Le Guess Who? has revealed its full 2025 line-up, and once again the festival in Utrecht proves why it remains one of the most adventurous and forward-thinking gatherings in the world. Running from November 6th – 9th, the festival continues to champion unclassifiable music and voices from the margins, creating a space for discovery, experimentation, and collective wonder. Back in May, the first announcement already had us buzzing, with eight daring guest curators – Amirtha Kidambi, Asher Gamedze, Edna Martinez, gyrofield, Lonnie Holley, Tianzhuo Chen, Valentina Magaletti and Ziúr – helping to shape stellar programmes that span the globe. Early highlights included Saul Williams & Carlos Niño, SUNN O))), Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force, Lido Pimienta, DJ Haram & Aquiles Navarro, and Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, amongst many more.

Now, with the full line-up revealed, Le Guess Who? promises even more discoveries. Among the guest-curated programmes, Asher Gamedze brings Cairo-based trio Dwarfs of East Agouza, who have been blowing our minds since their debut Bes dropped in 2016. With their new album Sasquatch Landslide landing this October, the outfit of Sam Shalabi, Maurice Louca, and Alan Bishop are set to mesmerize audiences with their “signature trance-inducing explorative energies”. Gamedze will also host The Vocal Museum by Masello Motana, a recital that journeys through collective memory and township childhoods in South Africa, with Masello’s commanding voice backed by a live band.

Fresh additions to the general lineup include Hania Rani, introducing her alter-ego Chilling Bambino, blending piano, synth, and voice in a quietly mesmerizing mix of classical and contemporary textures, Ata Kak, the Ghanaian artist whose mix of highlife, early hip-hop, and funk turns every track into a dancefloor adventure, Bhajan Bhoy, the project of Lancashire-born, Netherlands-based Ajay Saggar, who brings his meditative organ works, first performed in a 15th century church in Yorkshire, and London-based producer Djrum, who explores piano, harp, and electronic textures in Under Tangled Silence, balancing intimacy with rhythmic energy. From the outskirts of Rio, singer songwriter Caxtrinho brings his debut album Queda Livre, a bold fusion of Brazil’s experimental Vanguarda Paulista tradition, Devendra Banhart returns with a stripped-back solo set that moves through his psychedelic, acoustic, and folk-inspired repertoire, and Daniela Pes and IOSONOUNCANE join forces for a live collaboration that fuses Pes’s ethereal vocals and instrumental fluidity with IOSONOUNCANE’s finely sculpted electronic textures. Vocalists Lamisi, Gavina, and Maria Alice bring Afro-fusion pop, Panamanian folklore-infused grooves, and Cape Verdean mornas and coladeras, respectively, each shaping a vivid and global soundscape. Experimental performances also include Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko, whose Гільдеґарда pairs modular synths with Ukrainian vocal techniques, and Tunisian and Dutch composer, audiovisual artist, curator, and science educator Skander Jaïbi, who blends classical composition, choral textures, and ambient soundscapes in his debut album Who Has the Right to Closure?. Gina Birch, co-founder of The Raincoats, brings her solo record Trouble, merging post-punk, dub, and experimental rock into an introspective yet fiery statement, augmenting a lineup that cements Le Guess Who? 2025 as a festival of curiosity, boldness, and musical discovery.
Other electronic and experimental innovators also expand the festival’s palette, from the genre-defying collages of Smerz to Valentina Goncharova’s inventive mix of violin and electronics in Every Growing Tree, alongside Montreal trio Yoo Doo Right, whose krautrock-tinged post-rock grooves hypnotize and pull audiences in. Fresh additions also include tribal-psych trio KUUNATIC, Dutch hardcore punk band Forbidden Wizards, and British post-hardcore band Mclusky.

Among the highlights in this year line-up is Sounds of Places: Cremisan Valley, an immersive residency-based project that transforms one of the last green spaces near the city of Bethlehem in Palestine into a living soundscape. Over several days, artists, designers, and local participants collaborated to create site-specific sound sculptures that respond to wind, rain, and movement, blending composed pieces with the natural environment. The resulting performance captures the valley’s layered history, its ecological and cultural struggles, and its resilience, turning listening into an act of reflection and connection with a place shaped by both memory and resistance.

