Well, the Primavera Sound people did it. They fucked around and booked all three main characters from 2024’s pop girl summer as headliners for their 2025 festival. I was wondering whether Coachella would attempt a big swing like this, but Primavera actually did it. Next year’s festival goes down 6/4-8 at Barcelona’s Parc Del Fòrum, and its headliners are Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, and Sabrina Carpenter. In a climate when these next-gen pop stars dominate the conversation, Primavera has booked a festival that actually reflects that, rather than going back to any established-headliner types. It’s really smart! I bet it’ll make for a fun festival, too!

The Primavera Sound Festival has a reputation as one of the best-curated, most forward-thinking grand-scale festivals in the world, and it’s never been shy about booking pop stars. This year, for instance, the fest had Lana Del Rey and SZA headlining alongside groups like Pulp, Disclosure, and the National. If you’re not into messy, emotive, lyrically specific pop music, you’ll still find plenty to like on the Primavera lineup, which delves deep into more familiar festival fare. In addition to those three headliners, for instance, the 2025 bill features big names like LCD Soundsystem, TV On The Radio, FKA twigs, Turnstile, Sturgill Simpson, Waxahatchee, Beach House, HAIM, Jamie xx, Clairo, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., MJ Lenderman, and Wet Leg.

This year’s Primavera Sound poster is a weird one, with the names all listed in alphabetical order, with brighter lettering given to the bigger names. It can be hard to read, but it encourages you to dig deeper and to find all the good stuff in there. Next year’s lineup runs plenty deep, and it also features acts like Los Campesinos!, Magdalena Bay, ANOHNI And The Johnsons, Kim Deal, Stereolab, the Jesus Lizard, Denzel Curry, beabadoobee, Kelly Lee Owens, Chat Pile, High Vis, Momma, Nourished By Time, Floating Points, Gouge Away, julie, Destroyer, Squid, Cap’n Jazz, SALEM, Julie Byrne, Kate Bollinger, Aminé, Alan Sparhawk, Horsegirl, the Dare, Frost Children, Still House Plants, Christian Lee Hutson, This Is Lorelei, Confidence Man, Machine Girl, Fcukers, DJ Koze, Danny L Harle, Joy Orbison, Armand Van Helden, and Black Country, New Road. Cat Power will do a set of Bob Dylan covers, and Spiritualized will play Pure Phase in full. This festival looks great! Find all the details here.