UH FEST 2023

Showcasing a sharp curation that strings together various undercurrents of local and international music scenes, the festival will host 35 artists from 23 countries from 2nd to 8th October across five venues of Budapest. Festival passes and individual tickets are available here.

With a lineup featuring the likes of أحمد [Ahmed], quartet of Pat Thomas, Antonin Gerbal, Joel Grip and Seymour Wright submerging us into their deep-set understanding of the obscure depths of jazz history through heavy rhythms, repetition and syncopation; Japanese vocalist and long-time avantgarde electronica and post punk legend Phew; experimental audiovisual collaboration of Nadah El Shazly and Elvin Brandhi featuring Omar El Sadek, this is Pollution Opera; or Hungarian prodigy Új Bála, a maven merger of noise, psychedelia, techno and dance rhythms amid synth chaos, this year’s pass holders are sure to be exposed to the level of audio elasticity that has hallmarked UH Fest over the past two decades. 

Eager to celebrate musical efforts that shrug off stylistic limitations, UH Fest will present several unique takes on the push-pull dynamic between traditional and modern sounds, including Funeral Folk, a collaboration between Swedish folk music violinist Sara Parkman and spectralist composer Maria W Horn; Bali-based thrill-riders Gabber Modus Operandi fusing Indonesian soundsystem culture with traditional chimes; András Cséfalvay’s conceptual folk from Slovakia; Brussels-based Younes Zarhoni’s quadraphonic reinterpretations of liturgical songs; and the post-tarab duad Maltash of Lebanese-born singer-guitarist Joseph Jadam and French drummer Kenny Devineau, merging metal, doom and industrial music with the Middle Eastern song tradition.

The week between 2 – 8 October will host an array of enthralling joint ventures such as NR/MA, a collaboration between Italian modular electronics artist Nicola Ratti's ethereal soundscapes and Japanese spoken word artist MA's abstract vocals and lyrics; Irish industrial duo Dreamgirls of artists Cliona Ní Laoi and Michelle Doyle, who delve into themes of consumption, harsh noise, and femininity; French psychedelic-electronic rock trio Rien Virgule and their unique vision of experimental pop music; an improvised duet from Aaron Moore (of Volcano The Bear) and Erik K Skodvin, long-standing key figure of Norway's experimental scene; and Rump State, the abstract guitar-electronics duo of Mark Morgan (ex-Sightings) and Gaute Granli.

Visitors will get a chance to hear the faraway industrial soundscapes of Ladakhi musician Ruhail Qaisar, who delves into memory, trauma, and the human unconscious; the duo of Rakta-founder Carla Boregas and M. Takara, key figures of the São Paulo improvisational underground scene and Brazilian post-punk; Daniel Blumberg performing his unflinchingly raw album, GUT; versatile and powerful voice-and-noise performance of Slovenian electro-acoustic musician Maja Osojnik; the long and wordless, earthy and percussive folk hypnosis of cult French collective La Tène.

As ever, the lineup features breakout talents from the local experimental scene too. Alongside the special five-member performance of Budapest-based free noise outfit Primteori #A++/¤ from the punk scene of Kripta, UH Fest spotlights Hungarian sound artist and experimental music performer swanasa, whose work focuses on establishing new ways of audio well-being; the modular solo performance titled EccotVirgo of Mexican, Budapest-based artist Esteban De La Torre (one half of EJTECH); Her()man’s Pussy, the brand new piano-guitar-vocal duo of prominent writer-director Ádám Fekete and guitarist Raymond Kiss crafting eclectic sonic journeys from noise-bop to lullabies; a DJ set ranging from bass to various leftfield dance genres by Budapest-based music collector and host of Infinite Scroll on Lahmacun Radio, Gilbert Pomelo; solo improvisational noisecore and power electronica from Drogded; and – breaking down traditional genres into a clash of sacred melodies clash, robotic voices, and a fluid realm of dark ethereal energy, the work of Kinga Ötvös.

This year’s acts will include Inou Ki Endo (also known as Shilla Strelka and the curator behind Vienna's Unsafe+Sounds festival) taking the stage for a DJ set; Lithuanian singer-songwriter Jonas Jurkūnas unveiling Robotic Folk, his intimate yet dystopian musical endeavor; and Enrico Malatesta, Italian experimental percussionist, performing Eliane Radigue's Occam Ocean Occam XXVI.

UH Fest is the co-founder and Hungarian partner of the Shape Platform* (now SHAPE+), an initiative funded by Creative Europe and the European Union supporting emerging musicians and artists through a network of more than a dozen European festivals focused on experimental music. 

As part of this programme the festival brings Nze Nze, a French trio born from the union of the Sacred Lodge project and UVB76 duo offering a blend of electronic post-punk and Central African "fang" ritual roots; Hungarian sound artist Triglav, who explores the possibilities of modular electronics with a modified Buchla Music Easel synthesizer; Martyna Basta from Kraków, who specializes in introspective electroacoustic compositions; and French duo Alto Fuero, who masterfully infuse alternative folklore into their bass-heavy electronica. 

As part of the collaboration with SHAPE+ two residencies will bring local and international artists together for two commissioned performances at UH Fest. The first trio unites the work of Ukrainian artist Heinali (Oleh Shpudeiko), explorer of medieval polyphony through modular electronics; Labus Gida, experimental musician and multimedia artist of Kamon Kardamom trio; and Júlia Mohácsi, visual artist and lighting designer. In the second residency, Iranian electro-acoustic composer Tahereh Nourani is joined by two members of the Hungarian improvisatory 12z trio: experimental drummer Áron Porteleki and electronic musician Márton Kristóf.

All individual tickets and festival passes are now available here. Individual tickets may be purchased on location at each of the festival's venues, but depending also on the capacity of the venue – therefore we strongly recommend to purchase your individual tickets in advance as well.

Full programme and daily schedule are available here. Check out our website for any further information, and keep track of all updates via our socials: Facebook and Instagram.

UH Fest takes place from 2 to 8 October in Budapest, Hungary across five venues: Turbina, Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, Gólya, Három Holló and the French Institute of Budapest.

*Funded by the European Union. All statements and opinions of UH Fest are those of the organisers and do not necessarily reflect the official standpoint of the European Union or the European Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.

UH Fest is made possible with the support of Institut Français, Goethe Institut, Istituto Italiano di Cultura a Budapest, Flanders – State of the Art, Pro Helvetia, Österreich Institut Budapest and the National Cultural Fund of Hungary.