I went to Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona. Here are the best and worst photos that show what it's like to attend

In June, I traveled from London to Barcelona, Spain, to attend the Primavera Sound music festival. I bought my Weekend 2 ticket a year ago for €255, or around $268.

Primavera Sound is a music festival that takes place on the beachfront in Barcelona over two weekends. It began in 2001 with only 8,000 attendees but welcomed 500,000 attendees in 2022.

Source: Yourope: The European Festival Association, Primavera Sound

After spending a few days exploring the city prior to the second weekend starting on June 9, I took a 12-minute metro ride from my hotel in Clot to the Parc del Fòrum venue located in Sant Adrià de Besòs.

I arrived at the festival site on the Thursday, where they scanned the QR code on my ticket, which attendees were told to save to an app called AccessTicket. I was then issued my wristband which allowed me to come and go.

I arrived to see stalls by all the sponsors, including a giant Pull & Bear bear, merchandise shops, and food and drinks spots. The weather varied from 75.2 to 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit, according to my phone.

A lot of the headliners were located on the Estrella Damm or Pull & Bear stages, which were quite a long walk away from the entrance site and other stages.

The festival invited a noticeably liberal crowd. The signage, as well as this mural nodding to Berlin's East Side Gallery, made it clear that attendees from marginalized communities were welcome.

The festival had many inaccessible areas that were guarded by security, including this Adidas Originals viewing point, and a Soho House pool and private space for members.

Source: Soho House

The seafront setting at Parc del Fòrum made the event feel undeniably atmospheric.

While the festival's ticket conditions state attendees can be refused entry for intoxication, their bag search was relaxed and many people could be seen smoking what appeared to be marijuana.

Source: Primavera Sound Ticket Conditions

The festival strived to be sustainable — it offered self-generated charging stations and signs flashed up saying it was plastic bottle-free. This later changed and guards gave out bottles of water at concerts following complaints of shortages and large queues.

Source: The Independent

Between performances, people would sit on these steps beneath fairy lights and enjoy views of the sea, as well as food and drinks from nearby stalls.

I only ate one meal on-site. I opted for a vegetarian burger for €9.50, around $10, which did not come with fries. While it tasted okay, it became a sloppy mess by the time I made it back to my friends.

According to the drinks list, a can of water cost 2 euros, or $2.10, Coca-Cola cost 3 euros, or $3.15, and an Estrella Damm beer cost 4.50 euros, or $4.70, which seemed reasonable for a festival. As a teetotaller, I managed to keep my drinks order cheap.

While complaints about overcrowding emerged during Weekend 1, causing the festival to issue an apology, it appeared safe and smooth during Weekend 2 but still felt oversaturated.

Source: Primavera Sound, Twitter

As far as festivals go, I expect a lot of trash to be on the site floor but the bins at the closest tram station were also overflowing, which seemed disrespectful to locals using these services.

I noticed a lot of Americans in attendance at the gigs, especially for native acts like the Texas band Khruangbin. The musical trio delivered a mesmerizing set.

Dua Lipa thoughtfully paid tribute to her LGBTQ+ fans by bringing out the pride flag during a performance of her 2021 song "Cold Heart," featuring Elton John.

I managed to be in the third row to witness Lorde's performance and while I've always enjoyed her songs, I was pleasantly surprised by how much stage presence she had.

A highlight was watching M.I.A's Tamil-inspired performance with her incredible dancers. I rarely get to see musicians from the South Asian community perform to such a big audience.

While I can't say I knew much about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs before Primavera, I was captivated by singer Karen O who almost swallowed a microphone, then gave it to a fan.

Tame Impala had the most incredible lighting displays during their performance.

I, among many others, queued for six hours to be in the front row for Megan Thee Stallion. Her performance was empowering and political as she condemned Texas' abortion laws onstage.

Source: Houston Chronicle

I had a lot of fun at Primavera but getting home each night was stressful. Taxis were in high demand, the metro stopped running in the late hours or queues made it impossible to get on, and buses didn't show up.