The Festa Major de Vilafranca del Penedès 2026 has unveiled a broad musical programme that combines some of the most recognisable names on the current Catalan scene with party bands, DJs, orchestras and the traditional music that accompanies one of the city’s biggest celebrations. The line-up was revealed during a public presentation hosted by Roger Santacana, Carlota Castellano, Carles Mata, Susana Jordán and Marc Álvarez, who turned the announcement into an interactive music quiz with La Cara B, using clues and excerpts from songs to gradually disclose this year’s artists.
One of the strongest names on the bill is Auxili, the Valencian band whose mix of reggae, ska and socially conscious songs has made them a familiar presence at festivals and popular celebrations across the Catalan-speaking territories. Urban music will have an equally prominent place with 31 FAM, one of the groups that helped establish a new generation of Catalan trap and urban pop, while Svetlana will bring their irreverent, highly theatrical take on contemporary electropop.
The programme also includes La Ludwig Band, whose combination of folk, rock and literate pop has turned them into one of the most distinctive Catalan bands of recent years, and Al·lèrgiques al Pol·len, another increasingly established name from the new Catalan pop scene. They will be joined by Remei de Ca la Fresca, with their idiosyncratic blend of rock and alternative sounds, and Lecocq, adding further independent and emerging music to the Festa Major stages.
There will be plenty of room for dancing as well. Derrumband will bring their rumba-driven live show to Vilafranca, while Sabor de Gràcia represents the long tradition of Catalan rumba. Baya Baye, Els Beta, La Troupe, Jolly Damper, Miquel del Roig and Banda Neon broaden a programme that is clearly designed to move between concert listening and full-scale Festa Major celebration.
Another of the eye-catching proposals is ABBA The New Experience, a tribute to the Swedish group and its long catalogue of pop classics. The programme also features several bands specialising in covers and large party sets, including Big Mouthers, La Nit del Canet, La Banda del Coche Rojo, Los 80 Principales and D-Covers, ensuring that familiar songs from different generations remain part of the late-night programme.
Electronic music and DJ sessions will run alongside the live bands. The line-up includes DJ Khala, DJ Totiako, La Cara B, PD Zorras, DJ Rosario, DJ Ayats and DJ K-ZU, as well as a Festa Flaix FM, adding an explicitly club-oriented side to the celebrations. Markos amb “K” also appears in a bill that deliberately moves between traditional Festa Major formats and the music currently filling clubs and youth festivals.
Vilafranca has not forgotten the more traditional side of its musical identity. Orquestra Liberty and La Principal de la Bisbal will provide the classic orchestra format, while Cobla Catània represents the cobla tradition. The Festa Major will also include a nineteenth-century-style ball de gralles with Els Carreter, as well as another ball de gralles featuring Canya d’Or and Els Quatrevents.
The daytime programme will have its own live soundtrack through the traditional concerts vermut, this year featuring Filibusters and Aixopluc, while Xató and Mar i Vent will perform havaneres. Meanwhile, Ambauka adds a family-oriented musical proposal to a programme intended to cover audiences of different ages rather than concentrating all of the music into the late-night slots.
An important role will once again belong to the musicians who accompany the Festa Major itself. Banda de Cardona has been chosen as the official band of the Festa Major de Vilafranca 2026, and will provide the musical accompaniment for some of the celebration’s central events, linking the concert programme with the traditional life of the streets.
Taken together, the 2026 line-up makes the musical side of Vilafranca’s Festa Major unusually broad. Auxili, 31 FAM, Svetlana, La Ludwig Band, Al·lèrgiques al Pol·len, Remei de Ca la Fresca, Derrumband and Sabor de Gràcia sit alongside cover bands, DJs, orchestras, gralla groups and havaneres, turning the festival into several overlapping musical programmes rather than a conventional series of headline concerts.
Auxili, 31 FAM, Svetlana, La Ludwig Band and Al·lèrgiques al Pol·len are among the main names of the 2026 programme.