Crack Magazine’s Festival Guide 2026

Where exactly to start with this two-month arts happening, spanning 80 events, 20 venues and 200 interdisciplinary artists? The programme features large-scale exhibitions, talks, workshops, and a frankly wild mix of live performances, audio-visual concerts and spatial sound experiences on the 60-speaker Acousmonium. Among those performing or presenting work are father-and-son duo Mark Fell and Rian Treanor, BJ Nilsen, KMRU and Aho Ssan, Sarah Davachi, Jim O’Rourke and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Get tickets here.

A new music showcase in one of Europe’s prettiest capitals. When you’re not learning how to break into new music markets or admiring Ljubljana’s car-free infrastructure, you’ll find an impressive line-up of 80-plus acts on stages across the city. Highlights include headsy techno traveller Polygonia, purveyor of heartbroken electronica Milan W, Leeds’ ritualistic goth trio Tristwch Y Fenywod, and Ukraine’s Heinali and Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko, interpreting the devotional music of Hildegard von Bingen in stunning, drone-assisted fashion. Get tickets here.

Sonic adventure beckons with this Brussels weekender, named after Trish Keenan’s much-missed band of the same name and inspired by their genre-blurring spirit. This year’s guest curators, filling Ancienne Belgique and various venues across Brussels with diverse sounds, include Keeley Forsyth, Ichiko Aoba and Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’Malley, who presents a showcase of his label Ideologic Organ. Xiu Xiu perform a live score to Eraserhead, while Blixa Bargeld’s industrial pioneers Einstürzende Neubauten close the festival. Get tickets here.