Festivals that end at eleven o’clock at night?

This is not a rare occurrence. The exception is us in Spain, where Primavera Sound itself can program. Titles like Rosalia or Blur at two in the morningand then continue to present more concerts and DJs. And at those hours, fill the place with an audience (including family-child profiles) who enjoy life and decompressing the night until the morning, if necessary.

During, At Lollapalooza in Paris, ‘motomami’ came out to sing at 9.30pm.and ParisLonchamp racecourse closed its shutters at midnight. This summer’s Chicago edition, Billie Eilish is at home at 8:45 p.m. This is the norm in Europe and America. There is no room for loud exceptions: on one particular night in 2012 Bruce Springsteen’s power went out in Hyde Park because his latest duets with Sir Paul McCartney were past ‘curfew’, with closing time at 10.30pm.

With all this, I do not intend to defend the time limit, I just intend to describe what happened and set out the context of the ongoing debate in Barcelona. There is a delicate solution conflict between them. right of neighboring citizens to rest and here embodied by the cultural, economic and reputation engine of the city, such as festivals, and not only dialogue and mutual understanding. In the case of Primavera, it’s worth remembering that the festival has been in the Forum longer than most of its current neighbours, and its move to this end of town took place in 2005, although it may not seem so now. Somewhat risky move.

Precisely this exception explains, at least in part, why crowds of foreign viewers flock to Spain. They are attracted by the promise of ‘after-hours’ excitement that they lack in their countries. Even though leisure was not created for them, it is part of the entertainment package with which they associate us: it is part of our cultural tradition of associating music with the night. Let’s keep everything in mind when the debate heats up again, which it will.