This year’s festival deepens its commitment to artistic exchange through KEXP, KOREA SPOTLIGHT, and new cross-cultural initiatives
AXEAN Festival has unveiled the second group of performers set to take the stage at this year’s event, adding another dynamic lineup of acclaimed, rising, and breakthrough artists from across Asia and other parts of the world.
Continuing its mission to spotlight the richness and diversity of the global music scene, the newly announced acts span a wide range of musical styles. The lineup features everything from indie rock, alternative pop, electronic jazz, and soul to hip-hop, progressive rock, experimental music, modern MOR, dream pop, and contemporary Asian sounds, reflecting the festival’s commitment to celebrating creativity across genres.
Wave two lineup
Joining the roster are Aelea (Indonesia), Arivu (India/TuneCore India Showcase), Basboi (Indonesia), Bishnu Paneru (Philippines), brkfstblend (Japan), Cactus Cactus (Singapore), can’t be Blue (South Korea), Ciggarats (Vietnam), Clever Moose (Indonesia), Crystal Murray (France/United States), D’MASIV (Indonesia), Drizzly (Indonesia), El Karmoya (Indonesia), Emptyyy (Indonesia), Feral Stripes (Indonesia), GEE EXCLSV (Philippines), Gavendri (Indonesia), GENIUS Flow (Laos), Given (Indonesia), hailinhtasm (Vietnam), Laze and Mardial (Indonesia), Littlefingers (Indonesia), Litty (Japan), Mayu (Japan), MRCH (South Korea), Nerd Connection (South Korea), Olsam (Indonesia), Silly Silky (South Korea), and YuuHai (Cambodia).
Collectively, this year’s roster reinforces AXEAN Festival’s longstanding commitment to championing musical discovery while creating valuable opportunities for cultural exchange, regional connectivity, and international collaboration. Beyond its showcase performances, AXEAN Festival continues to develop programs, conversations, and initiatives that address the most pressing issues that affect or shape the region’s music ecosystem.
AXEAN Festival co-founder David Siow adds, “Every year there are new developments in each Southeast Asian music scene—be it new artists, new movements, new companies, or even new geopolitics. We strive to address and serve as a bridge, connecting the relevant artists and delegates to each other and allowing for them to meet each other and form organic relationships, all in the hopes that we can build a better future together. If you come to AXEAN Festival, you are tapping into a community that grows and builds with you.”
Live on KEXP makes its Asian debut at AXEAN Festival
Among this year’s key milestones is the landmark partnership with KEXP, the internationally renowned Seattle-based public radio station and music platform celebrated for championing independent artists worldwide.
For the first time ever, Live on KEXP will record in Asia, with select artists performing exclusive live sessions during the AXEAN Festival. The collaboration represents an important step forward in increasing the global visibility of Southeast Asian independent music.
“KEXP exists to help artists reach a global audience,” shares Chris Sanley, Executive Producer of Live on KEXP. “While we live in a world that makes it easy for us to connect online, we know there are significant barriers keeping artists from coming to our studio in Seattle to record a Live on KEXP session. For nearly two decades we’ve been sending our team to international music-centered events to record live performances with artists from outside the US, anchored by the idea of going to the music rather than waiting for it to come to us. Diana’s work on our radio show, Eastern Echoes, and her commitment to showcasing and highlighting independent artists from Asia, inspired us to bring Live on KEXP to the Asian continent for the first time.”
For Diana Ratsamee, host of KEXP’s Eastern Echoes, the partnership offers an opportunity to reshape how the world experiences Asian music. “In American and international media, our stories have long been underrepresented and our music boxed into narrow definitions and expectations. KEXP’s show, Eastern Echoes exists to reflect the incredible breadth of sounds that make up our Asian communities, and this partnership with AXEAN Festival will expand on that work in amazing ways.”
KOREA SPOTLIGHT partnership
AXEAN Festival also welcomes KOREA SPOTLIGHT, the flagship K-Music showcase presented by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST), and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA).
Since its launch in 2017, KOREA SPOTLIGHT has introduced outstanding Korean artists to audiences around the world. This year’s delegation is particularly significant, as it features four artists who all emerged from MUSE ON, KOCCA’s artist discovery and development program for promising new musicians.
Making their Indonesian debut, can’t be blue, MRCH. Nerd Connection, and Silly Silky will perform not only as part of AXEAN Festival’s showcase program but also at a dedicated KOREA SPOTLIGHT showcase in Jakarta.
SEA URBAN: Putting a spotlight on Southeast Asia’s thriving hip-hop/R&B movement
Further expanding its programming, AXEAN Festival 2026 introduces SEA URBAN—a new platform dedicated to Southeast Asian hip-hop, rap, R&B, and contemporary urban music.
The initiative combines a curated showcase featuring some of the region’s most exciting urban artists with an accompanying industry panel examining the genre’s rapid growth, evolving identity, and increasing global impact.
“Hip-hop sits in an interesting place: it’s mainstream, trendy, and fashionable, but it also carries real weight because it resonates with the struggles of urban youth,” AXEAN Festival co-founder Piyapong Muenprasertdee reveals. “What sets Southeast Asian hip-hop apart is that each scene is shaped by where it came from, with artists weaving traditional sounds into their beats—which makes every country’s scene distinct and worth the world discovering. That’s why the showcase and panel matter: these scenes have mostly grown on their own, and putting them on a shared regional stage is how we help these voices travel further and collaborate across borders.”
Tickets for AXEAN Festival 2026 are now on sale through the festival’s official ticketing platform www.loket.com/o/axeanfestival.
This year’s edition is co-presented by Jimbaran Hub as the venue partner and TuneCore as the main stage sponsor. Supporting the festival are EMPIRE as stage sponsor; the Embassy of France in Indonesia & Institut Français Indonesia, the Embassy of France in Singapore, Centre National de la Musique, Institut Français, KEXP, KOREA SPOTLIGHT, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), and the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) as festival partners. Additional collaborators include The Orchard as VIP partner, MADVERSE as the primary sponsor of the songwriting camp, KSR and Musicway as secondary songwriting camp sponsors, Sounds Australia as the music exchange partner, Symphonic Distribution as the panel partner, PERMATA BANK as a supporting partner, and DEBEAT Sunset Road and Millers Records as equipment partners.
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