AVA Belfast – We had the opportunity to chat with Ciaran Bittles from AVA, who filled us in about next weekends festival. AVA is an Audio Visual Arts Festival that celebrates, amplifies and develops electronic music, visual art and immersive technology.
Named ‘one of the world’s most exciting electronic festivals’ by Mixmag in 2022, AVA has been described by The Independent as a ‘Cultural Catalyst’, by the Irish Times as ’Ireland’s Most Innovative Electronic Music Festival’ and by the Guardian as ‘One of the Top Ten City Music Festivals in the UK’.
AVA Belfast will return to the iconic Titanic Slipways on 29–30 May 2026, marking the 12th edition of one of the UK and Europe’s leading festivals celebrating music, visual arts, community and contemporary culture.
AVA Belfast returns with a headline programme that captures the festival’s forward-thinking approach to electronic music and contemporary culture. As always, AVA’s line-up nurtures and celebrates both Irish homegrown talent, whilst bringing heavyweight names into Belfast for an unmissable union at Titanic Slipways.
Led by Belfast rap trio KNEECAP, whose incendiary live shows fuse Irish-language lyricism withpunk attitude and political bite, the line-up also features Irish dancefloor heavyweight KETTAMA, delivering high-impact techno and house rooted in rave culture.
Japanese underground innovator ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U brings hypnotic, groove-led techno shaped by Tokyo’s club scene, while broadcaster and DJ Annie Mac continues her legacy of championing cutting-edge electronic music through euphoric, expertly crafted sets. Chicago
house icon Honey Dijon brings decades of influence across music, fashion and culture, grounding the programme in house music’s radical roots while pushing it firmly forward.
Sarah McBriar,Founder & Creative Director of AVA Festival said “As AVA Festival enters its twelfth year in 2026, it continues to be shaped by a long-standing commitment to platforming creativity, nurturing innovation, and celebrating artistry across music and culture. For over a decade, AVA has been a safe & inclusive space where new ideas take form and emerging voices find their moment — from landmark live performances on home ground to artists stepping into global recognition. Our role as a festival is to curate, reflect culture and bring forward raw and undeniable artistic talent and to create a shared space and freedom for an audience to explore, engage and emotionally connect with a wide range of sounds & genres.
We programme artists, not because everyone will agree with them, but because their work resonates and reflects their lived experience. That has always been the role of art; and that spirit remains at the core of this year’s programme: a forward-looking, boundary-pushing gathering rooted in music & culture.”
Emmett Costello, Senior Curator of AVA Festival said, “We’re delighted to announce our first 50 Acts for AVA Belfast 2026. With 75% of the lineup built around artists from Ireland and the UK, we are really proud to continue to be supporting and platforming local talent, as well as bringing in 12 debut performances to Belfast. This year we’ve carefully curated a programme spanning multiple genres including both Kneecap and Kettama’s return to Belfast for headline performances, Blawan’s mind bending new live show, the Belfast debut’s of Octo Octa B2B Eris Drew and Japanese multi-instrumentalist Takuya Nakamura, as well as key sets from local heroes Calibre, Cromby, Or:la, Holly Lester, Huartan plus many more.”
AVA Belfast – We had the opportunity to chat with Ciaran Bittles from AVA, who filled us in about next weekends festival. AVA is an Audio Visual Arts Festival that celebrates, amplifies and develops electronic music, visual art and immersive technology.
Named ‘one of the world’s most exciting electronic festivals’ by Mixmag in 2022, AVA has been described by The Independent as a ‘Cultural Catalyst’, by the Irish Times as ’Ireland’s Most Innovative Electronic Music Festival’ and by the Guardian as ‘One of the Top Ten City Music Festivals in the UK’.
