Sonar Festival 2010

Events and Music on May 8, 2010 1:25 pm

Festival Guide for Sonar 2010, this article will cover the highlights, travel and ticket info with insider tips. Highlights include Air, Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, Joy Orbison, Broadcast, Fuck Buttons, The Chemical Brothers, 2 Many DJs, Roxy Music, Plastikman, Flying Lotus and Dizzie Rascal!

Not just an electronic music festival, a whole planet for your senses. Sonar brings together innovators in some of the most unique visual art, film, and audio visual DJ sets. Previous years have attracted acts like Kraftwerk, Bjork and Four tet. A trip through three days of new-fangled talent and staggering audiovisuals, Sonar acts as a platform for new and exciting artists and record labels, with the idea of complete freedom in music.

Still haven’t found somewhere? Oh-Barcelona still have apartments available for Sonar

Pinnacles

The joy of Joy Orbison. Lets air hump for Boys Noize! Air – French duo with sublime comedown tracks are sure to play a few of their classics, sexy boy will get you right in the mood. The Chemical Brothers- relive your acid house summers. Hot Chip – Like a monkey with a miniature cymbal….. This tasty foursome offer up some pleasurable synths, with a bit of pipe action.
Broadcast- psychedelic sounds with lots of chaos, picks you up and turns you around a bit and then pushes you over.
LCD sound system – smiley bass lines get you clenching your fists and gritting your teeth staring up at the stage waiting for a T-oooon to come in.
Roxy music – Ahead of their time, probably right in there time now, look forward to a glam Bryan Ferry.
Richie Hawtin is back in the form of Plastikman, the sedating surf sounds of Quiet Village, Old School sounds from Jimpster & jumpers and hats more of amazing artists.

Sonar by Day

The Raval is where all the sonar action goes down in the day; the MACBA and the CCCB host it all, and are right next to each other, big back off buildings, you can not miss them. The main entrance to the whole festival will be Calle Montalegre, 5
Metro: Catalunya Line 1 and 3 or Universitat Line 1 and 2

MACBA / CCCB

Sonar by Night

Sonar by Night Kicks off in the Fira Gran Via located in outer Barcelona, a massive exhibition centre. Getting from sonar by day to sonar by night can be a mish, masses of folk will turn there happy face off and get there game face on to grab a cab, a bus, a llama, anything to take them out of the city and into Sonar by night
The same goes for leaving the festival, which finishes at 8am.

Train

Only 5 minutes to Fira Gran Via by Train. Leave from the FGC station which is located INSIDE the Espanya metro station, to get to Espanya metro station, take the green line from Drassanes, its about a 15 minute walk, but worth it to avoid the crowds at Catalunya, trains stop running from here at midnight.
When you arrive at Europa-Fira station; just follow the signs to the venue, trains run every 15 minutes.
To get back into the city, trains from Europa-Fira station will start running again at 05:10. The train is probably your best bet of getting to and from the festival

Shuttle buses

There will be a Continuous shuttle service from Plaça de les Drassanes (Metro metroDrassanes) to Fira Gran Via (M2) Hospitalet. Friday and Saturday from 20.30 to 8.00

Taxi

Be prepared to pay anywhere up to 60 Euros for a taxi, it will take about 20 minutes to reach the festival from the Raval, leaving the Raval and fighting your way into a cab in another district of Barcelona is going to be a better idea.

FIRA GRAN VIA

Sonar for Kids:

Running over the 12^th and 13^th June, let them get off their tiny heads in a special space, tailored for families, offering art workshops for kids and slightly less intense Gabba! No but seriously it is very popular with families and has a nice and relaxed atmosphere, it runs from 10.30 am to 20:00 pm, free entry for under 3´s, 10€ for 4-14 year olds and 15€ for 15 and over’s.

Tips for UK visitors:

If you’re travelling over from the UK, the closest airport is of course Barcelona BCN, cheaper flights may be available, however take you to Girona or Reus airport instead. Girona is the closest airport, The cheapest and best way to get to Barcelona is to take the Bus.

The Cheapest flights directly to BCN airport are available through Easyjet, Ryanair offer cheap flights to Girona and Reus.

So this isn’t a camping festival, if you don’t feel like braving the full on 72 hours kipping in the streets you might be looking for a place to park your head, hostels will likely be pack out around the festival, take it easy, get back whenever you want and enjoy the complete freedom of your own apartment.

To order tickets from the UK, ticket web and Ticketmaster are your friends

Ticket Office: pick up your tickets at Plaza del Angels

For a full list of ticket prices, and sales points
Note: cheaper tickets are available online

Any Questions? Will you be going to the festival this year? Which act are you looking forward to most? Are you a local, how do you feel about the festival and its effects on the city? Feel free to tell us about your past experiences at the festival.

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