Mallorca Live Festival establishes itself as the cultural event of the Balearic Islands

A total of 65,000 people visited Mallorca Live Festival on June 13, 14 and 15, enjoying performances from headliners including Blondie, Michael Kiwanuka, Pet Shop Boys and Underworld.  Establishing itself as the most important cultural and musical event of the Balearic Islands with its seventh edition, the festival is also predicted to make an economic impact of over 12 million euros.

A fantastic Debbie Harry owned the stage at the start of the festival leading Blondie, on their first visit to the island and back in Spain after a long time, and the audience euphorically received Mallorcan artist Rels B, who offered an impressive show at home. On this opening day, Dani Fernández revolutionised the venue and Love of Lesbian triumphed with their timeless anthems. The Bresh party and rhythms from around the world hosted by Sa Fonda Deià on Stage 4 – The Club Mallorca were other main acts on Thursday.

The second day was marked by the rave spirit of the legendary Underworld,  the pureness and class of Michael Kiwanuka’s live set and the energy of Lori Meyers’ infallible show. Friday’s eclectic line-up included a magical performance by María José Llergo, the madness of Shame and the Andalusian rock by Derby Motoreta’s Burrito Kachimba, as well as late-night dancing with the DJ set of 2manydjs and the visit of names as unique as Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli, Spanish classic Los Manolos and drag queens to the fun Stage 4 – The Club Mallorca with Flexas as host.

The grand finale to the seventh edition was Pet Shop Boys, who delivered the show that the island had dreamed of for years, and the long-awaited and spectacular show of Aitana, with both names filling the Stage 1 – Estrella Damm’s esplanade. Not far behind were the different rock musical exhibitions of Arde Bogotá, the avant-garde electronic music of The Blaze, the moving indie pop of Belle & Sebastian or the fantasy folklore of Rodrigo Cuevas. The Sunday Sunday party kept the crowd dancing for hours to names like John Talabot and Yu Su, and Jayda G provided the soundtrack as Sunday dawned at the venue.

The festival’s impact In economic matters, the organisation predicts that the festival’s impact will be greater than last year and that in terms of the number of people who worked at the event, there will be an increase over the 2,100 workers in comparison to 2023. Even so, the specific number will come from a study that is being carried out by the University of the Balearic Islands with the impact predicted to exceed 12 million euros.

Mallorca Live Festival establishes itself as a social and musical reference point event for the thousands of residents who, year after year, attend the festival. Once again, the project has become the main ambassador promoting cultural and quality tourism in Mallorca. All of this secured Mallorca Live Festival’s position as a boutique festival amongst the greats. The audience for this edition was divided between 68% of attendees from the Balearic Islands, 20% from the Peninsula and 12% international visitors. In this edition, the concept of a boutique festival was consolidated thanks to the access flow, mobility, fast service at bars, cleanliness, and rest areas. Each of these points has ensured that Mallorca Live Festival offers a satisfactory experience for its attendees. A sustainable stage Another important step the festival took during this edition in terms of sustainability was the implementation of a hybrid battery system in Stage 3 – Endesa (the festival’s sustainable partner), which made it possible to reduce the energy consumption of said stage, which in 2023 had emissions of 1. 41 tCO2.

Happening! Market The design and food market of Mallorca Live, Happening! Market, was once again present at the venue with stalls and food trucks. Vintage clothing, bags, jewellery and crafts are some of the products that could be purchased in this area from local brands and businesses such as Nulina, Lebon, Flamingos, Sari Mallorca and Salvador4men&women and Lovers by SR, amongst others. Within the gastronomic offer, local products also had their place, such as the smash-style burgers prepared in ‘coca de patata’, a traditional sweet from Valldemossa, from Double Take. An assorted selection of foods from around the world and with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free options were available in the market, the Chill Out area and Stage 1 – Estrella Damm. Radio 3 at Mallorca Live Festival The festival was broadcast live nationwide by the Spanish Public Radio music station Radio 3, which this year took to listeners’ homes the performances of the three days of the Mallorca Live Festival with hosts Nacho Álvaro ‘El Patillas’, Leyre Guerrero and Virginia Díaz.The broadcast featured live performances by Love of Lesbian, Shame and Dani Fernández, as well as the full and only concert in Spain by the international band Blondie.  Stage 5 – Radio 3 once again hosted for three days the most interesting up-and-coming acts from the Spanish independent scene, such as Habla de Mí en Presente, Meeky (band selected by the station), Las Odio, Bum Motion Club, B1N0 or Sila Lua, amongst others. Friday and Saturday’s last dances at said stage featured El Patillas and Virginia Díaz on the turntables. IB3 with the Balearic talent During this edition and, for the first time, IB3, the Public Radio and Television Broadcasting Service of the Balearic Islands also had a set at the Mallorca Live Festival venue, which gathered different artists from the Balearic Islands included in this year’s lineup. As a public media outlet, IB3 wanted to give exposure to the musical talent of the islands, and that is why a streaming was carried out during each of the days of Mallorca Live Festival with interviews and audio fragments from concerts by artists such as: María Hein, Ultraviolet, Júlia Colom, The Ripples, El Cairo, Guille Wheel & the Waves, Caspary, Negre and Danïo. A document that can be seen on the IB3 YouTube channel and that will also feature a special Mallorca Live Festival program on IB3 Ràdio in the coming days with Joan Trias. MLF On the Road, the festival’s parallel activities This year, the Mallorcan event presented MLF on the Road, a programme of parallel activities that took music and culture beyond the venue. It started on May 15 with an event at the Gallery Red in Palma, followed by a very special party at Sa Fonda Deià on June 1. As a warm-up before the festival opened and in collaboration with the Palma City Council, the grand opening gala of the ‘Nits a Bellver’ concert cycle took place on June 12 at the city’s unique Castell de Bellver, with acoustic performances by Lori Meyers and Alanaire and a session by DJ Bruno Roth. The final stop was the celebration of the ‘Closing Party’ at the beautiful Balneario de Illetas on Sunday, June 16. The event was attended by sponsors and the festival’s organizational staff, who enjoyed the dreamy sessions by Arena Jäara, Paco Colombàs and one of Spain’s DJ duos of the moment, Mëstiza. 2024 Institutions and sponsors Mallorca Live Festival has had the support of Estrella Damm as main sponsor, Innside by Melià, Endesa (sustainable sponsor), Air Europa, Trasmed, Caixabank (strategic partner), Coca-Cola, Tanqueray 0.0., Logitravel, Pringles, El Corte Inglés, Goldcar, RCD Mallorca and See Tickets as official ticketing platform. Radio 3, Radio Mallorca Cadena SER, Mondosonoro and Jenesaispop have been the official media of the festival. In addition, Mallorca Live Festival has had the support of institutions such as the Government of the Balearic Islands – Conselleria de Turisme, Cultura i Esports through the Agència d’Estratègia Turística de les Illes Balears (AETIB) and the Institut d’Estudis Baleàrics (IEB), with the support of the Consell de Mallorca through the Fundació Mallorca Turisme (FMT) and the Department of Culture and Heritage, and the Calvià City Council.