WORLDWIDE: Sónar Hong Kong successfully held its first festival on April 1, with 5,000 people in attendance. Spread across six stages at the Hong Kong Science Park, the festival offered more than 30 live shows and outdoor DJ sets, indoor performances and immersive audiovisual shows.
Sónar Hong Kong’s musical programme included live concerts and DJ sets ranging from dance music to experimental electronica. A combination of established artists such as DJ Shadow, Gilles Peterson and Dave Clarke, as well as emerging talent like Lady Leshurr, Kingdom and Evian Christ, performed alongside Chinese artists including Fragrant Harbor & Ouissam, Ocean Lam and Choi Sai Ho.
Simultaneously Asia’s first edition of Sónar+D took place at the singular Charles K. Kao Auditorium building at the Hong Kong Science Park. The programme comrpised forward-thinking workshops, talks and interactive activities designed to explore the relationships between creativity, technology, innovation and business.
March 24 – 25 marked the inaugural Sónar Istanbul, which sold out as soon as it opened its doors, attracting 9,000 attendees. The festival was held across four stages at the Zorlu Performing Arts Centre, a venue renowned for having some of the best acoustics in the world.
The inaugural Istanbul incarnation featured performances by Moderat, Róisín Murphy, Nina Kraviz, Floating Points, Kode9, Prins Thomas, Clark, Nosaj Thing, Matias Aguayo, HONNE, HVOB and Cola & Jimmu. Furthermore, the festival saw shows from a broad section of local artists who best define the Turkish scene.
Once again, taking place simultaneously was the first edition of Sónar+D Istanbul. The conference dedicated to creative technologies included an extensive programme of more than 30 activities, with workshops, talks, interactive VR experiences and new media art installations.
February 16 – 18 saw the fifth Sónar Reykjavík staged to vast public acclaim, repeating the successes of previous editions with an attendance of 11,000 people. The festival took place in the Harpa auditorium, opposite the city’s port, across four stages: SonarClub, SonarHall, SonarComplex, and SonarLab – the latter of which transformed Harpa’s underground parking into a nightclub.
The programme included more than 60 performances from artists like Fatboy Slim, Moderat, De La Soul, Giggs, Blawan, Exos, Ben Klock, Forest Swords, Helena Hauff, and Sleigh Bells, among many others. As always, Sónar Reykjavik also showcased some of the artists who best represent today’s Icelandic scene.
Red Bull Music Academy also continued its relationship with the festival, presenting a selection of alumni at SonarDôme including Marie Davidson, Vatican Shadow, and Sapphire Slows.
The next edition of Sónar Reykjavík will take place from March 16 – 17 2018.
