Sónar, celebrating its 30th anniversary, has once again surpassed audience records, bringing together over 120,000 attendees from 100 countries. The festival saw 51,000 attendees at Sónar by Day and 69,000 at Sónar by Night, confirming its popularity and global reach.
Photos credits: Sónar Festival
During Sónar 2023, Electronic Groove witnessed the remarkable curation by the festival in commemorating three decades of promoting electronic music. The performances were nothing short of extraordinary. Aphex Twin showcased his versatility, exploring a range of electronic rhythms including jungle, drum and bass, acid techno, and ambient in his captivating live set. BÍCEP (Live), known for expanding the boundaries of electronic music with their masterpiece ‘Glue,’ delivered an unforgettable performance. Max Cooper solidified his position as a pioneering artist of the musical vanguard with his live set based on his latest album, ‘Unspoken Words’. Ryoji Ikeda’s compositions mesmerized the audience at Sonar Hall, while Fever Ray, led by Karin Dreijer, presented a radical and romantic artistic proposal that felt otherworldly, filling the Sónar Lab by Resident Advisor with electronic pop. The entire band displayed unwavering passion and dedication, creating an atmosphere of delirious love.
In celebration of this special 30th anniversary, Sónar also invited some of the most respected artists worldwide including Black Coffee, The Blessed Madonna, Peggy Gou, Honey Dijon, Solomun, Amelie Lens, and Richie Hawtin, among many others.
Additionally, Sónar+D, which brought together 3,500 professionals and experts from the arts, science, and technology, continued its mission to bridge creativity, technology, and music for the public. The event featured thought-provoking discussions on artificial intelligence, music industry algorithms, machine-generated sounds, and our future interactions with robots. Notably, Kate Darling, a robotics ethics researcher, and scientist at the MIT Media Lab, shared valuable insights.
At Sònar Ágora, the presentation and masterclass by Afrorack, featuring Bamanya Brian, a multidisciplinary artist based in Uganda and a pioneer in constructing electronic music instruments and modular synthesizers in Africa, sparked an immense interest.
Daito Manabe, a software engineer, programmer, producer, digital creator, and founder of the Rhizomatiks studio, impressed the audience at MEDIAPRO’s Stage+D with his groundbreaking performance that translated electrical signals from the body into music, exploring the connection between the human body and technology in a unique and dissonant manner.
With these remarkable highlights and much more, Sònar solidifies its position as a leading event for arts, science, and technology, pushing boundaries and inspiring creativity.
Looking ahead, Sónar is already gearing up for its 31st edition, scheduled for June 13-15, 2024. Pre-sales for SonarPass and SonarPass+D (both standard and VIP) will commence on Tuesday, June 20, at 12:00 noon. Be sure to pre-register to secure your access to this exclusive pre-sale. For more information, visit sonar.es and follow the festival on social media at @sonarfestival.
