Our International Festivals Guide: Sónar Edition
Our International Festivals Guide: Sónar Edition
Text: Izzy Copestake
Escaping the Irish weather and jumping on a cheap Ryanair flight to see some of the most exciting acts in the world is a right of passage, this is our guide to doing it well.
Each year, Sónar transforms Barcelona at the dawn of summer into a meeting place for the most exciting electronic artists, and most dedicated electronic music fans in Europe.
What began in 1994 as a series of small experimental events held in galleries and cultural centers has grown into a festival with an annual attendance of over 120,000 guests. But in its infancy, Sónar was defined by what it was not. Rather than being confined to the typical gig format, the event evolved as a moving gallery: a space where avant-garde installations, immersive performances, and pioneering sound experiments coexisted. Today, Sónar still holds this rejection of the traditional venue and format close to its heart, with different day and night venues which transport you from sunny outdoor stages to a vast, brutalist hangar-style warehouse until the sun rises. But most crucially: Sónar hosts the most interesting electronic acts from around the world, and this year Irish acts are standing out on the lineup.
For the Irish scene, this isn’t just another lineup—it’s a powerful declaration that Ireland is a fertile ground for creative experimentation. Sega Bodega, pushing club-pop fusion and experimentation, is one of the most exciting names on this year’s lineup, while Bicep promise not just a reliably insane set but trippy melting visuals, and emerging star Saoirse is set to play with Berghain resident Ryan Elliott. Find the full lineup here.
Irish producer Eomac will be collaborating with Saint Abdullah & Rebecca Salvadori to present ‘A Forbidden Distance’. This a project commissioned as part of the TIMES collaborative project, where pioneering electronic musicians join forces with a film maker to explore the impact of migration on identity.
We’re also prepping for some mind bending performances from Skrillex b2b Blawan, Arca, and Peggy Gou.
Whether you’re drawn by the Irish acts, the weather, or the global stage of genre-defining acts, Sónar 2025 is set to be a big one. Get your tickets here.
