10 recommended concerts of Cruïlla 2026
David Byrne, Pixies and Suede are some of the main attractions of the festival
BarcelonaMay the sea breeze alleviate the heatwave. This must be the dream of the spectators who trust in the sixteenth edition of the Cruïlla Festival, which takes place from July 8 to 11 at the Parc del Fòrum. In general, the artistic DNA of recent years is maintained; in fact, there are groups that have already passed through the festival before, and salsa proposals like those in 2022, 2023, and 2024 are missed. The main change in this edition has to do with the arrangement of the stages, with a new one in the area closest to the port of the Fòrum where the comedy programming will unfold, which includes names like Oye Sherman, Manel Vidal, Marc Sarrats, Ignatius Farray, and Charlie Pee. Tickets for Cruïlla 2026 can still be purchased at different prices: 171.48 euros for the four-day pass; 160.934 euros for the three-day pass (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday); 150.29 euros for the Friday and Saturday pass, and 137.68 euros for the Thursday and Friday pass or for the Thursday and Saturday pass. Daily tickets cost 81.50 euros (Wednesday), 86.80 euros (Thursday), and 95.34 euros (Friday and Saturday). Below is a selection of ten recommended concerts.
David Byrne
Highly recommended concert. We only need to recall the extraordinary show that the founder of Talking Heads offered at Cruïlla in 2018. The reviews spoke of a show that reinvented the concept of a concert. Now he returns with an evolution of that proposal, with a staging in which light is the dramatic engine, and with a repertoire in which the songs of Talking Heads predominate, such as Psycho killer, Life during wartime, Once in a lifetime and Burning down the house. How lucky that artists like David Byrne exist. The date at Cruïlla is Friday the 10th on the Estrella Damm stage (11:15 PM).
Suede
Perhaps when he least expected it, Brett Anderson managed to revive Suede with the estimable album Antidepressants (2025) and with concerts like the one he offered in March at the Razzmatazz venue in Barcelona. Thirty-three years after the debut album, Anderson charismatically defends a repertoire quite relevant within the history of British pop. Suede performs on Thursday the 9th on the Occident stage (9:45 p.m.).
Pixies
It is forty years since one of the most unique American alternative rock bands was born. Between 1987 and 1991, Pixies released five albums, ranging from notable to extraordinary: Come on pilgrim (1987), Surfer rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989), Bossanova (1990) and Trompe le monde (1991). In fact, the first four fuel the repertoire of the concerts that three of the four original members (Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering) and bassist Emma Richardson (who joined Pixies for the album The night the zombies came, released in 2024) are performing this year. More survivors than zombies, Pixies will perform on Thursday the 9th on the Estrella Damm stage (11 p.m.).
The Black Crowes
"A blast of festive, intense and emotional rock'n'roll", wrote Xavi Serra in ARA about the concert The Black Crowes gave at Sant Jordi Club in 2022, as part of the tour dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of the album Shake your money maker (1990). We can expect the same to happen at Cruïlla. There is no shortage of material in the discography of the Atlanta group led by brothers Chris and Rich Robinson, including the album they released this year: A pound of feathers (2026)
Jovanotti
Cruïlla's management says they have been pursuing him for fifteen years, and they have finally been able to include the Roman Lorenzo Cherubini, better known as Jovanotti, on the poster. The Italian musician, rapper, singer-songwriter, fan of Adriano Celentano and Bad Bunny, of the film The Mission (he says he has to watch it once a year) and of Italian melodic music, arrives immersed in a European tour whose repertoire does not forget the most popular hits of the nineties, such as Penso positivo and L'ombelico del mondo. Jovanotti performs on Saturday the 11th on the Estrella Damm stage (8:15 PM).
Halsey
North American Halsey started by parodying Taylor Swift on Tumblr, and when she released her first EP, Room 93 (2014), it wasn't hard to identify her as a millennial Alanis Morissette ready to compete in the same league as Lorde. The alternative pop of the album Badlands (2015) consolidated her as an artist with her own personality, a status she confirmed with a conceptual album about motherhood, If I can't have love, I want power (2021), produced by Trent Reznor. Then came The great impersonator (2024), another conceptual album in which she made explicit the influence of artists such as PJ Harvey, Dolly Parton, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Björk, Stevie Nicks, and Bruce Springsteen, among others. Halsey performs on Wednesday the 8th on the Estrella Damm stage (9:45 PM).
Jon Batiste
Big money, the song that gives its name to the album he released in 2025, synthesizes several of Jon Batiste's virtues: there is the blues root, the color of the Motown choirs, the joy of honky tonk and a voice that confidently walks through different lanes of rhythm'n'blues, soul and jazz. Legacy, passion and an elegant way of strolling through the present make this American musician one of Cruïlla's main attractions. The concert will be on Saturday the 11th on the Vueling stage (9 p.m.).
Judeline
In February, she performed at the Sant Jordi Club with sold-out tickets and a staging that conveyed the feeling of being at the sweetest moment of her career, ambitious but without overreaching. The great asset of the Andalusian Judeline are the songs from the album Bodhiria (2024) and the artistic commitment behind every modulation that blends trap, flamenco, and electronic pop. She performs on Saturday the 11th on the Vueling stage (2:30 AM).
La Ludwig Band
The tour for the album Pel barri es comenta (2026) looks set to be La Ludwig Band's most crowded yet. Cruïlla did not want to miss out on the band led by Quim Carandell and has included them in a lineup that allows for a line of continuity in Catalan pop-rock. This edition of the festival also features benchmarks from previous generations such as Els Pets, Mishima, Mazoni, and Sidonie, and others from younger acts, like Dan Peralbo i el Comboi, Ypnosi, and Alosa. La Ludwig Band performs on Saturday the 11th on the Vallformosa stage (10:30 PM).
Alosa
The Barcelona natives Irene Romo and Giulietta Vidal play pop with pieces from popular musical memory. Folklore and traditional tunes intertwined with current sounds and themes converge on the album El primer cant del matí (Ceràmiques Guzmán, 2025) which they presented at the Fira Mediterrània in Manresa and which has taken them all over the country, and to win the Alícia award for emerging group. They perform on Thursday the 9th on the Imagin stage (7.45 p.m.)