AL.FESTIVAL 2026

AL.FESTIVAL, Berlin's platform for contemporary music and culture from South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), returns from 2 to 10 October 2026 for its seventh and biggest edition. Refuge Worldwide partners with this festival edition on curating the live-stream stage and hosting daily radio broadcasts.

Organized by AL.Berlin, this year's festival unfolds across clubs, cinemas, community spaces, and cultural venues throughout the city, bringing together musicians, filmmakers, artists, writers, and cultural practitioners from across SWANA and its diasporas.

Opening at 90mil with legendary Palestinian musician Kamilya Jubran and Tunisian singer and activist Baddia Bouhrizi, the festival continues with a club night at Arkaoda, brunch gatherings at Majal, daily radio broadcasts with Refuge Worldwide, film screenings in collaboration with ALFILM, music production workshops supported by Ableton, public talks, and discussions exploring language, identity, archives, and cultural production.

The festival closes on Saturday, 10 October, with its largest edition yet, at Festsaal Kreuzberg. Across four stages, AL.FESTIVAL presents Natacha Atlas & Samy Bishai, TootArd, BLTNM Records featuring Daboor, Fawzi & SMOKAHOLIC, 3yoony, Nagham Saleh, sāda, Sara ATH x Ingrid Hideki x Lafert, Rabea Sliman, Retro Cassette, Syrian Cassette Archive, and many more. The biergarten once again hosts the festival bazaar, alongside a live-stream stage curated by Refuge Worldwide, and ADIRAOKE, presented by ADIRA Party.

Beyond live shows, AL.FESTIVAL continues to invest in cultural exchange through workshops, screenings, and public conversations. This year's programme includes Arabic-language Ableton workshops with Yosour Alzoubi, music production sessions led by SMOKAHOLIC, a roundtable with Rami ABADIR on language and cultural representation, and a screening presented by Syrian Cassette Archives exploring music, memory, and sonic heritage.

The festival's programme invites encounters across genres, generations, disciplines, and lived experiences, connecting living traditions with imagined futures from within and beyond the region. Rather than being curated around a single aesthetic, it is shaped by the dialogue that emerges between people, artistic practices, and ideas. Full lineup and artist bios can be found on AL.Berlin website. Tickets are available here.