Beyond concerts, Le Guess Who? remains a meeting place for communities and ideas. On Friday, November 7th, BATEKOO x Los Angles presents a club night at De Helling celebrating queer communities, with performances by Brazilian singer, actress, and presenter Linn da Quebrada,  trans-femme DJ and founder of Club Stamina Mina Galán, along with Miranda, Juju ZL, and smother b2b YoungWoman, collectively creating a vibrant, joyful space for marginalized voices.

With the full programme now unveiled, Le Guess Who? reaffirms its status as a festival like no other: a gathering where boundaries blur, traditions are honoured and reshaped, and discovery is paramount. From November 6th –9th, Utrecht will transform into a privileged playground of sound. Festival passes are now sold out but day passes are still available at leguesswho.com/tickets so be quick to catch this monumental lineup, and countless other names waiting to be discovered across the city.

Le Guess Who? is back this November 6 – 9th for its 18th edition, and the first major announcement for 2025 has just landed. The revered Dutch festival affirms once again its unparalleled commitment to sonic exploration, inclusivity, and radical artistic vision, uniting artists and audiences from around the world through the transformative power of music. The festival has always championed a groundbreaking and genre-defying programme, and 2025 will be no different, offering a platform for both emerging and established artists.

One of the standout features of Le Guess Who? is its curated programs, where incredible artists handpick their favorite musicians and collaborators to showcase their musical influences and vision, in addition to also performing themselves. This year’s constellation of guest curators is as daring as it is eclectic, with eight singular voices from across disciplines and continents shaping bespoke programmes. Among them is visionary and virtuosic South African drummer, composer, writer and activist Asher Gamedze whose work navigates jazz, Afro-futurism, and experimental sounds. Digging into the musical language of resistance and liberation, his curation promises a powerful mix of experimental and political sounds. Highlights from his selection include a performance by himself, alongside his new jazz ensemble A Semblance, DEAD SYMBOLS, and Dirar Kalash’s Sonic Front. Also on his bill is Usta/Olgun/Ekincioglu, a collaborative project who explore Turkish and electronic music, creating a dynamic space for new ideas to emerge through sound.

Another exciting guest curator who will help enrich the festival is drummer, composer and experimentalist Valentina Magaletti, who invited a mix of avant-garde, electronic, and noise artists. Magaletti’s curation will be a thrilling exploration of rhythm, sound, and the unexpected. Among her selections are Al Wootton & Youmna Saba, Klein, and Ancient Indigenous Africans. Her programme also includes Able Noise, Voice Actor and Alpha Maid, as well as Kat Válastur – Dive Into You, and PRAM. She will also perform in collaboration with PHEW and in a duo with upsammy.

Singer, composer, bandleader and community organizer Amirtha Kidambi conjures a borderless sonic world under her Outernational banner, an exploration of global soundscapes and cross-cultural experimentation, combining influences from jazz, noise, Middle Eastern music, and beyond. Kidambi’s curated programme brings together an international roster of performers, including her own band, Elder Ones, along with the experimental group Ghadr غدر, who explore themes of resistance and identity, and One Leg One Eye. Saint Abdullah & Jason Nazary will also be part of this exciting lineup, pushing boundaries in the world of contemporary avant-garde and improvisation.

Celebrated improvisational artist Lonnie Holley brings a fascinating curation to Le Guess Who? 2025, drawing on a rich blend of soul, improvisation, storytelling and spiritual exploration. Artists on his bill include ingenious and thought-provoking spoken word artist, bandleader, composer, saxophonist and activist Alabaster DePlume, Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff, and Kankawa Nagarra, as well as a powerful collaboration from Lonnie Holley & Friends. Holley is also bringing Saul Williams & Carlos Niño, The Cosmic Tones Research Trio, Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore and the deeply moving The Space Lady.

Berlin-based Colombian DJ, producer, and curator Edna Martinez, known for her deep ties to Caribbean sound systems, brings the rhythms and soul of PICÓ, a genre deeply rooted in Caribbean music traditions, to the festival. Martinez has invited a vibrant range of artists like electronic music producer BCLIP and Wilfred Guerrero, who will undoubtedly bring the dancefloor to life with intoxicating rhythms and sounds that cross borders and genres. Her curated bill will also feature the infectious La Saramuya Soundsystem, and Nayi Lokura.

