Barcelona's Sónar festival will no longer take place in 2021.

The plan to call off this year's event, which had been due to run from June 17 to 19, makes this the second year that the festival's organisers have been forced to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sónar hopes to return in 2022, running from June 15 to 18. It joins the likes of Primavera Sound and Glastonbury in postponing plans to 2022.

Despite the cancellation of this year's festivals, Sónar is planning two new in-person events in Barcelona for this year, scheduled for October 30 and 27. The first of those, the AI and Music Festival, will focus on the growing role of artificial intelligence in music production while the second, SónarCCCB, will combine live performances with talks and more from the technology-focused Sónar+D programme. Both will take place in-person and online.