Sónar is the well-loved Barcelona festival with a passion for fostering creativity within music. They find visionary artists from all over the world to create a house-pumped electro party with some creative talks from industry insiders thrown in for good measure: it’s the festival you need to be at to hunt down the best in emerging artists. What’s more, it’s located in a sunny Barcelona, is essentially a three-day 24 hour party, and one best followed by a few days on the beach in the sun. Want to know more? Let us take you through our seven wonders of Sonar festival…

RBMA SonarDome

This year RBMA are presenting an all-star cast of Academy alumni and affiliates keeping in touch with their ethos of searching out eclectic and future-leaning talent. We’re so excited to see these guys on stage. Want to know who’s in the mix? Well here are just a few of the amazing names: Underground Resistance, French techno group Club Cheval, Istanbul’s psychedelic dance-folk outfit iNSANLAR, German house duo Tuff City Kids. Then there’s the new talent on the block. Some of Sónar’s newcomers to look out for are: Malardm HomeSick, Sapphire Slows, Hiele, Sevdaliza, Lafawndah and Jacob Korn from previous Academy editions.

The abnormally green, green grass

Sónar by day is famous for its grass. Dance the day away on its spongy surface and get grass stains on your crisp white jeans – it’s all part of the fun. And when you’re pins tire out, just have a little lie down, catch some rays and settle on the healthiest grass of your life. Ok, maybe we’re overselling it, but come on, it’s deliciously green.

Attention trainer lovers

What better way to enter a festival in adidas Originals? Better yet, their NMD silhouette – a concept based on urban exploration. At festivals we’re always walking around with no real aim – spontaneity is key, so perfectly, adidas’s genius designs are created for a nomad lifestyle (a lifestyle we’ll no doubt be living during this festival). They will also be creating a unique alcove, the adidas NMD space, and so trainer-queens and kings will be able to new 360° immersive video clip called “U_R” by Awwz. You’ll be able to take home a little slice of adidas as they team up to create 2016’s Sónar’s bag! #win

Swoon for Woon

Don’t we all love a bit of alternative music, for when the house and electro thuds are getting all a bit much? Allow your ears a little break on the 16th June at the Red Bull Music Academy stage with the velvety sound of Jamie Woon. It’s like sweet souly caramel for the ears – blissed out vibes.

Sónar +D

Are you mainly there for the Sónar by Day talks? If so, head over to the Sónar +D where they explore creativity, technology and the digital transformation of the cultural industries. They have talks, workshops experts, shows… the lot! Release your inner geek.

Sónar by Night

So you’ve heard a lot about Sónar by Day, but what about Sónar by Night? Moonbathe with The Warehouse Project; if you’re familiar with these parties already, then you’ll be eager to head-bop to house and techno beats from Bicep and Ben Klock, or get lost in some UK vibes from Stormzy and DJ EZ. Or maybe Resident Advisor is more your scene? They’ll be co-curating Friday night at SónarLab, one of the outdoor spaces and home to the most memorable performances. The line up reflects the adventurous and diverse spirit of Sónar, involving explosive techno duos (DVS1 and Rødhåd) and we’ll be dancing the night away under the influence of House music masters.

God’s gift: RBMA Radio

If by some totally random chance you can’t make the festival, then calm yourself – it’s all fine. RBMA radio will be streaming the whole thing live so you’ll never miss a moment! Those of us that live in places far, far away e.g. rainy old England (the rain is horrific at the moment) then you can find yourselves listening to RBMA to as it’s streamed globally. There’s really no excuse not to listen. But wait, we were so excited we couldn’t wait and RBMA have allowed us to listen to a preview of the festival with chats from featured artists: Tuff City Kids, Lafawndah and Sapphire Slows! They’ve already started on the previews – start listening!