Live Music

No Barcelona Beach Festival in 2023

Featured image credit: Lucrezia Carnelos on Unsplash

Barcelona Beach Festival (BBF) will not run this year after the local council did not grant a license for the live music event. 

Live Nation said that the festival would not take place as the municipality of Sant Adrià de Besòs did not grant a license, and that an alternative location could not be found.

In a statement, BBF said: “We communicate with great sadness to the music lovers who have been part of this great family during all these years, that in the face of the refusal of the City Council of Sant Adrià de Besòs to grant us the activity licenses, and the impossibility of having obtained another location with the ideal conditions to make the celebration of the festival possible, this year the BBF will not take place.

“During the seven years of the Festival we have not generated any problems or altercation in the community, and we have always respected all safety standards, as well as the natural environment of the beach.”

However, according to a report from La Vanguardia, the city council said that it had not cancelled any festival because they were not asked for a festival license.

Deputy mayor of Sant Andrià Ruth Soto said that the council had made a document several months ago which said that there was not currently space to hold such events, and the decision was that there will be no events held at all.

La Vanguardia also outlined that last year’s edition was on its way to being cancelled, but an agreement allowed it to take place. The event was nearly cancelled but with almost all tickets sold, an extremis agreement allowed BBF to take place in Barcelona town.

BBF’s statement added: “The entire BBF team is working to select a new location and as soon as we have it, we will let you know. In 2024, we will spread smiles again, wherever it is, so that music never stops with us to celebrate life.”