographics, which features a large number of female attendees.”
The promoters also explained the decision to cancel all of the brand’s South American festivals in 2024
“I would rather refer to this as us skipping a year instead of an outright cancellation,” said Soler. “This industry presents a lot of challenges in terms of the lineup you’re aiming for. So, there’s a so-called ‘headliner draft’ which affects every promoter, and when you go to a different territory, there’s a lot of adjustments that need to be made because every territory has a different preference on what they want to listen to.
“We realise it would be a bit damaging, but we always strive to deliver a festival experience that would be up to Primavera’s standards.”
Primavera Sound Porto – the brand’s Portuguese edition – is set for Parque da Cidade from 12-14 June 2025.
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