Last weekend, more than 30,000 people attended Sónar São Paulo, the largest festival organized outside Spain by the Barcelona brand in its 19-year history. For two days (11th and 12th May), Anhembi Parque in the city of São Paulo was the venue for 50 shows on 3 stages, as well as talks and demonstrations at SonarPro and screenings at SonarCinema. This placed the Brazilian version of Sónar centre stage in São Paulo's cultural life this year.

The leading lights on the first day (Friday 11th May) were Kraftwerk, presenting their spectacular 3-D show, in which the band looked back over their outstanding catalogue, an essental benchmark for the last 30 years of electronica. Apart from the German outfit, other concerts included those by Chromeo, DOOM, Emicida, Dj Patife vs Dj Marky, Austra and Ricardo Donoso. The latter two acts will be giving us a second helping at Sónar Barcelona in June.

Some of the most acclaimed artists on Saturday were Modeselektor and Squarepusher, who both presented breathtaking audiovisual shows that they will also be bringing to Sónar Barcelona, and the more intimate shows by James Blake (who will give a repeat performance in Barcelona with a dj set) and Mogwai. There was an ovation for Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto and a marvellous reception from the audience for Flying Lotus (one of the heroes of the weekend) and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, who are both also scheduled for Barcelona in June, as well as the Brazilians Psilosamples and Dago.

The festival, which broadcast some of its shows live on YouTube, was watched by thousands of people worldwide. Among the shows that could be viewed live online were those by Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto, Flying Lotus, James Blake, Mogwai, Rustie and Four Tet.

The Brazilian event is part of the festival's international journies this year, which began in Cape Town in March, passed through Tokyo in April and will end on 14th, 15th and 16th June with Sónar Barcelona, the keynote event.

Visit the Sónar São Paulo image gallery.