The line-up | The stages  | Refunds for Björk's cancellation

This May, the world’s discerning dance music fans will turn to São Paulo as Sónar, a Barcelona export and one of the most exciting explorations of electronic sounds around comes to town. The festival will mirror the popular 18-year-old Spanish event, with a weekend of partying, scheduled for the 11 and 12 May 2012, but will combine Sónar’s traditionally separate day-time and after-dark showcases at just one venue, enormous Anhembi Parque. 

Sónar first arrived in São Paulo in 2004, bringing with it the likes of indie act Battles, DJs Jeff Mills and Four Tet and some 24,000 party-hungry revellers, only to disappear again the next year. But now, the forward-thinking festival has teamed up with the Brazilian agency behind Rock in Rio and will run here each spring until 2016 for over 50,000 people each time, making it their second biggest international event. 

The ambitious Brazilian edition is part of a cultural initiative to provide a ‘platform for cutting-edge Catalan culture’, but Sónar’s co-director Enric Palau also hopes it will be a way of discovering fresh music trends, too. ‘It’s a perfect excuse to jam into the local scene and discover new talent to bring back to the original Sónar in Barcelona’, he says. ‘That’s what we did in 2004, which was around the time that the Brazilian funk carioca sound exploded.’

He sees Sónar as a place to nurture artists who are on the fringes of what is popular in Brazil. ‘It’s one of the most musical countries in the world and they love their music,’ he continues, ‘but I must say, at the same time, it’s quite conservative. Sónar is a great opportunity for people making music that’s perhaps not that easy to present in their own country – like experimental electronic music.’
 

The line-up

The line-up includes Chromeo (2am, 12 May) on the Friday night, with Cee Lo Green (10pm, 12 April) and French duo Justice (midnight, 12 April) on the Saturday night. Icelandic star Björk was booked to play on the first night but has unfortunately had to cancel due to vocal chord nodules.

It's not all bad news though. Kraftwerk will be stepping up to replace Björk, adding a whole new dimension to the Sónar line-up. The German group will present the Retrospective 12345678 show, a chronological series, from their album Autobahn, from 1974, to Tour de France, in 2003.

To sample the more experimental side of electronica look out for The Project, a duo made up of German Alva Noto and Japanese Ryuichi Sakamoto (8.15pm, Saturday) with a live blend of classical piano and electronic beats. Squarepusher (3am, Sunday), from the UK, brings jazzy sounds to his heavy bass.

Brazilian band Dago

Among the Brazilian acts, Psilosamples will be playing (4pm, 12 May). Psilosamples' young Zé Rolê, from Minas Gerais, has been causing quite a stir on the alternative scene with his blend of techno and Brazilian folk music. Gui Boratto (4am, 12 May) is another well-respected Brazilian, known for his melodic tehno. Hip hop fans should look out for local stars Emicida (1.30am, 11 May) and Criolo (11.30pm, 11 May). The brainchild behind São Paulo's regular Voodoohop club night –  DJ Thomash – will be spinning at Sónar (5.45pm, 12 May).
 

The stages

The festival venue will be split into three main stages: SonarClub, SonarVillage and SonarHall, with the main artists playing at SonarClub. Explore SonarPro and SonarCinema, too, the first offering workshops and lectures on audio and video production and new technologies. SonarCinema is a partnership between the Catalan film festivals In-Edit (renowned for its music documentaries) and Screen, from Barcelona.

See sonarsaopaulo.com.br for more information.
 

Refund

Due to the Björk cancellation, the organisers are offering people the chance to change their ticket or get a refund. Those wishing to change their ticket to the 12 May instead of 11 May, can go to the official Sónar ticket office at Anhembi Parque, on 9 and 10 May, between 9am and 6pm, and on 11 May from midday until 4am the following morning. Tickets returned to the ticket office with be exchanged on the spot for a ticket for the 12 May. 

Those wishing to be refunded, will be able to request a full refund to the credit card used to make the purchase. For people who bought a two day 'passport' will be able to receive a partial refund.

In order to request the refund, the customer must send an an email to the SAC (customer service) of ingresso.com – atendimento@ingresso.com – in which the subject of the email must be 'Sonarsp – Cancelamento Björk' and the body of the email must include the following details; name, CPF (if you have one), and the ingresso.com order number.

The customer will be sent a confirmation receipt and a request for cancellation will be requested from the operator's credit card within 7 working days.