The Prodigy cap Sónar’s format overhaul as 150,000 visitors embrace a single-venue festival
The 33rd edition of Sónar, the first under a unified day‑night format at Fira Gran Via, drew 150,000 visitors, down from 161,000 in 2025, though organisers say the structural change makes year‑on‑year comparisons unreliable. The Prodigy headlined the closing night with a breakbeat assault that mirrored the festival’s own reinvention.
A new single‑venue Sónar
The festival abandoned its long‑standing split between daytime concerts in central Barcelona and nighttime sessions at the out‑of‑town fairground, condensing everything into the Fira Gran Via complex. A freshly appointed artistic director oversaw the change, while the industry congress Sónar+D moved to the Llotja de Mar. The week‑long programme (OFFSónar, Sónar Kids, Sónar District and the main event) drew a combined 150,000 people, a figure that lands below the 161,000 logged in 2025 but, according to the organisation, cannot be directly compared with previous editions because the format and ticketing were entirely restructured.
- 2024
- 154000 attendees
- 2025
- 161000 attendees
- 2026
- 150000 attendees
The Prodigy’s explosive return
The British group came to Barcelona nine years after their debut at the festival and opened with ‘Omen’ before piling into the big‑beat armoury of the mid‑90s. ‘Voodoo People’, ‘Poison’ and the crushing ‘Their Law’ rattled through a packed SonarClub stage, while ‘Firestarter’ and ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ triggered a downpour of lasers. Founder Liam Howlett drove the electronics from his keyboard rig, and vocalist Maxim barked slogans between verses.
It’s going to be very hot tonight.
The set acknowledged the void left by frontman Keith Flint, who died in 2019, but the group’s punk‑infused rave energy showed a band still determined to move forward. Guitar and bass lines gave the performance a raw, live‑instrument heft that broke the sequenced rigidity of the earlier part of the show.
- Sónar 2026 opens with the new single‑venue format at Fira Gran Via.
- Final day kicks off; early acts include Systema and 30drop.
- The Prodigy headline the SonarClub stage with a 90s breakbeat set.
- Amelie Lens closes the festival.
A neutral zone in a polarised country
In a Spain consumed by partisan noise, Sónar’s dancefloor functioned as a temporary suspension of identity. Thousands of visitors from across the world shared the same rhythm without exchanging biographies, political leanings or professional credentials. The festival became, for a few hours, a space where only the schedule on a phone screen mattered.
Congress and side events
Sónar+D, the gathering dedicated to creativity and technology, brought together 4,000 participants and 200 speakers from more than 20 countries at its new home. Meanwhile, the OFFSónar programme expanded to include the Moog club, and afternoon line‑ups highlighted local talent.
Counting down to 2027
The Sónar Week will return to Barcelona from 17 to 20 June 2027. Ticket pre‑sale registration opened on Saturday evening, just as Amelie Lens took over the decks for the festival’s final hours.
