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31 OCT 2026 · rts.fm editorial

Sónar Declares Itself Dead: What We Know

Sónar posted its own funeral notice on 27 October and removed its 2027 dates. What is confirmed, what is speculation, and the ownership story behind it.

A crowd at Sónar by Day in 2016 on the Fira Montjuïc site in Barcelona, with the Palau Nacional on the hill in the background and teal and grey festival tents in front
Photo by Nachetere, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Sónar by Day at the Fira Montjuïc site, 16 June 2016. The festival left this site for its 2026 edition.

On Tuesday 27 October 2026 Sónar, the Barcelona festival of advanced music, announced its own death. Its Instagram was wiped except for one video of a coffin engraved "Sónar 1994-2026", a death notice appeared in the print edition of La Vanguardia, and its website was replaced by a book of condolences. Four days later the festival has still not said what it means. The 2027 dates that Sónar announced in June have disappeared from its homepage, and nothing says whether the festival is ending, being renamed or being rebuilt.

This piece separates what is confirmed from what is speculation. We checked Sónar's website directly on 31 October, read the Spanish and Catalan press through secondary reports and EFE's wire, and read the trade coverage we could open. DJ Mag UK, La Vanguardia, El País and El Periódico did not open for us, so what they reported reaches us through other outlets, and we say so. We use no unverified quote from any of them.

The short version: Sónar told EFE it would share news in the coming days and has said nothing else. The only confirmed facts are the video, the death notice, the wiped Instagram, the condolence-book page and the removal of the 2027 dates, plus an ownership and leadership story of the last two years that makes the stunt more than a joke: the founders left in October 2025, the festival moved to a single site in 2026, and two senior Sónar+D figures are leaving this month. Everything about a relaunch, a rename or a new venue is speculation.

What exactly happened on 27 October?

  • The video. Sónar's Instagram account was cleared of its earlier posts, leaving one video of a coffin with "Sónar 1994-2026" on it and a caption in Catalan, Spanish and English saying that Sónar is dead. EFE reported that every earlier post had been removed. Reports differ on the details of the video, so we describe only the coffin and the dates.
  • The notice. A black-bordered death notice appeared in La Vanguardia's print edition on 27 October, and ads in the same style ran around Barcelona, according to Primera Fila, DJ Mag Germany and EFE.
  • The website. When we fetched sonar.es on 31 October it showed only "Sónar is dead", the dates 1994 and 2026, and a book of condolences with a form asking for a name and email address. It thanks visitors for being part of the festival's story. Crónica Global suggests the email field works as newsletter capture, which is its opinion.
  • The dates. The 17 to 19 June 2027 dates, announced after the 2026 edition, are no longer on the homepage, and the 2027 presale page that appeared in search results returns an error. Several outlets say the dates remain on the site, and our own check shows they do not. No cancellation or date change has been announced.
  • The sister events. Sónar Istanbul's site still lists 9 and 10 April 2027, with no mention of the campaign.

What has Sónar said?

Nothing that explains it. According to EFE, the festival said it would share news in the coming days. ModoFestival reported on 30 October that nothing further had been published. We found no statement from the CEO, the founders, the parent company Superstruct or KKR, and no sign of an official refund process. Tickets bought with the Flex option stay refundable in full until 1 March 2027, and Crónica Global says existing ticket holders are technically unaffected. Presale prices announced in June were from 155 euros for the SonarPass, with 295 euros for the top VIP pass that includes the Sónar+D conference.

What is speculation?

  • A relaunch, rename or new format. Most coverage reads the stunt as a marketing teaser, because Sónar usually announces artists in November and La Vanguardia said the team neither confirmed nor denied it. That is an interpretation. Crónica Global notes that the only confirmed fact is the leadership change.
  • A venue move. La Vanguardia reported on 28 October, according to ModoFestival, that the festival may split day and night again in 2027 and move the daytime programme and Sónar+D to Barcelona's Port Vell. ModoFestival says Sónar distanced itself from that report. We could not read the original, and it is unconfirmed.
  • The end of the festival. No source says so. The English Wikipedia page claims the festival will no longer exist, which the live site does not support, so we do not rely on it.

How did Sónar get here?

  • 1994. Ricard Robles, Enric Palau and Sergio Caballero founded it in Barcelona. For three decades it ran as a day-and-night festival with the Sónar+D creativity and technology congress, and it spread to Istanbul and Lisbon, among other cities.
  • 2018. Superstruct, then backed by Providence, bought a majority stake in Sónar's parent, with the founders keeping creative control. The terms were not disclosed.
  • June 2024. The investment firm KKR bought Superstruct, a deal announced on 21 June 2024; the price, about 1.3 billion euros, is press-reported. Our report on the Boiler Room boycott over its KKR buyout covers the same ownership chain and its reputational fallout.
  • 2025. Dozens of artists and collectives withdrew from the festival in a boycott linked to KKR's investments and the BDS movement. The count depends on who tallies it: 28 per the festival, more than 30 in several English-language outlets, about 50 in El País and DJ Mag, and 59 in the organisers' own count. Sónar said it condemned the violence in Gaza and distanced itself from investment activities contrary to its values, and said it had no influence or control over KKR's investments. The festival still announced a record 161,000 attendance in June 2025, an organiser figure.
  • October 2025. The three founders and their partner Ventura Barba left. Ara reported a joint statement, and François Jozic, the founder of Brunch Electronik, became CEO. Superstruct called the exit orderly and cordial. The founders did not link their departure to the boycott, according to DJ Mag Germany.
  • June 2026. The first edition without the founders moved to a single site, Fira Gran Via in L'Hospitalet, with day and night merged. The festival claimed 150,000 visitors against 161,000 in 2025, but Ara warns the figures are not comparable because the structure changed. Ara reported in 2024 that the festival had to leave Fira Montjuïc because of the fair's reform works.
  • October 2026. The Sónar+D director Andrea Faroppa and Antònia Folguera are leaving this month, according to Crónica Global and DJ Mag Germany. Reports that Folguera called the festival more corporate come second-hand, so we paraphrase and do not quote.

