The British singer-songwriter James Blunt inaugurated this Tuesday the tenth Jardins Pedralbes Festival performing some of his greatest hits included in the album The Stars Beneath My Feet (2004-2021), which features songs like You're beautiful or Monsters.
The 36-concert program of the Pedralbes festival will run until July 24 and also includes performances by Simply Red, Jethro Tull, Patti Smith, Raphael, Tom Jones, Aha, Alan Parsons, Marco Antonio Solís, Paul Anka, Juanes, Yann Tiersen, Jessie J or Crystal Fighters, among others. The festival is sponsored by Banco Sabadell and other companies such as Fiatc Seguros and the budget for this edition is around 4 million euros. In 2021, it registered nearly 100,000 attendees at the 42 concerts offered, with an occupancy of 95.93% and 33 sold-out performances.
Jardins Pedralbes, which managed to be held during the pandemic with spectator limitations, now returns with the full capacity of its main stage ---2,400 people for concerts with all the audience seated and 3,400 people with part of the audience standing---. But it has seen its outdoor space for the restaurant area and the so-called Village, where emerging artists perform, reduced, because the Barcelona City Council set new conditions this year that limit the use of the idyllic eight-hectare garden of the Royal Palace to only half a hectare.
Concert Studio, the organizing company, highlights that the alternative stages are an opportunity for emerging artists to make themselves known to an audience interested in culture and live music. Each day there will be a concert on the two stages located in the Village. The restaurateurs who will be at the festival this year are Flash Flash, Il Giardinetto, Kao Street, Pizza del Born, Carmen Barcelona, Makito and Sauleda Pastissers.
Solidarity Actions
In addition to the Festival Jardins Pedralbes Solidarity Night, which will celebrate its fourth edition this year, and whose proceeds will go to the San Juan de Dios Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona, the festival has recently announced the hiring of 10 Ukrainians who will be part of the musical event's team, thus favoring access to work for refugees.