Cruïlla to be powered by 100% renewable energy
Cruïlla Festival, one of Barcelona’s three major international music festivals, is to be powered by 100% renewable energy this year.
Organisers believe the four-day event at Parc del Fòrum will be the first large-format festival in Spain to achieve this feat.
All activity during the 5-8 July festival will be plugged into the electricity grid supplied by Spain’s largest electric utility company, Endesa.
This will prevent the emission of 36,000 kg of Co2 and will eliminate the consumption of 13,600 litres of diesel, according to Cruïlla.
The measures will prevent the emission of 36,000 kg of Co2 and will eliminate the consumption of 13,600 litres of diesel
The festival is also on a path to becoming a zero-waste event, having already eliminated plastics. Other sustainability initiatives include free parking for zero-emission cars, capping the daily capacity to 25,000 to limit the pressure on the local area, and providing free water fountains.
Cruïlla and Endesa will carry out a study on the impact of the carbon footprint and an audit on the flow of waste under the supervision of the Waste Agency of Catalonia, with the aim of sharing the learnings with the wider sector.
The 2023 edition of Cruïlla will see performances from international acts including Tash Sultana, The Offspring, Sigur Rós, Alt-J, Franz Ferdinand and Placebo.
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Cruïlla launches Talent Barcelona booking agency
The team behind Cruïlla Festival has announced the launch of a new booking and promotions agency, Talent Barcelona.
Offering national and international representation, the company’s current roster includes domestic artists such as Pau Vallvé and 31 Fam, and will also see it branch out into the comedy and performing arts sectors.
The firm is also involved in tours for international artists such as Wilco, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Aurora and says the project stems from its desire to strengthen its relationship with creative talent.
“Talent Barcelona was born after Cruïlla had established very close relationships with the entire national and international cultural fabric”
“Made up of professionals with more than 20 years of experience in the sector, Talent Barcelona was born after Cruïlla had established very close relationships with the entire national and international cultural fabric,” it says via APM. “Talent Barcelona is dedicated to the representation of artists and creators, to the hiring of performances by artists and to the organisation of concerts, tours and other shows, as well as the production of live shows.”
One of Barcelona’s three major international music festivals, Cruïlla returns from 6-9 July with acts including Jack White, Duran Duran and Hot Chip.
The brand, which is led by festival director Jordi Herreruela, previously launched spin-off concert series Cruïlla de Tardor in 2016 and held a socially distanced concert series, Cruïlla XXS, in place of its flagship event in 2020.
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Barcelona’s Cruïlla buoyed by test results
Cruïlla Festival organisers say Covid-secure live events should be permitted to go ahead “even in the worst pandemic conditions”, in response to data gleaned from its 2021 edition.
The Barcelona event took place from 8-10 July, with Catalonia in the midst of a fifth coronavirus wave triggered by the Delta variant. Masks were mandatory for attendees, but no social distancing was required, with entry dependent on a negative rapid Covid-19 test.
Cruïlla, headlined by Two Door Cinema Club, Editors, Morcheeba, Of Monsters and Men, went ahead using recommendations from the Love of Lesbian test concert.
Speaking at this week’s BIME PRO conference in Bilbao, Spain, festival director Jordi Herreruela said that while the study indicated the festival was responsible for 360 new cases of Covid, it had not been a super-spreader event.
“When the festival was held, the fifth wave began to decrease in impact and continued to decline after the festival,” said Herreruela. “We have had an impact, but we have not been the cause of a super transmission event.”
We did not generate the fifth wave, just as no musical event was the cause of the previous four waves
Moreover, 14% of the 40,340 ticket-holders no-showed the event and 292 were denied entry after testing positive during the screening process.
Data released by the Institut Català de Salut revealed 23.3% of attendees were fully vaccinated, 43.8% had a single dose and 22.4% were not yet vaccinated. In addition, 78% of infections occurred among unvaccinated festival-goers.
In conclusion, Herreruela said the findings highlighted that being vaccinated and wearing a mask were key factors in reducing the risk of transmission.
“We did not generate the fifth wave, [just] as no musical event was the cause of the four previous waves,” he added. “The health passport protocol, added to the use of the mask, must allow cultural, leisure and entertainment activities to remain alive even in the worst pandemic conditions.”
