It is already here. The first rays of spring sunshine are, for many, the announcement that Sonar, the world’s most innovative electronic music festival, is approaching. Now, the festival has presented the lineup of its 31st edition which will bring together in Barcelona pioneering figures of dance music, who coexist with heroes and heroines of hyper-local micro-scenes with radical aesthetics and groundbreaking formats.
The festival will celebrate the enormous diversification of genres and subgenres in electronic music of our time: from the most contemplative ambient to the most euphoric drum’n’bass, from happy hardcore to post-punk, black metal and even stall-club and memecore, and from gabber to hyperpop.
As every year, many stars: Air, Paul Kalkbrenner, Charlotte de Witte, Sevdaliza, Jessie Ware, Kaytranada, Laurent Garnier, Ben Böhmer, Vince Staples, Folamour, Soto Asa, Adriatique, VTSS, Richie Hawtin, Olof Dreijer, Floating Points or Yerai Cortés are just some of the headliners of a Program with more than 200 live performances including live shows, DJ sets, conferences and workshops between Sónar by Day, Sónar by Night and Sónar+D.
But the diversity of sounds goes much further to . Sónar 2024 will feature the rhymes and rhythms of CASISDEAD, Marie Davidson, ABHIR, Judeline, Kabeaushé, Pablopablo, Toya Delazy and Dyce and the daring musical selection of JASSS, Elisa Rose B2B Dan Shake B2B Sally C, DJ Gigola, Bl ¥ ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U and the BLEX and Club Cringe collectives.
Sónar Week, Sónar+D, Sónar Lab… All Sonar within Sonar
Along with the days of the festival itself, Sónar Week will turn Barcelona, once again, into the world capital of electronic music and digital culture. In addition to Sónar by Day, Sónar by Night and Sónar+D, the program includes OFFSónar, THE CUBE, +RAIN Film Festival and SonarMies, bringing together a total of more than 350 artists, speakers, activities and content, as well as 150,000 attendees.
On the other hand, Sónar+D, the digital innovation and creativity meeting, will address the massive implementation of Artificial Intelligence in the creative industries and how it determines their present and future. From the moment the inaugural conference ‘Generating Panic?’ kicks off, the dangers and doubts that the use of AI is generating in the world of art and creativity will be analyzed, with a series of debate forums, talks and performances that will feature artists such as Verde or Nicole L’Huillier, among others.
The Program of this edition is configured with multiple alliances. Good examples are the European Program AI & Music powered by S+T+ARTS, the project TIMES (The Independent Movement for Electronic Scenes) together with nine other European festivals, the +RAIN Film Festival, focused on AI-generated cinema, together with Universitat Pompeu Fabra, THE CUBE together with Casa Batlló, a new immersive space dedicated to Catalan talent promoted by Generalitat de Catalunya and the exhibition Zone Project Area with the support of Fundación Banco Sabadell. In addition, Sónar by Night will feature the renovated stage SonarLab x Printworks (June 14 and 15), a new space that will bring for the first time to Spain the essence of the much-missed British venue.
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