Yes, absolutely. Our position is clear and unequivocal: we condemn the genocide of the Palestinian people.

Superstruct Entertainment, a company that owns over 80 festivals around the world, purchased Sónar in 2018. At that time, Providence Equity Partners was the principal investor in Superstruct. In October 2024, Providence withdrew and sold its stake to a consortium made up of KKR and other investors. This was a purely financial transaction in which we had no involvement, no say, and no vote. By the same token, we have no influence or control over KKR’s investment decisions or internal workings. 

No, not at all. At no time have we ever sent - nor will we ever send - a single euro to KKR. We can guarantee you that, after covering all the costs of Advanced Music and the festival itself (salaries, artists, production, communication, organisational costs, etc.), all profits are reinvested, in their entirety, in future editions of Sónar.

Superstruct's publicly stated position is clear on this: “All revenue and profits from Superstruct events and festivals remains entirely within our business and goes towards the ongoing development and staging of our festivals across the world.”
 

Since its inception, Sónar has been a space for encounter, experimentation and critical thinking. True to this spirit, we today express our firm commitment to the ethical and moral principles that defend human dignity, justice and fundamental rights.
 

In recent weeks, we have had communication with or from Prou Complicitat amb Israel, the Palestinian Community of Catalonia, BDS/PACBI, as well as numerous artists and representatives of the professional cultural sectors and our audiences. Their demands challenge us, as cultural agents with ethical responsibilities.

We are aligned with their aspirations and long-term objectives for peace and an end to suffering in Gaza. We have been listening attentively, balancing also our responsibility to create a safe space for culture and free expression. Our actions are clear and have been implemented. As below:
 

1. Clear public position on the Palestinian genocide
Sónar clearly and unequivocally condemns the genocide committed against the Palestinian people.

2. Publicly distancing itself from shareholders’ investments
Sónar clearly stated that it dissociates itself from any activity of investors contrary to the values of the festival. It also stated that it has no interference or, of course, control over investments or decisions of third parties.

3. Sponsorships
Sónar 2025’s final list of agreed sponsors do not include any identified in the current campaign.

4. Institutional alignment with the Barcelona City Council
We align ourselves with the Barcelona City Council in its institutional declaration addressed to Fira Barcelona to refuse to host stands of the Israeli government and arms companies in its pavilions.

5. Active involvement in dialogue with artists and communities
We have held hundreds of conversations with artists and collectives to open channels of dialogue and co-responsibility in decision-making.
Sónar has been in constant communication with artists. In accordance with the values we share, we have created a space in the festival that opens the conversation to critical cultural dialogue. Thus, a proactive debate forum is promoted that will address the role of creators and cultural agents in an environment of conflict and the models of financing culture. This action, far from being a one-off event, should open the door to the creation of a conversation over time, founding a working group capable of designing protocols and teachings for a more responsible culture.
 

This position is not an isolated act, but a continuation of our commitment to the artistic and academic communities and to the entities of the cultural, creative and innovation sector in Barcelona. We will continue to work, transparently and collectively, to preserve the spaces of freedom of expression, diversity and democratic culture that we have cultivated together with so many voices for more than three decades.

Sónar thus reaffirms its vocation to be a culturally committed festival, where music, technology and thought are at the service of justice, peace and social transformation.

We therefore reiterate our support for the Palestinian people and our total rejection of the apartheid and genocide they suffer at the hands of the Israeli government.

Yes, absolutely. The relationship with Superstruct is merely administrative and we have no direct relationship with KKR. The team behind Sónar remains the same, including members who have been with the company for 32 years. This team remains fully independent and entirely faithful to the principles, values and motivations that drive them to put on the festival each and every year. This includes the technical production, the communication, and, of course the artistic and discourse programmes of Sónar and Sónar+D.

You can check the lineups for Sónar by Day, Sónar by Night, and Sónar+D - as well as the timetables - here.

No, the cancellations won’t affect the overall experience of Sónar. We’re working to confirm replacements. 

Yes. In addition to our annual donations to local charities, this year we’ll be making a donation to NGOs that are working to help those in Gaza. We are currently looking into which NGOs to work with.

You can check the timetables for Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night here.

Yes, provided that they’re permitted under Spanish law.

Yes, our audience will be able to enjoy the festival as comfortably and freely as always.

Sónar is not just culture, celebration, the avant-garde and innovation, but also responsibility and commitment to our audiences, communities, and partners. We’ve always defended absolute and complete freedom of expression at our events, both on stage and on the dancefloor, as long as the right to freedom of opinion and personal expression of the rest of our participants and audience is respected.

Yes. On Friday afternoon when we open, we’re going to convert the first slot at SonarÀgora into a space for reflection, listening, and action concerning the role of culture in the current global context. In a landscape marked by financial consolidation, widespread censorship, structural instability, and geopolitical conflicts, we’re calling on artists, thinkers, institutions, and cultural actors to take part in a meaningful and constructive debate.

Can culture exist outside of capitalist dynamics? What role should cultural actors play in the face of injustices like as the genocide taking place in Gaza? Is it possible to think up a new, consensus-based, realistic and applicable ethical framework for the cultural sector? How can we move towards ethical practices in terms of sustainability and partnerships? This forum is an open invitation to share different perspectives, bearing in mind that culture has always been and will continue to be a force for transformation.
 

We’ve set up a process to centralise all refund requests and we’ll respond to each of them individually in the next few days. If you’d like to request a refund for your ticket, please write to help@sonar.es, before 23:59 (CEST) on Wednesday 4th June.

If you have any other questions, please write to us at sonar.responds@sonar.es