Patti Smith is to give a concert in Asturias to mark de granting of the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts, commemorating the 50th anniversary of her first performance in Spain

2026 Princess of Asturias Laureate for the Arts Patti Smith is to give a free concert at the Jovellanos Theatre in Gijón to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her first performance in Spain. Organized by the Princess of Asturias Foundation to mark the granting of the Award, the event will take place on 20th October.

The singer herself recalled this milestone in April when she received the news of the Award, stating that she hoped “to arrive in Asturias a few days before the ceremony, because it so happens that next October 20th will mark exactly 50 years since my first concert in Spain.”

Patti Smith will be accompanied on stage by the Patti Smith Quartet, made up of musicians Tony Shanahan, Jesse Smith, Jackson Smith and Seb Rochford. Alongside them, the Laureate will perform some of the most representative songs of her career, combined with poems, reflections and tributes to the artistic figures that have marked her work. 

On 20th October 1976, Smith performed before 5000 people at the Club Juventud Pavilion in Badalona to present her second LP, Radio Ethiopia. They also played songs from her first album, Horses, which had been released a year earlier, and covers of bands such as The Velvet Underground and The Rolling Stones. The press at the time described it as “the first rock’n’roll concert ever seen and heard in this country” and Patti Smith as “pure human energy”.

Space dedicated to Patti Smith

The singer will also count on a space dedicated to paying tribute to her career in a setting inside the former La Vega Arms Factory, Oviedo. Visitors to the installation will be able to delve into Patti Smith's poetic, artistic and biographical universe via different elements of and references to her own musical, artistic and literary influences.

Awards Week

This concert forms part of “Awards Week”, a cultural programme designed by the Foundation that includes the participation of the Princess of Asturias Laureates in a variety of activities during the days leading up to the Awards Ceremony at the Campoamor Theatre. Since 1996, the Foundation has scheduled different activities in diverse locations in Asturias aimed at making the Laureates and their contributions to the world of science, culture or any other field in which they work better known to society at large.

Admission to all “Awards Week” events is free.

The Foundation will announce the complete programme of activities in the coming weeks, as well as how to register to attend the different events.