Sónar 2019 is seeing in some major changes as the event continues to grow both at home and internationally. Last year the Decoded team got to meet with one of the co-founders briefly over a quick beer. Little did we know that under all the smiles and congratulations on the event’s 25th anniversary celebrations, that the founders were smiling even more on the inside after inking a megabucks deal with festival investment consortium, Superstruct Entertainment, which was announced after last year’s Barcelona event concluded.
The majority acquisition deal means that the founders and the core team are still on hand to curate the main festival and conference activities for Sónar Week at the usual day and night locations. The new combined entity will also brand a presence during some of the high-profile Off Week fringe events – OFFSónar at the Poble Espanyol complex.
Another change is the date the festival takes place – this year in mid-July (18-20th). It is not thought that this change would be a major upset for festival regulars or the local community, so this could be an even better calendar date to hold the event on regularly in the future. Or not, time will only tell. But Barcelona will be in full summer swing for international revellers, and as a festival backdrop, the city really looks at its glorious best in the summer.
Sónar continues its international journey ahead of the main Barcelona event in 2019 with the 3rd editions of Sónar Istanbul (March 8-9th), Sónar Hong Kong (April 13th), as well as the 7th edition of Sónar Reykjavík (April 25-27th).
Over the next few weeks the Barcelona programme will be completed for the 26th edition, bringing the total to more than 140 performances spread over the 9 stages of Sónar by Day, Sónar by Night and further information on the Sónar+D agenda.