Festival Sonora marks its 20th anniversary with three days of concerts at Plaza de Santa Ana

Festival Sonora, the longest-running emerging-bands competition in the Canary Islands, returns to the Plaza de Santa Ana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on the eve of its 20th anniversary with an edition that expands to three nights of concerts, on 16, 17 and 18 October 2026. The organisers unveiled the full line-up and programme at a press event held in the courtyard of the Casas Consistoriales.

According to the organisers, this is the "best line-up in the festival's history", with more than 70% of the artists coming from the Canary Islands. The event will feature 11 concerts and marks Sonora's return to the Plaza de Santa Ana after several years at other venues. The previous edition drew around 10,000 people, according to figures provided by the organisers.

Day-by-day line-up

The opening night on Friday 16 October will be anchored in urban music and pop. Heading the bill are Barry B, the project of Burgos-born Gabriel Barriuso, and Gran Canaria's own Juseph. They will be joined by Daniela Garsal, Nacho LPZ and Juli & Mckenzy, as well as Good Franco, one of the winning bands from the Sonora 2026 competition.

Saturday 17 October shifts register towards rock and guitars. Murcia band M-Clan, fronted by Carlos Tarque, closes their 30th-anniversary tour in the Gran Canarian capital. They are joined by Extremadura's Sanguijuelas del Guadiana, British trio The Molotovs and Los Blody, the other winning band from the Sonora 2026 competition. Good Franco and Los Blody were jointly crowned winners of the contest in April — a competition that attracted nearly 200 entries, according to Canarias7.

Friday and Saturday concerts are free admission, subject to capacity.

Efecto Pasillo Sinfónico: a charity closing night

On Sunday 18 October at 19.30, Sonora premieres the show Efecto Pasillo Sinfónico, in which the Gran Canarian band — comprising Iván Torres, Javi Moreno, Arturo Sosa and Nau Barreto — reinterprets some of their best-known songs alongside the Orquesta Universitaria Maestro Valle and the Barrios Orquestados project. The evening will have a charity admission price, with all proceeds going directly to Barrios Orquestados. Tickets are already on sale on the festival's website.

José Brito, director of the Orquesta Universitaria Maestro Valle and of Barrios Orquestados, explained that the project came about at the initiative of the Sonora organisation, building on the band's own prior desire to explore a symphonic format. Six arrangers — Eduardo Purriños, Daniel Roca, Carlos Vega, Álvaro Lorente, Manuel Bonino and Marcos Pulido — have produced the orchestral arrangements for the twelve songs that make up the concert, among them Pan y mantequilla, No importa que llueva, Cuando me siento bien and Funketón.

Sources differ on the precise number of performers: eldiario.es reports around 50 musicians from the Orquesta Universitaria Maestro Valle performing alongside the band, while other outlets including Diario de Avisos, Creativa Canaria and modofestival.es put the total ensemble at close to 60 musicians. Modofestival.es notes that the official communications confirm the symphonic nature of the event and its social dimension, but do not give a fixed number of performers. Iván Torres, the band's vocalist, said the key would be "finding the balance so that the orchestra gets the prominence it deserves and the arrangements can shine". The band marks its own 20th anniversary in 2027.

New features and institutional backing

Among the new additions to this edition is the launch of Laboratorio Sonora, a professional forum planned for November focused on training, networking and the challenges facing the music industry, as well as its engagement with the Womex Las Palmas de Gran Canaria fair.

The launch event was attended by Las Palmas de Gran Canaria mayor Carolina Darias; Sonora executive producer Santi Gutiérrez; its director, Juan Salán; Cabildo de Gran Canaria culture councillor Guacimara Medina; and Cristóbal de la Rosa, Director General of Cultural Innovation at the Gobierno de Canarias. The festival is sponsored by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the Gobierno de Canarias, has a budget of 500,000 euros according to Canarias7, and forms part of the city's bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2031.