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Sonora Festival 2026 closes a historic edition in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
The Sonora Festival 2026 brought a “historic” edition to a close last weekend in the Plaza de Santa Ana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with more than 16,000 spectators filling the urban venue across Friday and Saturday.
A growing young audience for Canarian talent
In a statement, the organisers highlighted the high proportion of young spectators who have joined the festival’s audience over the last two editions, drawn by Canarian talent from the urban scene. This year that scene was represented by Juseph, Daniela Garsal, Nacho LPZ and Juli & Mckenzy, alongside one of the national bets of 2026, Barry B, and Good Franco, the band that won the Sonora 2026 competition.
Urban sounds, rock and a symphonic premiere
The organisation set out to design a line-up that could accommodate the urban sounds that are trending and serve as a reference for new generations; the rock and guitar-driven language that has been part of the project’s history since its beginnings; and the fusion of symphonic music with pop rock through the premiere of Efecto Pasillo Sinfónico. That project took the Gran Canarian band’s most emblematic songs into orchestral territory alongside the Orquesta Universitaria Maestro Valle and Barrios Orquestados, and provided the grand finale at the closing ceremony.
Ahead of the 20th anniversary in 2027
On the eve of Sonora’s 20th anniversary, which will be marked in 2027, the festival has once again established itself as the major live music event of October in the Gran Canarian capital. Saturday’s programme featured artists of the calibre of the Murcian band M-Clan, Extremadura’s Sanguijuelas del Guadiana, the British outfit The Molotovs and Los Blody, winners of the competition.
Efecto Pasillo Sinfónico brings the curtain down
The grand finale to this historic edition of the Sonora Festival 2026 was the exceptional Efecto Pasillo Sinfónico concert. A premiere production driven by Sonora, it brought together around 150 people on stage, including musicians and singers, with the Gran Canarian band Efecto Pasillo: singer Iván Torres, Javi Moreno on drums, Arturo Sosa on bass and Nau Barreto on guitars, plus Tato Latorre as musical director and on guitars and keyboards. They were joined by the Orquesta Universitaria Maestro Valle de Barrios Orquestados, conducted by José Brito, with 60 musicians, and two choirs: the Orfeón Tagoror, a participatory choir with 58 adult voices from Barrios Orquestados, and the Coro Infantil Barrios Encantados, made up of 22 children, under the direction of Héctor Rodríguez de Armas.
Registration for Sonora 2027 opens on 1 December
The Sonora organisation already has its sights set on the 20th anniversary edition, which will be marked in 2027, with registration for the Sonora 2027 competition opening on 1 December. It is a special call that offers a new opportunity for solo artists and emerging projects of any musical style to submit their proposals. Entries can be made through the festival’s website.
It is a renewed commitment to talent and to the music of the Islands and its protagonists, in a competition that once again firmly champions creativity, innovation and diversity. The organisation points out that any musical proposal may be submitted, whether urban, pop, rock, singer-songwriter, world music, folk, jazz, contemporary, experimental or electronic, created by a band or artist resident in the Canary Islands, and is open to all formats and all styles, regardless of musical genre.
Sonora is an event sponsored by the Department of Culture of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council, the Culture Department of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Turismo de Gran Canaria, the Government of the Canary Islands and Promotur Turismo de Canarias, with the collaboration of Cadena SER Las Palmas.
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