Playground magazine

The first time you attend a festival, the memory will be with you forever. It becomes part of your sentimental education, a point of reference when you need to remember your defining moments. It's like your first kiss, or your best vacation. Do you remember your first festival? We bet you do. It's that magical experience, a first contact with emotional powers you didn't know: the company, the weather, the new friendships, the music, seeing bands up-close you had been waiting for a long time to see. There's a ritual and joy that transcend the physical, intangible: it's like a rite of passage from innocence to something more profound. And among the festivals that can wake up those emotions, is San Miguel Primavera Sound.

That said, could a documentary series be a physical experience as well? If a bass line hits you in the gut, if you feel big among thousands of people, if The Festival is your natural habitat, you'll know what we're talking about. That feeling that nothing has changed but everything is different. A feeling you don't ever want to lose again.

Soon, both PlayGround and SanMiguel TV will feature a special piece we've been working on for two intense years. We’ve given it our all, to come up with an audio-visual effort that manages to explain the emotion mentioned above: the connection with the audience and the music, the excitement. The piece is called “Primavera”, a documentary, produced by San Miguel and PlayGround - in collaboration with Primavera Sound and Centset - that aims to document what goes on at Spain's festival of the year, and what the rules are in that world.

“Primavera” tells its story through the artists playing at the event and the audience, reliving that physical experience that is the music, full of iconic images: happy faces, a picnic on the grass, a singer's confession they need to get off their chest, a sunset, a tribute to the original, collectivity, a kiss, dancing in slow motion, and breaking with the norm in order to vindicate something new. A documentary that isn't just a look at a festival, but also a reflection (incorporating fiction and study) on the cycles of life, emotions and the awakening of new things.

“Primavera”, starting late September on PlayGround, is a documentary in four parts, asking questions and daring to look for the answers. Each of the chapters is a reflection of the modern spirit, its longings and needs, in the almost mythical context of a festival. It’s visually cutting edge, a multi-format collage built with images made on 16mm, iPhones, HD and Super 8 cameras.

In the meantime, we leave you with the first trailer (there will be more in the coming weeks): a minute and a half that should give you an initial idea of what you can expect in a few months. We hope you like it.