Bilbao BBK Live announces the special programming for its twentieth anniversary, which is added to the lineup of the festival that will be held on July 9, 10 and 11.
Let us remember that the Bilbao BBK Live lineup will include, among others, artists such as Robbie Williams, David Byrne, Dellafuente, Calvin Harris, hemlocke springs, La Paloma, Lily Allen, IDLES, Interpol, Charlotte de Witte, Richie Hawtin, Alabama Shakes, La MODA, Dani Fernández, Belén Aguilera, CMAT, Belle And Sebastian, Paris Paloma, Ralphie Choo, Tomora, ZAZ, Soulwax, Nu Genea live, Fatoumata Diawara, Yerai Cortés and many more.
But today we have come to talk about something else. These are the special events that the festival adds to celebrate its twenty years of experience. This is a program that will include nine events, five of them newly created, with which Bilbao BBK Live will begin its season throughout this year.
On the one hand, we will have Jose Gonzalez that will bring Bereziak’s programming to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao with a special concert on July 8 as part of this commemoration in the city. Although there will be many more things, such as cinema, sports, classical music and events aimed at giving prominence to “cultural diversity to expand the social and territorial dimension of the festival.” A festival that welcomes forty percent local audiences, forty-four national audiences, and sixteen percent international audiences.
These activities will go beyond Kobetamendi and will extend throughout 2026. As part of this anniversary, an audiovisual piece has also been released that reviews twenty years of history through archival images and iconic moments. The video, edited by Ivan Miñambres from the study Unikorecently awarded the Goya for Best Animated Film for “Decorated”builds a “visual journey through two decades of stages, artists and audiences, linking past and present in the same sequence.”
Regarding activities, on April 10, the Euskalduna of Bilbao will host one of the most unique events of the anniversary: “Orkresta”the symphonic concert by the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa that will reinterpret classics of The Cure, Depeche Mode, Arcade Fire, Pulp, Radiohead, The Strokes, Florence + The Machine, Muse, REM, Guns N’ Roses, Coldplay or Rosalíaamong others. Tickets for this concert are also available on the festival website.
On the other hand, Herrian, Hirian and Mendian will take live music to the streets completely free of charge on May 30 (Durango; Herrianwith a dozen performances), June 6 (Saint Ignatius; Hirianwith around twenty performances) and June 7 (Kobetamendi; Mendianwith the performance of the Cateura Recycled Orchestra, from Paraguay).
In June, the city will once again become a sports venue with Bilbo Jokoanthe Official FIBA 3×3 Competition that will be held on the 12th, 13th and 14th in the center of Bilbao. Promoted together with the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Bilbao City Council. For three days, basketball will take over public space in dialogue with cultural exhibitions and creative proposals, combining sport, youth and environment.
The commemoration of the twentieth anniversary will experience its highest moment, of course, with the celebration of Bilbao BBK Live on July 9, 10 and 11. And as a prelude there will be the concert of Jose Gonzalez that we mentioned at the beginning, although there will be more performances whose tickets are also on sale on the festival website. Remember that this performance has a very limited capacity. The next day, the Bereziak program will once again unfold in different parts of Bilbao with free-access concerts that connect the spirit of the festival with the city that hosts it.
This first preview of the special programming closes with another unprecedented event: Latin Street It will be held at the end of October in the Old Town of Bilbao and will be a meeting point between Latin America and Europe. With the collaboration of the Asocolvas Association and the NGO Mulisol, Calle Latina will celebrate the richness of the Latin alternative scene through rhythms such as reggaetón, dembow, afrobeat, salsa, cumbia, hip hop, trap and guaracha, led by artists from the diaspora and also by those who are already part of the local social fabric. Access will be free and will also have a varied gastronomic offer and various activities.
Finally, the CEO of Last Tour Yurdana Burgoa commented at today’s press conference that a day of concerts dedicated to Basque will be added to the program of this 20th anniversary in Kobetamendi itself during the Sunday of the Bilbao BBK Live weekend. Information that we will know in more detail soon.
You can get passes and tickets for the festival at this same link.
