Sonic City Festival is an alternative 3-day music fest in Kortrijk, Belgium where eclecticisim is key and discovery is imminent. The Sonic City concept is clear and simple: curators are appointed and receive all the artistic freedom to select and handpick the line-up.
The goal of the festival is to treat those music lovers that surf right beneath the
mainstream to a weekend where discovery, mix-ups and musical eclecticism are
key. Sonic City is a place where small, emerging bands share the stage with bigger
ones, where genres and subgenres melt together into one coherent entity. And this is
exactly what makes Sonic City special: it's not a rock festival, it's not a free jazz
festival, it's not an electronic festival. But it very well could be. By selecting the right
curator - a band, an artist, a DJ with a clear open-mindedness towards musical
diversity - Sonic City can be anything. But above all, the festival exhibits the vision of
the curator(s) on the contemporary music scene.
Curated by Dirty Three: Alex Rex, Bleak Squad, Caroline No, Charles Hayward, Christina Carter, Dirty Three, Jess Ribeiro, Maddison Windfarm, Maxine Funke, Zoh Amba
Curated by Marie Davidson: .618, Curses LIVE, Feu St-Antoine, goat (JP), Leo Vincent, Lord Spikeheart, Marie Davidson LIVE with Nick Verstand, Natasha Pirard, Paranoid London
Curated by Sonic City: Anna von Hausswolff, Billy Fuller, DIIV, Dry Cleaning, Elias Rønnenfelt, Juana Molina, keiyaA, Loma, Louis Ottley, Mandy, Indiana, Melt-Banana, Pigeon, PISS, PVA, Rosie Stuart, The Kind
Marie Davidson has always gone against the grain. The French-Canadian producer built her reputation with early albums like Perte d'identité, blending organic electronics with introspective storytelling. Her work explores a “dualistic” relationship to nightlife, drawing on sounds from Detroit techno to Italo disco while casting a sharp, satirical eye on club culture and identity. In 2020, she shifted direction, forming a collaborative band with longtime partner Pierre Guerineau and producer Asaël Robitaille. Together, they created experimental pop inspired by eclectic afterparty listening—jazz, chanson, electronica—marking Davidson’s first venture into singing. Her sixth album, City of Clowns, sees a return to the club with a twist. This time, her focus expands beyond nightlife to confront Big Tech as a new form of control shaping modern life. Known for her intense, unconventional stage presence, Davidson continues to push electronic music into bold, human territory.
Dirty Three are an Australian instrumental trio blending post-rock, folk, and classical influences into emotionally intense, genre-defying music. Formed in 1992, the band—Warren Ellis (violin), Mick Turner (guitar), and Jim White (drums)—creates a raw, cinematic sound driven by Ellis’s expressive, voice-like violin. Their wordless music captures heartbreak, beauty, and chaos with striking clarity. Albums like Ocean Songs and Horse Stories are considered experimental rock landmarks, and their live shows are known for powerful improvisation and emotional depth. Dirty Three are less a band than a force shaping modern instrumental music.
