As an inspiration to countless urban music festivals, what advice would you give to those looking to start their own city-based festival? For example, how to pick the perfect location?
There is not a definitive location for any festival. It must be adapted to the nature of the festival. We are very lucky to have the Parc del Forum, which looks like it was created simply for PS. It is directly inside the city, by the sea, with various levels and zones to handle different capacity stages. My advice would be to think clearly about your concept for a festival, and afterwards you can start looking for a venue, as well as a city that fits your idea.
For over a decade you have been promoting new music alongside huge acts. What have been some of your favorite acts been?
I have asked around the office and NEIL YOUNG has been the artist everybody is most proud of having at the festival. Everybody also remembers their first time with bands that used to be way smaller, but are now major acts. Some of those would be LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE or BEACH HOUSE. They all played on small stages long ago, and we all remember those shows fondly. We have also had a lot of exclusive shows, such as SUFJAN STEVENS, DEXYS, JOHN CALE playing Paris 1919, MAYHEM and JEFF MANGUM, which will remain in my mind forever.
In what ways has the landscape of festivals changed in Europe over the past years? Did the competition become harder?
There is festival fever across Europe, and even worldwide, but is hard to appreciate the differences between most of them. It’s fine for us that people have gotten used to attending festivals, because we like to think our event is different from the others, so we don´t really feel we have a direct competitor. PRIMAVERA SOUND is always changing and we refresh our audience with people that are looking for new experiences. We also cater to a more comfortable and more mature age group, which averages about 30 years old.
This year the line-up offers some amazing comebacks, especially shoegaze legends, SLOWDIVE. Can you give attendees a little hint as to what they can expect this year?
Our only suggestion for the festival goers is: Make your own path and be curious…
Since we are called NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION, we want to know: What do those words mean to you?
Nice concept! It is kind of a guide for anything to be done in life, isn’t it?
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