What went wrong at Primavera Sound in Barcelona? ‘Water supply is a hallucination.’ This is madness

You are now on Primavera Sound, is there really a mess as some of the attendees on social media claim?

Swartenbrooks: “We are of course very spoiled at the Belgian level when it comes to festivals, but things are really getting out of hand here. There are queues everywhere. Crowd control is completely different than usual, so you are always in crowds. Whether you are on your way to the bathroom Or the theater or the bar, you’re constantly pouring in people. It doesn’t feel safe to move from one stage to the next. Once you get to the stage itself, it’s not too bad. So it’s not like there’s an overbooking.

“It doesn’t go well at the bar either. Rumor has it that the bar staff are very low paid Portuguese students, not trained to work at such a crowded event. At a Belgian festival, a pint is ready. Here everything is tapped into in time. Present. In the bar in front of the main stage, there was only one pay station for the entire bar. Everything is going so wrong, that I worry about having to wait there later.”

There will also be insufficient access to water, is that correct?

“It’s warm here and you only have two water tents. I just saw that the organization has added two more. Access to water is the most important thing to solve. People are constantly losing consciousness and they are really thirsty. It takes an hour and a half to queue to get a click.” This is not responsible. You are also no longer allowed to take the bottles with you.”

How is the atmosphere there?

“It’s not possible. No one was really happy yesterday, everyone was frustrated and grumbled. For example, not many people experienced other than Tammy Impala standing in line in front of the bar.

“It’s just a shame. Everything has stopped for two years and this is the opening of festival season for a lot of people. A lot of people who are here for the first time – for me it’s the third time – they say, ‘Wow, is this the festival I was excited about?’ It’s not that It’s the first time they’ve organized a festival. The water supply is definitely a hallucination for a festival in Barcelona. It’s crazy.”