From 9 to 11 October 2026, AVANT Festival returns to Salento for its sixth edition, bringing together contemporary and experimental music, sound research, film, professional learning and landscape.
Curated and organised by Sud Sonico, AVANT continues to connect international artists, places and communities, transforming different locations across Lecce and its surroundings into spaces for listening, encounter and experimentation.
The theme of the 2026 edition, “Freedom is not defined by safety”, reflects on our search for security at a time marked by instability, change and new forms of vulnerability. AVANT approaches this question through the positive capacity of culture to generate imagination, relationships and new perspectives.
Sound therefore becomes movement: something that travels through spaces, people and memories, creating unexpected connections. This idea runs throughout the 2026 programme.
Friday 9 October
The festival opens at 3:00 PM at Officine Culturali Ergot with NON SOLO BANDI, a free Training-Lab on fundraising for artists and cultural professionals led by Philippe Bischof and Ludovico Esposito. The session will explore foundations, companies, philanthropists and major donors, combining learning with practical work on the sustainability of cultural projects.
At 8:00 PM AVANT moves to Officine Cantelmo for RESISTANSOUND, featuring a big-screen presentation of We Are Making a Film about Mark Fisher by Sophie Mellor and Simon Poulter / Close and Remote. The film brings Mark Fisher’s thinking back to AVANT, exploring an intellectual legacy that continues to inform conversations around music, culture and society. The screening will be followed by Kenji Araki LIVE.
Saturday 10 October
From 8:00 PM, Masseria Tagliatelle hosts AVANT’s MAIN EVENT, bringing together different approaches to international experimental and electronic music.
Featuring:
Remo Helfenstein — LIVE
Marie Delprat — LIVE
Den Sorte Skole — LIVE
Chica Paula — DJ SET
Admission is free with a €2 Sud Sonico membership card.
Sunday 11 October
The final day begins at 9:30 AM at Laghi Alimini with an HIKING experience connecting listening, landscape and environmental awareness.
At 9:00 PM, AVANT returns to Lecce for its closing event. Inside the Basilica di San Giovanni Battista al Rosario, ORGAN FLUCTUATIONS presents a live performance by Angèle David-Guillou, bringing contemporary musical research into one of the city’s most distinctive architectural and acoustic spaces.
Alongside its artistic programme, AVANT 2026 also renews its social commitment through fundraising in support of the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, which provides medical care and assistance to children affected by war and displacement.
Three days, different places and different artistic languages, connected by one idea: using culture to expand the possibilities for listening, relationships and imagination.
Let us listen — and listen to one another — from different and necessary perspectives.
AVANT FESTIVAL 2026
9–10–11 October | Salento, Italy
Info and programme:
www.sudsonico.it
info@sudsonico.it