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Results from Spain’s festival study published
The Catalan government says it has gleaned “valuable information” about how major events could take place in the future from a study of three festivals that took place in early July.
The three festivals – Cruïlla, Vida and Canet Rock – went ahead using recommendations from the Love of Lesbian test concert which they co-organised along with Primavera Sound (which organised the Primacov test), Sónar and Festival de Jazz de Barcelona.
All three festivals took place without social distancing and with attendees wearing mandatory FFP2 masks. Entry to the festivals was dependent on a negative result from a Covid-19 rapid test.
Despite finding a high number of infections among concertgoers, the department of culture says its study will prove highly beneficial when it comes to improving protocols and security measures for festivals.
The department’s study found that 2,279 attendees of the festivals contracted Covid-19 – 76% more than the cases recorded in a control group.
The department’s study found that 2,279 attendees of the festivals contracted Covid-19
The nearly 50,000 people who attended the events were compared to a control group with the same breakdown of age, sex, residence and immunity during the days the events took place.
The study found that 466 attendees of Vida, 956 of Canet Rock and 857 of Cruïlla tested positive for the coronavirus in the two weeks following the concerts.
In the control group, the number of cases detected on the same dates of the events was 197, 525 and 571, respectively.
The study expected that a maximum of 1,437 infections would be recorded after the festivals, but this was exceeded by 842, bringing the total number of cases to 2,279.
The government says a small percentage of the festivalgoers – 271 people – attended one of the events despite testing positive for the coronavirus beforehand, though it’s unclear how they were admitted.
The department also pointed out that previous pilots took place when there was a “much less transmissible variant” of Covid
The secretary of public health, Carmen Cabezas, defended the number of infections, explaining that in early July – and in a context of 8,000 cases a day – the festivals “were just one more factor among all those that occurred at that moment”.
In early July, Catalonia was grappling with the fifth coronavirus wave and contagion rates were already at high-risk levels.
The department also pointed out that previous pilots took place when there was a “much less transmissible variant” of Covid.
Currently, in Catalonia, concerts are allowed to take place with up to 1,000 people indoors and 3,000 outdoors or indoor spaces with enhanced ventilation, access control and prior seat allocation.
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Catalonia welcomes back three major festivals
Catalonia has hosted a triple whammy of festivals in the past fortnight, which will help determine the blueprint for how major events could take place in Spain going forward.
Cruïlla, Vida and Canet Rock took inspiration from 27 March’s Love of Lesbian test concert at the Palau Sant Jordi arena which they helped to organise, along with Primavera Sound (which organised the Primacov test), Sónar and Festival de Jazz de Barcelona.
In line with the recommendations from the test concert, all three festivals took place without social distancing and with attendees wearing mandatory FFP2 masks. Entry to the festivals was dependent on a negative result from a Covid-19 rapid test.
The festivals worked with the same medical partners behind the Love of Lesbian concert – the Germans Trias Hospital and Fight Aids and Infectious Diseases Foundation – and gained the approval of Catalonia’s Ministries of Health, Culture and Home Affairs.
Vida festival kicked off the week’s festivities with a three-day event in Vilanova de la Geltrú between 1–3 July that attracted a total of 27,200 attendees.
Typically, 30–40% of Vida’s line-up is international artists but this year the festival opted for an entirely domestic bill, with headline performances from Vetusta Morla, Nathy Peluso and Love of Lesbian.
“I believe that Barcelona is once again the centre of the world in terms of organising events and live music”
Catalonia’s festival frenzy continued with Canet Rock on 3 July, held from 6 pm to nearly 6 am, with an audience of 22,200 people.
The Canet de Mar-based festival also opted for a domestic-only line-up, featuring Doctor Prats, Oques Grasses, and Itaca Band.
Cruïlla rounded off the week with more than 50,000 attendees at the Parc del Fórum (also home to Primavera Barcelona).
The three-dayer took place between 8–10 July and was the only festival that opted for an international bill which including the Irish indie band Two Door Cinema Club.
“We have the feeling of total success, we can feel proud and happy, and we can get our chest out. I believe that Barcelona is once again the centre of the world in terms of organising events and live music,” says Jordi Herreula, Cruïlla.
“[Rapid Covid-19 screening] could become a solution that can be extended to the rest of society, however, the model is subject to improvements that we will outline in collaboration with the scientific community.”
