One of the most genuinely unusual music events in the world is back. PEOPLE Festival returns to Funkhaus Berlin on October 10th and 11th 2026, with a week-long residency running from October 4th to 9th beforehand.
The concept is simple and unlike almost anything else. 180 international musicians from wildly different backgrounds converge on Funkhaus – the historic GDR Radio City in East Berlin, a maze of studios of varying sizes with unrivalled acoustic quality – and spend a week creating music together with no plan, no setlist, no hierarchy, no artist fees and no financial gain. Ticket revenue covers costs only. At the end of the week, the doors open for two days of public performances: 200 shows across 11 stages, unfolding over 12 hours each day. Rooms hold between 50 and 1,000 people. You won’t know what you’re walking into until the lights come up.
PEOPLE was created in 2016 by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Mary Hickson (Sounds from a Safe Harbour) , Ryan Olson of POLIÇA, filmmaker Vincent Moon, conductor André de Ridder, Brandon Reid, Azar Kazimir & Nadine & Tom Michelberger (Michelberger Hotel, Restaurant & Farm).
It ran twice before disappearing, and this return has been described by the organisers as something that came together in a matter of weeks when the stars aligned.
The Irish presence this time? Lisa Hannigan and Damien Rice are both confirmed – two of the most distinctive voices in Irish songwriting, and both deeply at home in the kind of intimate, spontaneous, collaborative setting PEOPLE is built around. Ye Vagabonds, one of the finest traditional folk acts the country has produced in years, are on the list alongside Fionn Regan, whose guitar music has always occupied its own quiet corner of the universe. Cork-born arranger Aine Delaney and Dublin composer and arranger Theodora Byrne – whose ensemble has been one of the most talked-about projects in contemporary Irish choral music – round out an Irish contingent that punches well above the country’s size.
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Beyond the Irish names, the assembled participants is a big remarkable who’s who:
Aaron Dessner (The National)
Adam Cohen
Adrien Utley (Portishead)
Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane)
Ajeet Kaur
Aki Bosse (Bosse)
Albert Elmore (Whole Earth)
Aine Delaney
Alex Somers
Alexi Murdoch
Alex Nutter (POLIÇA)
Alican Tezer (Tegel Boys)
Alexander Ridha (Boys Noize)
Amanda Bergman
Andrew Barr (The Barr Brothers)
Andrew Broder
Angel Deradoorian (Deradoorian)
Angie McMahon
Ariel Engle (La Force, Broken Social Scene)
Asher Weisberg (Bon Iver)
Azar Kazimir
Bartees Strange
Ben Ivascu (POLIÇA)
Ben Howard
Ben Lanz
Bendik Giske
Bianca Mangelli
Blake Morgan
Brad Barr (The Barr Brothers)
Bryan Devendorf (The National)
Brian Mcomber (Dirty Projectors)
Bryce Dessner (The National)
Casper Clausen (Efterklang, Liima)
Céline Tison (Quatuor Zaïde)
Charlotte Maclet (Quator Zaïde)
Chris Deyo Braun
Chris Egan
Christophe Abric
Clara Ysé
Cole Weiland
Colin Stetson
Damien Rice
Dane Edwards
Daniela Pes
Drew Christopherson (POLIÇA)
Dustin Zahn
Efrim Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band)
Eirik Glambek Bøe (Kings of Convenience)
Eliot Sumner
Eric Blyth
Erlend Øye (Kings of Convenience)
Fionn Regan
Flora Hibberd
Francesco Donadello
Friends of Stargaze
Fuensanta Mendéz (Fuensanta)
Gail Ann Dorsey
Gaspar Claus
Greg Fox
Greg Grease
Gugulethu Duma (Dumama)
Gyða Valtýsdóttir
Heather Broderick
Helen Murray
Henning May (AnnenMayKantereit)
Howard Bilerman
Isaac Gale
Isaac Levy
IUMA
Jane Patterson
Jeremy Black
Jesper Munk
Jessica Dessner
Joel Shearer
Joel Wästberg (sir Was)
Jon Coe
Jonas Verwijnen
Josh Berg
Julian Herreros
Juliette Salmona (Quatuor Zaïde)
Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir (múm)
Kurt Wagner (Lampchop)
Laura Jansen
Laurel Sprengelmeyer
Leslie Boulin Raulet (Quatuor Zaïde)
Li-Chin Li
Limpe Fuchs
Lisa Hannigan
Lucinda Chua
Mads Brauer (Efterklang)
Mahito Gezan (Jusangatsu)
Makaya Maccraven
Marc Vilajuana
Markus Sieber (Aukai)
Mary Hickson
Melissa Laveaux
Michelbergers
Mika Akim
Moira Cappilli
Msafiri Zawose
Napoleon Maddox
Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
Owen Pallett
Patrick Watson
Pauline De Lassus (Mina Tindle)
Peder Mannerfelt
Peter Broderick
Rachel Maio
Rasmus Stolberg (Efterklang, Liima)
Rebecca Foon (Esmerine, Thee Silver Mt. Zion)
Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire)
Rozi Plain
Ryan Olson (POLIÇA, Gayngs, Marijuana Deathsquads, and Taggart & Rosewood)
Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre)
Scott Devendorf (The National)
Seth Rosetter
Shabadpret Khalsa
Shahzad Ismaily
Shara Nova (My Brightest Diamond)
Shelley Sörensen
Shinji Masuko
Simon Herody
Simrit Kaur
Soema Montenegro
Sons of Mr Green Genes
Sophie Payten
Sylvain Rabourdin
Tatu Rönkkö (Efterklang, Liima)
Theodora Byrne
Thom Green (alt-J)
Todd Dahlhoff
Tomas Crow
Trever Hagen
Tyler Peterson Fjeld
Victoria Canal
Vincent Moon
Walter Laureti
Ye Vagabonds
Yoann Lemoine (Woodkid)
Zach Condon (Beirut)
Zaïde Quator
The full participant list runs to over 120 names already confirmed, with more still to arrive unannounced on the day. Based on previous editions, each musician ends up performing between five and ten times across different combinations and spaces – so the likelihood of seeing any one of them is high, but nothing is promised or scheduled in advance. That’s the whole point.
“Music without the machine, up close and deeply intimate” is how PEOPLE describe it. For anyone who has ever wanted to see what happens when 180 musicians who genuinely respect each other lock themselves in a building for a week with no brief and no audience until the very end – this is that.
PEOPLE Festival – Funkhaus Berlin, October 10th and 11th 2026. Residency October 4th-9th. Tickets at peoplefestival.berlin.
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.
