Seven dwell music experiences value travelling for in 2026

International Jazz Day, Chicago, Illinois, USA (30 April)

Jazz is as central to Chicago’s identification as deep dish pizza and Art Deco structure. Fitting, since this 12 months the US metropolis serves because the host of International Jazz Day, a Unesco initiative connecting jazz communities worldwide. The Chicago jazz style’s lineage continues to be audible right now at historic venues just like the Green Mill (a favorite of Al Capone), The Jazz Showcase, supporting the native scene since 1940, and Buddy Guy’s Legends, the place the titular blues icon nonetheless repeatedly holds courtroom. International Jazz Day guarantees to be one other standout chapter within the metropolis’s legacy.

The headline occasion is a live performance with Unesco Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock alongside native jazz luminaries, however count on further bulletins relating to workshops, pop-up reveals and neighbourhood performances, all aimed toward animating the midwestern metropolis past its live performance halls.

OFF Festival, Katowice, Poland (7-9 August)

Katowice, as soon as a humble mining city about 80km exterior of Krakow, has been slowly reinventing itself as one among Poland’s coolest cultural hubs. Its previous factories and warehouses are being reimagined as artsy cafes, galleries and clean canvases for avenue artwork; a artistic distinction to the stately National Radio Symphony Orchestra corridor. It’s becoming that Katowice, a Unesco Music City, can also be the house of OFF Festival, an occasion based to showcase indie, punk, jazz and experimental music from internationally.

In the previous, artists have taken the lake-side competition’s mandate to coronary heart, like Xiu Xiu, who as soon as used their slot to play a wild, David Lynch-influenced set. So, whilst you can count on notable acts like Amyl and the Sniffers and Earl Sweatshirt on the 2026 version (with extra to be introduced), make sure to take a look at the experimental stage, which this 12 months will host particular performances honoring the 2 hundredth anniversary of the start of Polish folklorist and composer Oskar Kolberg.

Alamy