Attendance for the festival was 293,000, a franchise record for a single-week edition of Primavera Sound.[2] All tickets atypically sold out by January, the first time it had done so for a single-week edition since 2016.[3] Featuring 311 total performances, the festival generated over €300 million in revenue for the city of Barcelona.[4]
Background
The Powerpuff Girls statue at the entrance
On 24 October 2024, Primavera Sound announced the initial lineup for the festival's 2025 edition, featuring three female pop stars as headliners: Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. Charli declared that the trio were the "holy trinity", and the festival said: "The fact of having three female artists headlining a festival like this is especially symbolic if we consider that they also lead an artistic line-up that is gender-balanced. This has been the hallmark of Primavera Sound since the unforgettable 2019 edition, which for the first time balanced a historically uneven scale. This closes, finally."[5][6] Tom Breihan wrote for Stereogum that Primavera "booked all three main characters from 2024’s pop girl summer as headliners".[7] The trio were dubbed "Primavera Powerpuff Girls", with the entrance of the festival featuring large inflatable versions of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.[8][9]
Less than 24 hours after the initial lineup announcement, Central Cee was added as an "additional headliner", although he was not given headliner status on the poster.[10]
In December, Charli announced that Troye Sivan would accompany her for the exclusive European date of their joint Sweat tour, which coincidentally took place on Sivan's 30th birthday.[11]
The festival also announced a new LCD Soundsystem album in 2025 along with their appearance, though recanted that claim a day later.[12][13] On 20 November 2024, the festival sold out its weekend tickets for the first time in a regular edition since 2016.[3] All overall tickets were sold out by 2 January 2025.[14]
On 30 April 2025, Primavera Sound announced that the Auditori was booked for a private event during the same time as the festival, so all sets that were previously scheduled for the building were moved to Sala Apolo and Paral-lel 62. This included artists such as Destroyer, Cat Power, Julie Byrne and Kali Malone.[16]
On 9 May 2025, Clairo cancelled her appearance at the festival, citing "logistical issues with getting [her] show to/from Primavera".[17] On 16 May, Wolf Alice were named as her replacement.[18]
Festival
Caribou headlined the festival's free Wednesday "Jornada Inaugural" show at the Amazon Music stage of the Parc del Fòrum, which was attended by roughly 30,000 people.[19]
Charli XCX & Troye Sivan, in the sole European date of their joint Sweat tour, headlined the first night on 5 June, which coincidentally took place on Sivan's 30th birthday. Fellow headliner Chappell Roan showed up as a surprise guest from a nearby balcony to perform the viral "Apple" dance, which was streamed onto the big screens on the main stage.[20][21] Earlier that day on the main stage, FKA Twigs performed after cancelling her scheduled appearances for both of the 2023 and 2024 editions of the festival.[22]
Chappell Roan headlined the third and final night on 7 June. She covered Heart's "Barracuda" and also read aloud fan-submitted stories about the flaws of their ex-partners during a performance of "The Giver".[25]
Kevin Parker performed a surprise DJ set as "DJ Kevin" at the Cupra Pulse stage on 6 June, and on 7 June at the Nitsa Club in Barcelona, he previewed a new Tame Impala song during his set, later revealed to be titled "End of Summer".[26][27]
During Fontaines D.C.'s main stage performance on 7 June, the band displayed a Palestinian flag on their screen as well as the phrases "Free Palestine" and "Israel is committing genocide – use your voice" during their performance of the song "I Love You".[28]Idles also led a "Viva Palestina" chant during their main stage set on 5 June, while bands on smaller stages such as Chat Pile also expressed support.[29][30]
At the entrance of the festival, an installation titled "Unsilence Gaza" featured a tunnel which simulated the sound of bombings in the Gaza Strip. The outside of the exhibit featured the phrase "When everything blows up, don’t hide in the silence."[31]Schwarzkopf Professional sponsored a stage and offered a pop-up salon near the stage that offered hairstyling services and product sampling.[32]
The festival featured 311 total performances, including 224 at Parc del Fòrum and 87 across the venues of Barcelona as part of Primavera a la Ciutat. 65% of attendees came from abroad representing 136 different countries, with the most popular being the United Kingdom and the United States. 80,000 residents of Barcelona attended at least one festival event.[4]
The average age of attendees was 29, and the artist programming was balanced across 40% male, 40% female and 20% mixed-gender or non-binary performers.[4]
Reception
In November 2024, Stereogum said that "rock-leaning institutions embracing pop is not a new phenomenon" but described the Primavera headliners as "a new frontier in poptimism."[33] The festival's emphasis on the three biggest female pop stars of the moment was praised by publications including Pitchfork, Stereogum, Exclaim!, Teen Vogue, Elle and The Fader.[34][35][36][37][38][39] Festival co-director Alfonso Lanza said, "We’ve always had one foot in the underground and one in pop culture. That balance takes risk, vision, and long-term thinking, even more so when you’re committed to gender balance too."[40]
The Independent wrote that "Where Glastonbury seems forever stuck in its nostalgia mud, Primavera has always embraced the now."[41]Stereogum said that "It might be the only fest where you can see Chappell Roan and Chat Pile within an hour of one another" and praised Turnstile's 3 a.m. set on the final day as "the grand finale of Primavera Sound 2025."[35]
However, The Line of Best Fit questioned if, "In becoming the most exciting pop music festival in a long time, are they at risk of eroding their core fan base?", noting that there was a "central tension" in the festival's "constant quest for mass appeal" because "long-time followers of the festival expressed angst towards attendees primarily there to see the three headliners."[42]
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