The avant-electronic and experimental festival on Sherkin Island is already sold out for its 10th year.
Taking place off the coast of West Cork, Open Ear takes place from May 28th to May 31st, and today announced its lineup for 2026.
Open Ear stated fundamental core tenets of the festival is to celebrate all that is wonderful and weird about the experimental and electronic communities of Ireland, and over time they’ve invited some international artists to play too.
This year’s lineup features Gilla Band side-project The Null Club, “bass dislocations” from Netherlands’ Nicolini with by Legion of One’s dub assaults, dubstep MC Sgt Pokes will be Woozy’s EMA performing together, Galway ambient techno artist o.utlier, Dundalk R&B band Negro Impacto, Experimental sludgy three-piece Rún, dream-pop from Memotone, a specially commissioned piece from experimental operatic coloratura Stephanie Lamprea in collaboration with visual artist Jesse Jones, and the long-time creator of Open Ear’s staging, Sara Murphy, the post-punk theatrics of Chris Imler who will be making his Irish debut, the EBM-inflected electro of the none-more-mysterious Ingo Hammer and Pitch037’s rewiring of jungle, dub and techno.
- 10:21
- AKA.Zato
- Ali Daly
- Anna Clock
- Barrelling
- Chris Imler
- Container
- Dali De Saint Paul & Clíona Ní Laoi: Whoever Stays Until The End
- Eliza
- EMA & Sgt Pokes
- Heatsink
- Ingo Hammer
- Isaac Newtune
- Jabu & Memotone
- Jay Galligan
- K8olo & Alba
- Kenny Hanlon
- Legion of One
- Miss TKA Newberry
- Negro Impacto
- Nicolini
- Null Club
- o.utlier
- Pitch037
- Rosanna
- Rún
- Small Crab
- Stephanie Lamprea with Jesse Jones & Sara Murphy
- t-woc
- Twelfth House
I chatted to one of the organisers Dion Doherty aka Belacqua on the podcast last year about the festival.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
