HorstFestival today unveils its 2026 talks programme, completing the full picture of this year’s edition: a cultural platform where music, art, architecture and discourse converge as one continuous experience.
Returning to Asiat Park from May 14–16, 2026, Horst continues to evolve beyond the format of a traditional festival. Across three days, its programme unfolds as a living organism, shaped by collaboration, experimentation and shared presence,where dancefloors, spatial interventions and conversations operate in dialogue.
A talks programme embedded in the festival itself
This year, the talks programme brings together multiple voices and perspectives already circulating across dancefloors, studios and communities, opening them up, holding them in common, and moving them forward collectively.
Taking place in a newly designed space by Eline Dewit, the Rain Room is reimagined as a space for exchange. Speakers and audiences sit in the round, dissolving traditional hierarchies, while questions and reflections are woven throughout each session rather than reserved for the end.
Across five sessions, the programme traces key conversations shaping contemporary culture today:
Kitchen Table Talk: Black Art is White Money
Presented by FOR ALL QUEENS!, Kitchen Table Talk introduces a format that moves beyond representation and visibility to centre the kinds of conversations that usually happen behind closed doors. Gathering around the statement “Black Art is White Money,” the session creates space to reflect, challenge and hold each other accountable, mapping the tensions between visibility and compensation across artistic and cultural practice. With Lynnée Denise, Mayowa Lynette and Madison Moore, moderated by Olave Basabose.
Community-building and local ecosystems
Focusing on the infrastructures that sustain scenes at a local level, this session brings together perspectives from organisers and cultural practitioners working directly within their communities. It explores how ecosystems are built, maintained and evolved through collaboration, shared resources and long-term commitment. With Jeff Van Hoek, Kamaal and Ariana Van Tongerloo.
On grief, assembly, ritual and remembrance
In an age marked by constant exposure to loss, this conversation considers how the collective assembly of bodies can act as a form of resistance, pushing back against the normalisation of death, disposability and invisibility. Drawing from two major artistic commissions presented at Horst 2026, Paul Maheke’s The Rise and Fallon Mayanja’s Hymn, the session situates mourning, memory and ritual within the context of a festival, where celebration and remembrance coexist. With Paul Maheke, Fallon Mayanja and Magali Elali, moderated by Evelyn Simons.
Equitable cultural infrastructures
As cultural production becomes increasingly shaped by access, funding and institutional frameworks, this session addresses what it means to build more equitable systems. It looks at the structures that underpin cultural work, and how they can be reshaped to support a broader range of practices, voices and communities. With Aliki Loizidis, Jaume Mayol, Emma Cogné and Pia Sirén.
The Cost of Staying Independent — Between Autonomy and Survival
As financial pressure mounts across the cultural sector, this conversation explores the tensions between independence and sustainability. Rising costs, shifting expectations and the growing presence of investment are redefining how festivals, clubs and platforms operate, raising urgent questions around what forms of resistance, adaptation or reinvention remain possible. With Arni Atta, Elisa Luengo, Karoline Lucks and Marc Steens, moderated by Chal Ravens.
A music programme shaped by evolution, not repetition
At its core, Horst remains a home for independent club culture. The 2026 music programme brings together over 120 artists, spanning generations and geographies, and foregrounding depth, intention and long-term cultural resonance.
This year’s lineup bridges foundational figures and forward-facing voices, with highlights including Todd Edwards, Stacey Hotwaxx Hale, Gilles Peterson & MC Rob Galliano and Daphni, alongside artists shaping the next wave of club music such as DJ Swisha, Ehua, Moxie, Yu Su, Carré and DJ Fart in the Club.
Collaborative and back-to-back formats further underline the programme’s focus on dialogue and exchange, with sets including Call Super & Parris present Can You Feel The Sun, livwutang & Priori, Beatrice M. & Mankiyan, DJ Bus Replacement Service & quest?onmarq and Night Moves (Jade Seatle & Jane Fitz).
Live and hybrid performances remain central, with appearances from Barker (live), Om Unit presents Acid Dub Studies, OK EG (live), Takuya Nakamura and Jump Source (Priori & Patrick Holland), as well as Kaito-Kai (Kaito Winse & Palmbomen II).
The Belgian scene takes a leading role, with artists including AliA, Altinbas, Ben Kamal, Clara D, DJ Rino, Mankiyan, Nefeli, ONEY and Shabz appearing across key moments in the programme — reflecting Horst’s ongoing role as a platform where local scenes grow through continuity and shared context.
Art, architecture and the site as a living organism
Horst’s identity continues to be shaped by its approach to space. At Asiat Park — a former military base transformed into a year-round cultural site — architecture and art are not scenography, but active agents in the festival experience.
The 2026 programme brings together a wide range of visual artists, performers and architects, including Bureau Bas Smets, Eline Dewit, L’ÉQUIPE architectes, TEd’A arquitectes, TAKK (Mireia Luzárraga & Alejandro Muiño), Overflow and Delphine Dénéréaz, alongside multidisciplinary and performance practices by Paul Maheke, Fallon Mayanja, apolemia and Lisa Vereertbrugghen.
Additional artistic contributions come from Emma Cogné & Flore Fockedey, Marilou Dejans & Nel Maertens and Queereeoké, reflecting the breadth of practices embedded across the site.
These works unfold through site-specific commissions, scenographic interventions and spatial reconfigurations — transforming the park into an evolving stage for play, introspection and communion.
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