Ypsigrock 2026 through five key performances

Annahstasia, Wednesday and Deki Alem were among the highlights at the 2026 edition of Sicily’s Ypsigrock Festival.

Set in the hilltop town of Castelbuono on Sicily’s northern coast, Ypsigrock is an intimate, independent festival with a commitment to adventurous programming. Framed by the Madonie Mountains and within easy reach of beaches such as Cefalù and Pollina, its surroundings felt as integral to the experience as the music itself.

Across four days, stages were woven throughout Castelbuono, spanning historic squares and cloisters as well as a pine forest beside the campsite in the Madonie Natural Park. Performances were carefully scheduled to avoid clashes, offering festivalgoers the rare opportunity to experience the programme in full, while the festival’s long-running ‘Ypsi Once’ philosophy – which sees artists appear only once – gave the 2026 edition a distinct identity of its own.

This year’s line-up brought together Black Country, New Road, Dry Cleaning, Cate Le Bon, Horsegirl, The New Eves, TTSSFU, and many more. Here are five performances that stood out across the four days.

The Sound Of This Place

The opening act of the weekend took place in the cloister of the former Convent of San Francesco, now home to the Francesco Minà Palumbo Natural History Museum, which hosts Ypsigrock’s Ypsi & Love Stage each year.

As we stepped onto the cobblestones for the first time, we were greeted by a three-piece experimental project commissioned for the festival: artists from varying backgrounds across Italy, brought together for a week-long residency in Castelbuono to create a collective performance, presented as a world premiere at Ypsigrock 2026.

The performance merged electronic noise and sound design with live instrumentation. Mai Mai Mai’s pulsating distortion melted into Hania Derej’s possessed presence behind her Nord Stage 4, while percussionist Nicolas Remondino explored an array of textures, rummaging through what looked like a treasure chest of found objects to strike and scrape his kit – including, at one point, a massive leaf.

From the off, it felt ritualistic, as if the instrumentalists were holding a conversation with the weather gods – one that summoned a moment of torrential rain from Zeus himself after an eerie opening. As the rain hammered down on the cobbled floor, the musical journey evolved, revealing glimpses of something raw and true, and gradually each festival-goer stepped out from beneath the sheltered edges onto the rain-soaked dancefloor. As the set reached its crescendo, each artist gyrating to the rumbling sound system, the music itself seemed to burn through the clouds, letting the sunshine break through once more and setting festival-goers up for four days of live music.

Annahstasia

Next up was American folk singer-songwriter Annahstasia. On my flight in, I’d had the pleasure of briefly chatting to her touring cellist and double bassist, who put me onto her performance and explained that Annahstasia’s unconventional music-making process involves vocalising her songs in rehearsals and playing by ear, rather than relying heavily on sheet music. So, I headed down early on Friday afternoon to check her out.

As Annahstasia stepped on stage, we were met with authority and delicacy in equal measure. From the outset, it was clear this was an artist with a story to tell.

At this point in the day, the Sicilian crowd were a few Aperol Spritzes down, having a whale of a time chatting away to friends on the sidelines. One guy even screamed “Silenzio!”, but within a couple of songs, Annahstasia had commanded the crowd’s full attention through the power of her voice. Each person clung to every word and every pluck of a string as she moved through tracks new and old, with a standout preview of a new track from an upcoming album. 

Later in the set, she nodded to Jamaican Independence Day before moving into a heartfelt cover of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. Looking up towards the end of her set, I saw two lovers wrapped arm in arm on the upper viewing platform, gazing down at the sea of united heads below as Annahstasia brought her final track to a close, leaving us with a lingering sense of hope and community in such uncertain times.

Gans

After a few days of laid-back Sicilian living, it was a dose of unadulterated, full-throttle energy I was after – and that’s exactly what I got when Birmingham band Gans stepped onto the Ypsi & Love Stage and whipped a riotous crowd into a frenzy.

Within the first 30 seconds, the band had already ordered the crowd into a circle pit. It felt like the moment the weekend had been building towards so far: a balloon of pent-up energy that needed to burst. The band comprises Tom Rhodes on bass/vocals, Tommy ‘Shlugs’ Lawther on flute/saxophone and Euan Woodman on drums/vocals. Every song came at a blistering pace with a fuck-you mentality, but it was ‘Shlugs’ who stole the show, launching himself around the stage, flute in hand, like Ian Dury meets David Byrne on a pack of kerosene-fuelled Nordic Spirit.

Wednesday

North Carolina five-piece Wednesday took to Ypsigrock’s main stage on Thursday night, set against the backdrop of the beautiful  Castello dei Ventimiglia, home to the Palatine Chapel of Sant’Anna and the imposing centrepiece of the festival’s Piazza Castello setting.

Wednesday was the first act I caught on the main stage. As they set up beneath a wash of violet light, crowds perched on the surrounding ruins, pints in hand, while others flocked to the front of the stage for maximum connection. The band tore through 60 minutes of guitar-driven grunge and shoegaze, laced with a hint of small-town country twang.

The packed-out crowd was met with piercing roars from lead singer Karly Hartzman and walls of abrasion from the band on tracks like Pick Up That Knife and Wasp, revealing a larger-than-life side that contrasted with the vulnerability and softness of fan favourites like Elderberry Wine and the more stripped-back moments reflecting on the struggles of small-town life and identity. It was a solid start to the main-stage spectacle that would unfold over the rest of the weekend.

Deki Alem

One for the hands-in-the-air crew, Gothenburg rap duo Deki Alem stepped up to the main stage on the final evening, putting the crowd through their paces with a fierce collision of hip-hop, drum ’n’ bass, jungle and breaks.

The twin duo offered a welcome musical palate cleanser from the general run of alternative and indie bands that had taken the stage in the days before them. Their track House Fire was a highlight, putting the crowd’s stamina to the test after four days of dancing – a call for energy they’d met without hesitation all weekend.