Bilbao is a city known for its superb mix of culture, history and maritime prowess. One other notable thing that this city is known for is its annual hosting of the Bilbao BBK Live festival. This awesome music festival features rock and pop music and attracts some of the world’s greatest artists for 3 days during the beginning of July.

Held high up on the slopes of Mount Cobetas, BBK Live is a truly mesmerizing experience and one of the best-known music festivals of its kind in Spain. If you are interested in the Spanish music scene, this guide presents everything you need to know about the Bilbao BBK Live festival – enjoy!

Bilbao BBK Live – A brief history

During July 2005, the city government initially wanted to create a street racing circuit for the Formula Renault 3.5 competition – this was how unsuccessful. To fill the void and to create a summer event that would attract visitors to Bilbao, a music festival was instead developed and thus the Bilbao Live Festival was born.

The first edition of the festival was hugely successful with over 40 different live acts participating and there was an attendance of over 50,000 which was considered superb for the initial attempt. From 2007 onwards, the event has been sponsored by Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa who is a savings bank, hence the name change to the Bilbao BBK Live festival. Since the initial year, the festival has continually increased in size and now attracts over 100,000 music lovers from around the globe. The festival has attracted some legendary acts such as Guns N’ Roses, The Cardigans, Iron Maiden, and Coldplay.

Bilbao BBK Live 2018 – everything you need to know

If you are considering attending the BBK Live festival the below information provides an outline of exactly what you can expect from the 2018 edition:

Tickets & Wristbands

It is possible to purchase tickets for the festival online through the official Bilbao BBK Live website here. There are several different types of ticket available, all of which are listed below:

– 3 Day ticket: 155.00 Euros
– Daily ticket: 60.00 Euros (for any of the three days)
– Camping: 10 Euros for 4 nights

It is also possible to purchase tickets through third-party vendors but to ensure you are not disappointed we recommend using the official Bilbao BBK Live website.

Location

Bilbao BBK Live is actually held at a purpose-built venue on the slopes of Mount Cobetas which is to the southeast of the city center. The venue covers over 46 acres and is actually the largest park in Bilbao. To get to the venue, you must cross over the 119 route and through the small village of Altamira up the slopes of Cobetas. The actual festival area is composed of three main stages, a VIP zone, a DJ tent, two camping areas, a whole section dedicated to food and drink, and various backstage facilities.

If you are coming by car, you can leave it during the whole festival in the indoor car parking so it’s the perfect opportunity to take a trip to Bilbao by car. You can hire a car with Drivalia at Bilbao’s airport.

Camping Facilities

If you want the full festival experience then it is possible to bring your own tent and camp for the three day period. The campground is located just 3km from the actual festival stage area and has a capacity for 12,000 people. The area is beautiful and offers great views of Bilbao and the surrounding countryside, furthermore, the facilities are spot on and adequate for all your camping needs. To reassure you of the quality of the campsite, it has actually won several awards such as the Iberian Best Camping Site of 2017. You can find a full list of info and camping rules here.

Line-up

This year’s line-up is simply phenomenal with some truly epic acts taking to the stage to provide the experience of a lifetime. We have broken down the line-up into each individual day and have given a brief overview of the main acts you can see:

Thursday 12th June
– Childish Gambino
– Florence and the Machine
– Bomba Estero

Friday 13th June
– My Bloody Valentine
– The Chemical Brothers
– Anteros
– Borrokan
– Dark DJ

Saturday 14th June
– Gorillaz
– Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
– Ana Curra
– Hot Chip Megamix
– Benjamin Clementine

As you can see there is a superb mix of musical styles and something to suit everyone’s tastes – from rock and roll and Indie, to pop and dance. The full line-up can be found here on the official BBK Live website. We hope you have found this guide useful – why not book your tickets today and start your Bilbao BBK Live festival experience?