Month: January 2026

For 2026, AVA unveils a huge first wave of artists, including KETTAMA, KNEECAP, ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U, Annie Mac, Honey Dijon, Blawan (Live), Octo Octa b2b Eris Drew, Interplanetary Criminal, Cromby, Cormac, Or:la, Chloé Caillet, Calibre, Holly Lester, Takuya Nakamura, Evian Christ and many more to be announced. 

AVA BELFAST
29 + 30th of May 2026
SIGN UP FOR WEEKEND TICKETS PRE-SALE

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 with punk 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.

Additional artists announced include Interplanetary Criminal, Octo Octa b2b Eris Drew, Blawan (Live), DJ Gigola, Pegassi, Partiboi69, Calibre, Or:la, Chloé Caillet, Takuya Nakamura, Cromby, Cormac, Evian Christ, Surusinghe, 1tbsp, riria, Angel D’Lite, deathtoricky, Huartan, Holly Lester, Sam Girling, Aika Mal, Oblig b2b Hannah, Body Clinic, Puzzy Wrangler, Sophie, Chris Flannigan, CIAN, Matcha, Twitch, Plain Sailing, Cartin, Lorcan Kelly, Princess Glitoris, plus many more still to be announced.

As a festival built from the grassroots up, AVA continues to place community and creative talent at its core. The 2026 edition will introduce new additions across the wider festival experience and programme, reflecting the explosive musical output emerging from the UK and Ireland, alongside AVA’s evolving artistic and experiential elements. These sit alongside some of the most exciting international artists working today. This is the first wave announcement, more artists will be added in the coming months.

Tickets

• Pre-sale weekend tickets go on sale via Resident Advisor at 10:00 am Thurs, 29th January — sign up HERE.
• General release tickets follow at 10:00 am on Friday, 30th January
• Recommended accommodation options — book here.

AVA Belfast 2026 will offer a range of ticketing options to ensure accessibility for all:

• Weekend Tickets – full access across the festival programme.
• Group Tickets – discounted bundles for groups attending together. 
• Deposit / Instalment Tickets – secure your place with a small upfront payment and spread the cost.

Line-up

For its 12th edition, AVA Festival returns with a landmark programme led by KNEECAP, headlining their hometown of Belfast for a defining moment in the festival’s history. KETTAMA, fresh from a breakout year in global club culture will also perform a headline slot, bringing his emotive, high-energy sound, while ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U, crowned DJ of the Year 2025 by Resident Advisor, delivers his signature high-octane, genre-spanning sets. Irish icon Annie Mac joins with her expertly curated DJ selections, alongside Chicago house icon Honey Dijon, whose influence spans music, fashion and culture.

Making their AVA debuts, Interplanetary Criminal brings bass-driven UK club energy, Octo Octa b2b Eris Drew delivers deeply emotive, genre-fluid sets, and Blawan (Live) unleashes raw, industrial techno. Elsewhere, DJ Gigola, Pegassi, and Partiboi69 inject pace, personality and peak-time intensity across the programme. More globally respected and forward-thinking artists on the bill include Chloé Caillet, Takuya Nakamura, Evian Christ, Surusinghe, 1tbsp, and Angel D’Lite.

Championing Irish talent remains central to AVA’s ethos. Calibre, Cormac, Or:la, and Belfast-born, Berlin-based Cromby sit alongside experimental West Belfast collective Huartan, Northern Irish force Holly Lester, and a wide-reaching showcase of local and national artists representing the depth of Ireland’s contemporary electronic scene. AVA 2026 promises a powerful convergence of world-class headliners, boundary-pushing electronic music and a defining celebration of Irish culture, community and creativity.

To mark the line-up announcement, AVA has collaborated with London-based Irish Director Hugh Mulhern on a bespoke animated short film. Drawing inspiration from this year’s line-up, the AVA community, and the road to AVA 2026, the film captures the pulse of Belfast — its humour and creative spirit. Layered with playful details, it’s a celebration of the city that shaped AVA.

“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.”
–Sarah McBriar – Founder & Creative Director – AVA Festival

“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.”
–Emmett Costello – Senior Curator – AVA Festival