SÓNAR 2026
MUSIC FESTIVAL
Barcelona Steps Into Its Next Electronic Future
Sónar Village Stage. Photo by Juan Sabatino. Courtesy Sónar Festival.
There’s a particular kind of electricity that only Sónar generates. It’s not just the music, or the technology, or the Barcelona summer light bouncing off the festival grounds. It’s the feeling that the future is arriving in real time — shape-shifting, rewiring itself, and inviting us to step into it with curiosity. Today’s announcement of the first 31 names for Sónar 2026 confirms it: next June, the festival enters a new era. More than 100 shows, three uninterrupted days, a single massive venue, and a creative vision that refuses to stay still.
This edition marks the first time that Sónar consolidates its entire musical program inside Fira Barcelona’s Gran Via venue in L’Hospitalet. It’s a bold move, one that transforms the festival into a continuous, immersive ecosystem with six stages, no interruptions, and seamless transitions between day and night. Outdoor to indoor, experimental to club-oriented, emerging to legendary. The flow becomes the point. And honestly, few festivals in the world dare to reinvent themselves at this scale thirty-plus years in.
The lineup preview already hints at the scale of ambition. New York icon Kelis makes her Sónar debut after more than two decades of redefining R&B and pop. Skepta arrives as the driving force behind global grime, presenting a new album just months before stepping onto the Barcelona stage. Techno royalty Charlotte de Witte and Amelie Lens both bring new audiovisual shows — two different visions from two of the most influential names in the genre today. And from Modeselektor to Nia Archives, Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, WhoMadeWho, Boys Noize, DJ Gigola, Kettama, Cabaret Voltaire, and so many more, the program bridges generations, geographies, and subcultures with a coherence very few festivals can claim.
Sónar Festival 2026.
Beyond the big names, there’s something distinctly “Sónar” in the details — the commitment to hybrid identities, to emerging talent, to artists who carve new paths. Madrid’s Alba Franch, Argentina’s La Sofy, Brazilian duo Clementaum b2b LAZA, Japanese artists riria and DJ MARIA, Colombian producer Funk Tribu, and a constellation of performers blending genres at breakneck speed. This is the festival’s DNA at work: a snapshot of electronic culture in motion, from underground mutations to global sensations.
SONAR +D
Sónar+D also deepens its presence this year, pushing further into the intersection between creativity, technology, design and cultural innovation. Immersive installations, digital art, interactive experiences, and a strengthened congress in Barcelona’s city center remind us that Sónar is more than a festival — it’s a think tank, a laboratory, a gathering point for the people building tomorrow’s creative world. It’s the place where you understand where culture is heading because you feel it before anyone has to explain it.
Catch our exclusive interview with Sónar+D curator Antònia Folguera.
For us at TMN®, Sónar holds a special place. We’ve been covering the festival for two years now, bringing our young creators into one of the most forward-thinking ecosystems on the planet. Last year we filmed interviews, captured the energy of day and night, and watched our team grow — not just as journalists, photographers, or filmmakers, but as thinkers shaped by what this festival stands for.
As Sónar 2026 unveils its renewed format, I can’t help but feel that this evolution aligns deeply with our own purpose at TMN®. New structures, new formats, new ways to learn, create, and collaborate. Music as a driver of education. Innovation as a space for youth to step into their power. Festivals that don’t just entertain — they expand the imagination.
And as always, we’ll be there. Listening. Filming. Learning. Helping young creators find their place inside one of the world’s most visionary festivals.
If you want to dive deeper into what Sónar feels like through the eyes of TMN®, explore our TMN® YouTube playlist of Sónar Festival — a growing archive of sound, stories, and the energy of a Barcelona that never stops evolving.
Read more blog posts by Pablo Herrera 👉🏽 here.
TMN® YouTube playlist of Sónar Festival
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