For the festival's own history and the 2026 programme, see our Sónar festival page. The 2026 edition was headlined by acts including Amelie Lens and Charlotte de Witte, according to Primera Fila and Test Press.

Who has reacted?

Very few have. Exron Music reported that Boys Noize commented on Instagram, thanking the festival and recalling some of his best moments playing and dancing there, and that Insomniac's Pasquale Rotella also commented. Spanish media played with the headline: ABC, according to Crónica Global, ran a headline playing on the royal formula of the king is dead, long live the king. We found no statement from an artist, promoter or agency reacting to the removal of the 2027 dates.

What does it mean for festival-goers?

For now, nothing you can plan around. Nothing says that Sónar 2027 will or will not happen on 17 to 19 June, and no 2027 tickets are on sale. If you hold a Flex ticket, you can still get a full refund until 1 March 2027. The same week EXIT announced its return to Serbia, as we explain in our report on EXIT and Petrovaradin, and the wider festival calendar in our guide to the best techno and house festivals of 2027 and our festival cancellations tracker is still shifting. Our reading, which is not a fact: festivals owned by investment groups are under pressure from rising costs, as we reported in our look at the squeeze on promoters and DJ fees, and a stunt of this size suggests a significant change is being prepared, though what it is remains open.

What we could not confirm

  • What the campaign means: closure, relaunch, rename, new format or a new venue. Sónar has not said.
  • Whether Sónar 2027 will take place on 17 to 19 June, and whether the dates were removed temporarily.
  • The Port Vell report, which comes from La Vanguardia via ModoFestival.
  • Exact boycott numbers, which differ by source, and the founders' reasons for leaving beyond their joint statement.
  • Sónar's finances: we found no Sónar-specific accounts, only organiser attendance figures.
  • Anything after 30 October. Check sonar.es and the festival's social accounts for news, which it says will come in the coming days.

If you have first-hand knowledge or a correction, contact us through our about page.

quick wins

  • On 27 October 2026 Sónar wiped its Instagram, posted a coffin video marked "Sónar 1994-2026", ran a death notice in La Vanguardia and replaced its site with a condolence book.
  • Sónar told EFE it would share news in the coming days; as of 31 October it had given no explanation.
  • The 17 to 19 June 2027 dates have been removed from the website and the 2027 presale page returns an error, but no cancellation has been announced; Flex tickets remain refundable until 1 March 2027.
  • Sónar Istanbul still lists 9 and 10 April 2027.
  • Background: the founders left in October 2025, Superstruct owner KKR was boycotted by dozens of artists in 2025, and the 2026 edition moved to a single site with a claimed 150,000 visitors against 161,000 in 2025.
  • Reports of a relaunch or a Port Vell move are unconfirmed speculation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sónar festival cancelled?

Not officially. On 27 October 2026 Sónar announced its own death in a campaign, but it has not cancelled Sónar 2027 or explained the campaign. It told EFE it would share news in the coming days.

Are the Sónar 2027 dates still 17 to 19 June?

The dates were announced in June 2026 but have been removed from the festival's homepage. Nothing says they have been cancelled or changed, and the presale page now returns an error.

Can I get a refund for Sónar 2027 tickets?

Tickets bought with the Flex option are fully refundable until 1 March 2027. We found no official refund process for other tickets, and Crónica Global says holders are technically unaffected for now.

Why did Sónar say it is dead?

Sónar has not said. Most coverage reads it as a teaser for a relaunch, but that is speculation. The campaign follows the exit of the founders in October 2025, a move to a single site in 2026 and the departure of two Sónar+D leaders announced this month.

Who owns Sónar?

Sónar's parent is controlled by the festival group Superstruct, which took a majority stake in 2018 and which KKR bought in June 2024. The founders left in October 2025 and François Jozic is the CEO.

What happened to Sónar in 2025?

Dozens of artists and collectives withdrew over KKR's investments in a boycott linked to the BDS movement, with counts from 28 to 59 depending on the source. The festival still announced a record 161,000 attendance, an organiser figure.

Is Sónar Istanbul still on?

Its official site lists 9 and 10 April 2027 and makes no mention of the Barcelona campaign. Sónar Lisboa skipped 2026 and says it will return in 2027.

Sources

Main sources, by claim. Pages were read on 31 October 2026.

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