After warming up with special events in Vilnius and Kaunas this spring, AUDRA is returning at full force. Having tested an autumn format for the first time last year, the festival will once again draw Kaunas into a storm of art and culture from 3 to 6 September. The programme will bring together new names, tried-and-tested formulas refined over the years, a rich cultural offering and music flowing from dawn to dawn.
“We briefly ventured beyond the city limits, as a reminder that AUDRA never went away. The festival is gradually changing shape and continuing to move forward. We’re sure that Kaunas’ music scene, its venues and the festival community still know how to surprise. So do we,” say the organisers, who are preparing Lithuania’s largest contemporary city festival for the fifth time.
As always, music and the finest examples of contemporary nightlife culture will sit at the heart of AUDRA. This year, the festival will welcome more than 50 artists and bands, including names established both in Lithuania and internationally: Francesco Del Garda, Saoirse, Dresden (Manfredas x Ivan Smagghe), Free Finga, Garbanotas, ba., kamanių šilelis, DJ JM, Tikiman x Richard Akingbehin, Exem and many more.
The line-up also features legendary Chicago house DJ and producer Chez Damier, widely regarded as one of the genre’s pioneers, and French DJ Chloé Caillet – a true force on the dance music circuit and an increasingly familiar presence at the world’s biggest clubs and festivals. One of the defining figures of today’s techno and hard techno scenes, SPFDJ, will arrive in Kaunas from the clubs of London and Berlin. Often associated with a new generation of European club culture, she will soon show exactly why.
There will be surprises, too. Two names well known to dance music audiences will appear together at AUDRA for the first time: a seasoned French DJ Ivan Smagghe and Manfredas, one of the most influential figures in Lithuanian electronic music. Performing as Dresden, the duo are known for marathon-length sets and a distinctive, eclectic sound that cuts freely across genres. On Saturday night, Dresden Dancecase will take over a dedicated stage featuring Aistė Regina x Donatas Chipak, Francesco Del Garda and Saoirse.
Exem will also return to the stage after a long absence. Active since the late 1980s, they are among the defining heroes of Lithuania’s club scene – an act followed by generations of emerging artists and danced to by generations of listeners.
As tradition demands, the music programme will invite audiences into the festival rhythm every day. There will be daytime events open to visitors of different ages and musical tastes, alongside the night-time parties that have become AUDRA’s signature, once again opening the doors of industrial venues across the city.
Art programme entrusted to Berlin curators
Following an unforgettable year dedicated to the anniversary of M. K. Čiurlionis, AUDRA is showing no signs of slowing down and is already preparing an equally intense art programme. This year, it has been entrusted to the Berlin-based curatorial collective MOLT.
Founded in 2023, the collective consists of five members whose practice centres on creating artistic events in spaces normally used for entirely different purposes. Architecture becomes part of the work of visual artists, musicians and performance makers, opening up new cultural experiences.
At this year’s AUDRA, MOLT will present Treasure House, a group exhibition featuring Lithuanian and international artists, staged in one of Kaunas’ factories.
“Like a treasure hunt, visitors will explore objects, performances and signs. Some will reveal themselves immediately, while others will have to be found. This year, audiences are being invited on a journey – or perhaps even into a game,” the festival organisers say.