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Meakusma Festival announces stacked 2026 lineup for Eupen return

 
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Art & Culture
 

Meakusma Festival has confirmed the full lineup for its 2026 edition, returning to the East Belgian city of Eupen from 3–6 September for four days of live performances, DJ sets, installations and workshops spread across the town’s churches, museums, empty shops and its main site at the Alter Schlachthof.

With 140 acts across the bill, this year’s programme leans hard into Meakusma’s signature blend of the experimental and the club-facing. Khoisan artist Garth Erasmus performs with the Broken String Ensemble, while Belo Horizonte baile funk don Anderson do Paraíso and Norwegian-based sound sculptor Carmen Villain bring contrasting takes on rhythm and atmosphere. Senegalese percussion master Dudù Kouate — a longtime Art Ensemble of Chicago collaborator known for playing over 200 self-built instruments – appears solo and alongside cellist Julia Biłat, while Meakusma regular Valentina Magaletti teams up with Maria Bertel of Selvhenter and Japan’s YPY.

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The classical and contemporary end of things gets serious weight this year via a partnership with Ostbelgienfestival. Cologne’s Ensemble Musikfabrik marks the Morton Feldman centenary with two dedicated pieces, and the Nadar Ensemble stages three performances of Raven Chacon’s Pulitzer-winning Voiceless Mass. Elsewhere, a weekend-long installation from Fabio Machiavelli and a rotating sonic sculpture by Vienna’s Peter Kutin (ROTOЯ) push the festival’s site-specific programming further than before.

On the club and dancefloor side, expect sets from Autumns, JASSS, DJ Plead, Sa Pa, 2562 (aka Dave Huismans, presenting his ex_libris project), and Demdike Stare, who bring their Who Owns The Dark audiovisual piece to the Junglingshaus cinema before playing the main hall. Detroit legend Gerald Cleaver joins bassist Brandon Lopez and pianist Pat Thomas for a one-off trio show, and Amsterdam’s Ambassade, Barcelona’s opo, and Spain’s Telva round out a bill that draws from across Europe, Japan, Australia and beyond.

A run of label showcases adds further depth: Brussels/Paris imprint moli del tro, London’s Sagome, Cologne’s ReiheM, and Berlin’s Tax Free Records all bring curated slots, alongside a new collaboration with Norway’s Insomnia Festival pairing Elina Waage Mikalsen with Grisha223.

Multi-day passes for Meakusma 2026 have already sold out, though single-event tickets remain available for those wanting to catch individual performances, and the festival campsite is open to all with an online camping ticket.

Meakusma Festival runs 3–6 September 2026 in Eupen, Belgium.

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Full Lineup:

  • 2562 (Dave Huismans, presenting ex_libris)
  • A Made Up Sound (Dave Huismans)
  • A Two Dogs Company & ICTUS Ensemble — PROTOCOL
  • Adjunct Ensemble (led by Jamie Thompson)
  • Akuma No Numa
  • Ambassade (Pascal Pinkert)
  • Anderson do Paraíso
  • Anushka Chkheidze
  • Autumns
  • Basma
  • Bertel Schollaert (Nadar Ensemble) & Hein Devos
  • Big Hands (Andrea Ottomani) — solo and with MYS
  • Bitsy Knox & Roger 3000
  • Brandon Lopez
  • BRUINE (Emilie Skrijelj, Michael Thieke, Tom Malmendier)
  • Carmen Villain
  • Cherrystones (with Demdike Stare & Meghan Desmond)
  • crys cole & Marja Ahti
  • Demdike Stare (Sean Canty & Miles Whittaker) — Who Owns The Dark + DJ set
  • Dennis Aycicek
  • Detraex Corp
  • DJ Plead
  • Dip Friso
  • Dudù Kouate — solo and with Julia Biłat
  • Elaine Howley
  • Elina Waage Mikalsen
  • Ensemble Musikfabrik
  • EXTRA trio (Peter Evans, Petter Eldh, Jim Black)
  • Fabio Machiavelli (installation, with Ictus Ensemble performing)
  • Falyakon
  • Front Page Leslie
  • Garth Erasmus & Broken String Ensemble (feat. Stefan Schneider)
  • Georg Dietzler / gerngesehen (presenting Julia Bünnagel & Saba Arat, plus Saba Arat workshop)
  • Gerald Cleaver, Brandon Lopez & Pat Thomas
  • Gombeen & Doygen (Morgan Buckley & James Grünfeld)
  • Grace & Raffaella (ML & Vittoria Totale)
  • Grisha223
  • I’A’V (Inês Malheiro, Arianna Casellas, Violeta Azevedo)
  • Ibraham Alfa Jnr
  • Ictus Ensemble
  • Irisplus
  • JASSS
  • Julia Biłat (with Dudù Kouate)
  • Julia Bünnagel
  • k means
  • Klangwart
  • Maika Garnica
  • Maria Bertel (Selvhenter)
  • Meghan Desmond (visual artist, with Demdike Stare)
  • moli del tro crew (DJ set)
  • MYS (with Big Hands)
  • Nadar Ensemble — Raven Chacon’s Voiceless Mass
  • Natasha Pirard
  • opo
  • Pat Thomas
  • Patrick Lechner (with ROTOЯ)
  • Peter Evans — with Anushka Chkheidze and with EXTRA trio
  • Peter Kutin — ROTOЯ (installation, with Patrick Lechner)
  • Petter Eldh (EXTRA trio)
  • Raisa K (Raisa Khan)
  • Rest Symbol
  • Ride TV — see DJ Plead
  • Running out of Time
  • Sa Pa
  • Saba Arat (performance + workshop)
  • Sagome DJ set
  • SSTROM
  • Telva
  • Temir Alcy
  • The Dengie Hundred
  • The Mad Laboratory of Anti-Matter
  • The Ravekoor — performing Cornelius Cardew’s The Great Leaning + own piece
  • Valentina Magaletti — with Maria Bertel and with YPY
  • Violeta García
  • Yeahlena
  • YPY
  • Yu Ching (of Aemong)

Showcases / label partners featured throughout the bill: moli del tro (Brussels/Paris) · Sagome (London) · ReiheM (Cologne) · gerngesehen (Cologne) · TAX FREE RECORDS (Berlin) · Insomnia Festival (Norway, collaboration)

Topics
Demdike stare Meaksuma Violeta García Yeahlena YPY Yu Ching