Le Guess Who? is a leading international festival, celebrated for presenting groundbreaking music in inspiring ways. Artists from all over the world offer new perspectives on what is possible in music, and collectively provide insight into the awe-inspiring diversity of human creativity.
From 5-8 November, Le Guess Who? celebrates its 20th Anniversary Edition in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The festival now reveals its full 2026 line-up, after previously announcing festival curators aja monet, KMRU, Los Thuthanaka and Tropical Fuck Storm, as well as the special program 24 HOUR DUB, and performances by a.o. Yasuaki Shimizu, Dirty Three, Ibex Band, Lillian Allen and Ángeles Toledano.
Joining Le Guess Who? 2026 are a.o. Martina Camargo, one of the most distinctive voices of the tambora and a bearer of its ancestral knowledge. Cellist and composer Okkyung Lee presents the new project ‘gyeol’, which interweaves Korean traditional instrumentation, experimental improvisation and avant-garde composition to create a sound world that resists categorization. Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nirosta Steel—formerly a frequent collaborator of Arthur Russell—performs following the release of MY SKYSCRAPER; an album spanning 40 years of recorded output that moves freely between sensual art-folk, left field disco, experimental synth-pop, dub, funk and Balearic house. The multi-disciplinary performance Pitch, Pigeon, Puerta is an exploration of sound and movement, in which producer and musician Kelman Duran, artistic researcher and composer AGF, movement artist Kiani del Valle and visual artist Theresa Baumgartner question our conditioning towards different voices and languages, and how this influences our perception of the world.
Added to aja monet's curated program for the festival are Palestinian MC, singer and producer Shadia Mansour, known as "The First Lady of Arabic Hip-Hop"; R&B and neo soul musician Cody ChesnuTT, who—after a 13-year hiatus—presents his new project MAKING SCIENCE SIMPLE; and Alsarah & The Nubatones, a group exploring Nubian 'songs of return', modern migration patterns and the cultural exchanges between Sudan and Egypt with a sound that they dubbed ‘East-African retro-pop’.
Radio Alhara and Wonder Cabinet return to Le Guess Who? to present a series of special performances. BETHLEHEM is a mourning sound piece, blending sacred choral tradition with experimental electronic music, presented by Lawrence Sammour—tenor and head of the Church of the Nativity’s choir for over fifty years—together with electronic musician, sound designer and producer Sary Moussa and composer Abed Kobeissy. Mai Mai Mai's electronic and research-based practice meets flutist and yargul master Osama Abu Ali in a special collaboration; and musician, producer, sound engineer and educator Fadi Tabbal presents a solo performance following his show at Le Guess Who? in 2025 with Snakeskin.
Sounds of Cabo Verde
Le Guess Who? presents Sounds of Cabo Verde in collaboration with Tabanka Records and FAROFFA. This program is dedicated to the diversity of Cabo Verde music culture, its traditions and the Cabo Verdean diaspora in the Netherlands. The program features Nancy Vieira, one of the island's most expressive and representative voices with a beautiful mix of Cabo Verdean musical tradition and contemporary sensibility; Sima nos é só nos, who bring the soul of Cabo Verde to life through batuku, a traditional style of music and dance performed by women as a form of community, resistance and storytelling; Grupo Pilon, one of the longest-running funaná bands outside of Cabo Verde; and more. Sounds of Cabo Verde takes place on Saturday, 7 November, at De Helling in Utrecht.
Le Guess Who? & U? present totally wired
Le Guess Who? and U? team up to present totally wired, in collaboration with Antipode, Girls to the Front, OCCII and ZALZALA. Built on shared knowledge and collective energy, this freely accessible program celebrates DIY culture, the communities that shape it, and the connections forged across borders through local scenes, diasporas and intersections. The program features a collective zine launch, a workshop, an exhibition, screenings, a market of local artists and distros, and a line-up connecting different shades of punk and bringing together exciting and loud voices. totally wired takes place on Saturday, 7 November, at dB's in Utrecht.
COSMOS presents Baltic Rehearsals
Le Guess Who?'s hybrid platform COSMOS presents Baltic Rehearsals, a residency project that celebrates new music from Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn. Initiated by COSMOS Embassy ICRN (Independent Community Radio Network), alongside two of its member radio stations, Tīrkultūra and IDA, the project brings together four pairs of artists to produce new music; all of whom are deeply connected to the local experimental music scenes of these cities. These solo and collaborative performances will also be broadcast live via Refuge Worldwide.
Tickets
Remaining Day Passes are on sale now; Friday Passes and 4-Day Passes are sold out. We also offer tickets for CJP & U-pas members.
This year, Le Guess Who? offers separate tickets at a reduced price for specific venues. The following Venue Passes are available: 24 HOUR DUB at KABUL à GoGo (4PM on Saturday 7 November - 4PM on Sunday 8 November) and a club night with Octo Octa & Eris Drew, Hervé and jannah at WAS. (Saturday 7 November). Tickets are available at leguesswho.com/tickets.
