You can already imagine what the new life of Sónar will be like as a festival with uninterrupted days of music between day and night after its most complicated edition, when the membership of the contest to the American pro-Israel fund KKR, with businesses and real estate investments in territories belonging to the Palestinian State, caused a boycott of the festival. This Thursday, the organization has revealed around thirty artists, a third of the line-up for the 2026 edition, which will take place on June 18, 19 and 20 in a single space, Fira Gran Via de L’Hospitalet, the venue where, until now, Sónar was only held at night.
In that enclave you can hear Milkshakethe cultural phenomenon of Kelis, the American R&B artist and neosoul pop or the grime by British DJ and producer Skepta, who will present his new album Fork & Knifescheduled for early 2026. Two new divas of the hardest techno will also coincide at the festival: the Belgian DJ and producer Charlotte de Witte, who will present her recent self-titled album with a new show and her compatriot Amelie Lens will take the stage AURAa new concept focused on shadows, light, movement and energy. A historic festival duo, Modeselektor, will present a new show live and unpublished. Another live performance is from the Danish trio WhoMadeWho, who will remember their latest works on the threshold between electronica and experimental pop.
The dose of nostalgia will come with Cabaret Voltaire, with the performance of Stephen Mallinder and Chris Watson, two of the founding members of the Sheffield band that in 1973 managed to establish itself in the British experimental electronic scene by mixing the post-punk and the synth-pop passing through techno and acid house. For their part, contemporary North American composers Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore will present their next album scheduled for 2026, Tragic Magica work produced with instruments from the historic collection of the Philharmonie de Paris. It will be a concert between classical and modern, which will combine voice, harp and synthesizers. Other names on the advanced poster this Thursday are the German Boys Noize, the French Ascendant Vierge, the Madrid-based Alba Franch, the Argentine La Sofy, the Brazilians Clementaum b2b LAZA and new clubbing superstars such as KETTAMA, DJ Gigola and the Colombian Funk Tribu.
Six scenarios
The new Sónar also opens director and CEO, François Jozic, founder and until now head of Brunch ElectroniK. The three founders of Sónar, Enric Palau, Ricard Robles and Sergio Caballero, and a fourth partner who arrived later, Ventura Barba, left the festival completely in October.
In a statement, Jozic has opted for a new stage that returns ownership of electronics to the Catalan capital. “Barcelona has to once again be the capital of electronic culture and Sónar 2026 will mark a decisive step towards the future. We have designed a festival that not only celebrates music, but also integrates technology, art and creativity in a unique experience, offering an ideal space for discovery. Barcelona will once again be the world epicenter of cultural innovation,” he expressed in the note.
Sónar abandons the separation that defined its audience and is committed in this new stage to emulating the rest of the festivals in the city, with a fusion of day and night for entire days. The festival has revealed that there will be six stages with a continued exceptional programming, which will preserve the spirit of the historic daytime events – with extended hours – and will expand the nighttime content.
In total there will be three outdoor and three indoor stages. The well-known SonarClub, SonarLab and SonarCar stages, which will continue in their usual locations, will coexist with the new SonarVillage stage. New spaces are also being incorporated, such as a larger, open-air SonarPark and a renovated and expanded SonarHall, which will allow for more live shows and DJ sets on each of the three days.
In parallel, the 14th edition of Sónar+D will be held in the city of Barcelona, in a space yet to be confirmed and, as announced by the organization, it will expand its presence at the Fira Gran Via venue, with immersive installations, digital art and interactive proposals.
The festival closed its 2025 edition by ensuring that it had broken an attendance record, with 161,000 attendees, but did not specify whether the number of tickets or season tickets that were returned due to the controversy had been subtracted.