Olivia Rodrigo was the hidden card of Primavera Sound

BarcelonaPrimavera Sound 2026 began on Thursday with rain as an unwanted guest. And it ended on Saturday with a very different guest: American singer Olivia Rodrigo. One of the festival directors, Gabi Ruiz, had announced on Thursday on RAC1 that there would be a top-level artist whose surname began with the letter R. "A Halland," he said, citing the Norwegian Manchester City player. Finally, the name of the artist in question, the hidden card, was announced on Saturday at half past six in the afternoon, when rumors were already circulating because the artist herself had shared a photograph in which she appeared as a vip spectator of Friday's show by The Cure at Primavera Sound.

You seem pretty sad for a girl so in loveYou seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, which comes out on June 12, Rodrigo offered a short concert, 40 minutes long, a taste of her music that certifies her love affair with Barcelona. Wearing a striped t-shirt and black shorts (no sign of the controversial babydoll dresses she has worn recently), Rodrigo kicked off the performance at full throttle with Bad idea, right?, to which the audience responded with complete fervor. It wasn't long before Vampire, her great ballad, arrived, equally received with devotion, just as Robert Smith, the leader of The Cure, appeared on stage to sing one of her new songs. That is to say, Smith was returning the collaboration that Rodrigo did during a The Cure concert at the Glastonbury Festival in 2025.

“I can’t believe this happened. Luckily you recorded it on your phones,” Rodrigo said as he bid Smith farewell from the stage. One way or another, Robert Smith’s band sneaked into the speeches Rodrigo made during the performance. After stating that the concert the group gave on Friday at Primavera Sound had been one of the best he had ever seen in his life, the singer introduced, precisely, the song “The cure”, a song that, he said, “can mean many things, but tonight it means that nothing will be as cool or wonderful as the band The Cure”. The song, in reality, can be read as a reflection on dependence and the search for solutions to problems in the love of others.

At 23 years old, the North American still has a long way to go, but in her debut at Primavera Sound she showed that she has the public's favor, who experienced 40 minutes of catharsis capped with a collective roar to close All american-bitch, the song that closed the express surprise concert.

The turpentine of My Bloody Valentine

At the other end of the venue, My Bloody Valentine fired their turpentine music, where guitars and vocals dissolve into a textured magma ideal for closing your eyes and entering their universe. Famous for offering decibelically abusive recitals, this time they sounded more measured: this and the immense, open venue made it difficult to merge with the music (or be swallowed by it), but, in return, the audience could better appreciate each element of this sonic lasagna cooked by Kevin Shields, Bilinda Butcher, and company. With only three LPs in nearly forty years, there wasn't much room for surprises, but fans weren't demanding them either: they just wanted to reunite with the usual festival of tremolos, distortions, loops, and whispering voices.

, which it defends with elegance and visceralness.

Freakalizer, which she defends with elegance and visceralness.

Apparently, the afternoon was calmer on the seaside esplanade (with many spectators seated on the artificial turf), where the folk-rock of the New York trio Big Thief (a quartet live) soberly dominated the Estrella Damm stage, first with the calm of Forgive the dream, then increasing the intensity with Double infinity, the song that titles the group's latest album. Without stage paraphernalia and with the four musicians playing very close to each other, they gave a very good concert, always with Adrianne Lenker's voice as a guide. It is a clear voice that conveys emotion without clichés. Live, they add spirals of electricity and touches of distortion, more and more intense as the minutes passed and unleashed in the final stretch. The calligraphy is clear and recognizable, between Neil Young and indie-folk, and a magnificent sound made the result more pleasant. Big Thief is part of the club of bands that honor the craft of live music.

By the way, football is always present at Primavera Sound. On Friday, former Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola watched The Cure's concert. On Saturday, British rapper Little Simz, who brought hip-hop and club R&B to the Revolut stage, wore a Spanish national team jersey; and a guitarist from the Californians The Sophs, the full Spain tracksuit. And since the Irish band Kneecap were playing, a few Glasgow Celtic jerseys were seen in the crowd.

Thanks for the public's civic-mindedness

With various acknowledgments, the press conference to review Primavera Sound 2026 began, held on Saturday at the SLS Hotel in Port Fòrum in Sant Adrià de Besòs. "We overcame a very demanding difficulty," said Alfonso Lanza, co-director of the festival, regarding the rain and wind that on Thursdayforced the cancellation of performances by headliners like Massive Attack and Doja Cat and the evacuation of the main stages. Lanza thanked the work of the Primavera Sound team, the "empathy" of the artists, the "civic spirit" of the audience, and the support of "sponsors, Barcelona, the police, and the authorities." "We celebrate that all institutions are committed to culture and Primavera Sound," he added, recalling that on Thursday the Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández Almodóvar; the Councilor for Culture of the Barcelona City Council, Xavier Marcé; and the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, visited the festival. Furthermore, on Saturday, the day of headliners like Gorillaz, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, also joined. Lanza also explained that the festival has renewed its agreement with the City Council and will continue to be held at Parc del Fòrum and the marine platform until 2030. Primavera Pro, however, will change location: it will leave the CCCB and in 2027 will be held at Dhub.

Regarding Thursday's communication strategy, Lanza admitted the difficulty of providing information in such a variable weather context. "The key was to give accurate information, not to overcommunicate things that could change at any moment," he said. The solution was to communicate through social media, the festival app, and especially the stage screens.

Regarding attendance figures, they are similar to those of 2025, when a record of 293,000 people was reached (213,000 of whom attended the three main days at Fòrum). This year, the festival had 287,000 attendees, 6,000 fewer, due to the rain on Thursday. And as in 2025, according to the festival's management, there were 30,000 people on the free Wednesday day, another 30,000 are expected to attend on Sunday, and around 20,000 have attended the Primavera in the City concerts.

As announced on Friday, Primavera Sound will refund Thursday's daily tickets, which, according to Lanza, represent between 20% and 25% of that day's total audience. That is, out of the approximately 70,000 attendees that day, between 14,000 and 17,400 will be able to request a refund starting Monday.

Other data provided by the festival: the average age of attendees has gone from 29 to 32 years old (likely due to the draw of headliners like The Cure and Massive Attack). Regarding international audiences, it has dropped from 65% to 62%. "It has been a transversal and intergenerational edition. Seeing Addison Rae and The Cure playing one after the other was like contemplating 50 years of popular music," added Lanza.