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More major Spanish festivals pull the plug on 2021
Spain’s 2021 festival season has diminished once again with fresh cancellations from major festivals Mad Cool and Bilbao BBK Live.
Other marquee Spanish festivals including Primavera Sound and Sónar Barcelona were previously called off, while Arenal Sound, Festival Internacional de Benicàssim and Cruïlla are still forging ahead with this year’s events.
Live Nation-promoted Mad Cool (cap. 60,000) was set to take place between 7–10 July 2021 in Madrid but this morning (20 May), the organisers confirmed that this year’s event is cancelled due to the “current force majeure circumstances” of the pandemic.
“It has been a very painful decision to come to, as our desire (and probably yours) was to find ourselves all together again at Mad Cool in 2021,” they said in a statement.
“However, we would like to let you know we think this is the appropriate, sensible and right decision to make. Health is more important than anything.”
“[Mad Cool] would like to let you know we think this is the appropriate, sensible and right decision to make”
The fifth edition of Mad Cool will take place in 2022 from July 6–9. All purchased tickets for Mad Cool 2021 will be valid for the 2022 edition of the festival, while refunds and ticket changes will be available between 7–21 July.
A line-up announcement for 2022 is expected to be made before 7 July, with the organisers noting that “we are keeping as many artists as we can from 2021 and also adding some new ones so we can have the best line-up ever”.
The likes of The Killers, Haim and Cardi B had all been set to play at the 2021 edition of the event.
The cancellation of Mad Cool follows that of Bilbao BBK Live, which was called off on Tuesday (18 May) due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
The 15th anniversary of the Spanish event was due to take place between 8–10 July 2021, with the likes of The Killers, Pet Shop Boys, Supergrass and FKA Twigs.
“We appreciate [fans’] patience, and we share the same frustration for missing out on the festival yet again”
“First and foremost, a big thank you to all of you for your patience and resilience during these tough times,” a statement read.
“We feel your support now more than ever. As you can imagine, Bilbao BBK Live will not be held as originally planned nor on the scheduled date. We will have to wait a bit longer as the highly anticipated reunion is postponed to 2022.”
The post continues: “We appreciate your patience, and we share the same frustration for missing out on the festival yet again. All we can think about is how incredible the reunion is going to be after this long wait, and we guarantee it will be worth it.
We will return even more eager to celebrate and enjoy live music. See you next year!”
The line-up for Bilbao 2022 will arrive by 8 July.
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Barcelona’s Cruïlla pushes ahead with ‘bubble’ plan
Cruïlla, one of Barcelona’s three major international music festivals, is continuing to plan for a summer 2021 edition.
Cruïlla 2021, headlined by Two Door Cinema Club, Editors, Morcheeba, Of Monsters and Men and local acts Kase O and Natos y Waor, is scheduled for 8–10 July at the Parc del Fòrum (also usually home to Primavera Sound). Taking inspiration from 27 March’s Love of Lesbian concert at the Palau Sant Jordi arena, which will utilise rapid Covid-19 testing to enable 5,000 people to attend, organisers hope to create a “sanitary bubble” of healthy festivalgoers so Cruïlla can go ahead as planned, according to promoter Barcelona Events Musicals.
The idea, which has also been floated by festivals in neighbouring Portugal, is to require all festivalgoers to test negative for Covid-19 using rapid antigen tests – which, in the case of the Love of Lesbian show, means the Sant Jordi “will be safer to be in the audience than walking down the street, because everyone in the audience will have had a negative result”.
“We will prove we have the right health protocols in place to get back to dancing, singing and hugging in complete safety”
For Cruïlla, the plan for 2021 is to “create a sanitary bubble in the Parc del Fòrum that will allow us to offer a music festival in the same conditions, or very similar, to those we enjoyed before Covid-19,” says the festival.
Barcelona’s other major festival, Advanced Music’s Sónar (80,000-cap.), has yet to elaborate on its plans for 2021, although it is still scheduled for 17–19 June.
Cruïlla held a socially distanced concert series, Cruïlla XXS, in place of its flagship event last summer. While this “was a great example of civility, in which we showed that there are ways of doing culture safely”, the event is committed to returning without restrictions in July.
“This summer, we will go one step further and prove that we have the right health protocols in place to get back to dancing, singing and hugging in complete safety,” say organisers.
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