Primavera Sound Barcelona's 24th edition ended on Saturday 6 June 2026 with a set that was not on any timetable. Olivia Rodrigo played Parc del Fòrum as a surprise closing act, and brought Robert Smith of The Cure on stage with her for the live debut of a song nobody had heard.
This is a look back rather than a news report. If you are planning for next year, the dates and ticket tiers are in our Primavera Sound Barcelona 2027 guide.
A headliner who was not on the poster
Rodrigo was not announced in the lineup. The set became public only hours before it happened, when she posted it herself on Instagram, which is why so much of the Fòrum spent that afternoon checking their phones rather than the site map.
The surprise mattered practically as well as musically. A late-announced set by an artist of that size moves a very large number of people across a site where crossing from one end to the other takes a good twenty minutes in crowds.
The Robert Smith duet
Smith joined Rodrigo for "what's wrong with me", a collaboration that had not been released at that point. The track came out on 12 June, six days after the Fòrum heard it first, and Rodrigo has described it as the first song she has released with a featured artist.
Smith had already played the festival with The Cure during the same edition, and was one of the artists honoured with Primavera's Can't Do Without You award alongside Damon Albarn, The xx, Bad Gyal, Slowdive and Santiago Motorizado.
The setlist
Rodrigo played eleven songs, opening with "bad idea right?" and closing on "good 4 u".
- bad idea right?
- ballad of a homeschooled girl
- vampire
- drop dead
- drivers license
- traitor
- the cure
- what's wrong with me (with Robert Smith)
- deja vu
- all-american bitch
- good 4 u
The edition it closed
The 24th edition sold out for the second year running and drew 287,000 people, roughly 6,000 fewer than 2025. The shortfall has an obvious cause: rain forced the cancellation of the Thursday programme, taking out one of the four main days.
Despite that, the festival later put the edition's total economic impact on Barcelona at more than €344m, ahead of the previous year. The detail is in our report on what Primavera Sound 2026 was worth to the city.
What it says about 2027
Two things are worth carrying into next June. First, the poster is not the whole festival: Primavera has a long habit of unannounced sets, and the 2026 closer is the clearest recent example of why leaving a gap in your plan is sensible. Second, announcements can land hours ahead on an artist's own channels rather than the festival's, so follow the acts you care about, not just the organiser.
The 25th edition runs from Thursday 3 to Saturday 5 June 2027 at Parc del Fòrum, with the Early Bird pass at €285 plus fees until the lineup is announced.
Sources: Primavera Sound's official announcement of the close of its 24th edition, and contemporary reporting of the set and setlist. Barna.News is not affiliated with or endorsed by Primavera Sound.