Hong Kong-born, Netherlands-based artist gyrofield curates an immersive, electronic-driven programme that combines deep techno, dub, and bass-driven atmospheres. Their curated bill will include performances from heavyweights like Calibre, Ciel, and Objekt.

Chinese contemporary artist Tianzhuo Chen, known for his multidisciplinary works that blend performance art, electronics, and immersive visuals, brings an adventurous programme to the festival. Highlights include the collaborations of 333EMYBW & Joey Holder, DIEMAJIN present 陰陽 (Yin and Yang), and performances by GOTH-TRAD, ZAÄAR, and Moyang 先祖 & Seaman 漁師. With this curation, lucky attendees will be immersed in mind-bending, visually stunning, and sonically experimental performances.

Experimental producer/musician Ziúr will bring a curatorial programme steeped in experimental sounds, hyperreal aesthetics, and boundary-pushing sonic ideas. With artists like Attila Csihar & Iggor Cavalera, Luisa Almaguer, Lady Lykez, and DJ Marcelle, her curation promises to delve into the darker, more experimental side of electronic music and sound art, showcasing a variety of genres from industrial to avant-garde and everything in between.

Beyond the curated programs, the general lineup is stacked with a stunning array of artists. Returning to the festival is the monumental drone outfit SUNN O))), legendary Jamaican reggae group The Congos, Columbian-Canadian musician and Polaris Prize-winning artist Lido Pimienta and the heavy and beautiful music of drone metal band Divide and Dissolve performing their new album Insatiable. Also newly announced is composer and producer Adrian Younge, known for his work in soul and hip-hop, Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali, the Pakistani qawwali ensemble led by Rizwan and Muazzam, nephews of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who will perform across three nights, Nicolás Jaar & Ali Sethi, Attila Csihar & Iggor Cavalera, KeiyaA, mighty Montreal trio BIG|BRAVE, Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force, the project of techno pioneer Mark Ernestus with a revolving cast of Senegalese sabar musicians, and the cosmic rhythms of Gary Bartz and NTU Troop. Other standout performances will come from performer, teacher and researcher of traditional Galician oral music Carme López, DJ Haram & Aquiles Navarro, electronic music duo emptyset, the fast, quirky, driving, and catchy synth punk sounds of Goblin Daycare, young Kurdish Iranian tanbur player Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian, Katokye, known as the master of Banyankole traditional songs from Western Uganda, and Dublin based post-punk feminist four-piece M(h)aol. The collaborative project of Peruvian artist and researcher Alejandra Cárdenas aka Ale Hop & Congolese guitarist Titi Bakorta, are also added to the bill today, as is Índio da Cuíca, the Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and dancer active for more than 50 years, award-winning Native American composer and artist Raven Chacon, Oakland-based experimental electronic folk artist Kathryn Moh, legendary Peruvian cumbia band Los Wembler’s de Iquitos, Tanzanian music ensemble The Zawose Queens, whose music incorporates traditional Wagogo styles and electronic production, and Palestinian musician and composer Maya Al Khaldi & Palestinian qanun player Sarouna featuring visual artist and filmmaker Dina Mimi. Kikagaku Moyo frontman Tomo Katsurada, multi-instrumentalist, producer and artist Tomoki Sanders, child of the late saxophone legend Pharoah Sanders, and South African drummer and composer Tumi Mogorosi are also amongst some of the thrilling additions unveiled today.

Le Guess Who? remains an invitation to listen deeply to art, to each other and to the world. This year’s edition builds on the festival’s mission to centre voices from the margins and create transformative collective experiences. The COSMOS platform returns too, continuing to spotlight global music communities, this time with contributions from Istanbul’s IDGK, Iceland’s Seyðisfjörður Community Radio, Malaysia’s Align.Online, Panama City’s River Down Records, and Berlin’s Refuge Worldwide.

As we’ve come to expect, Le Guess Who? is setting the bar for festivals around the world with its ambitious and diverse programming. A gathering where borders blur and traditions reshape, Le Guess Who? continues to offer one of the most compelling global stages for unclassifiable music. The full list of names and curated programmes already announced is vast and essential reading and listening, so head over to leguesswho.com for more details, including ticket information and full lineup so far. A very limited number of 4-Day festival passes and individual day tickets will go on sale Tuesday May 27th, so stay tuned.