ICELAND AIRWAVES to Add COBRAH, ALIEN CHICKS, LEITH ROSS to 2026 Lineup

Iceland Airwaves has announced over forty further artists to perform across the twenty-seventh edition of its new music festival in Reykjavík, Iceland this November, with official showcase programming taking place across 5th - 7th November.

Early bird tickets starting from just 10.900 ISK (approximately £65 GBP / $87 USD), and travel packages in partnership with Icelandair are available now. For more information visit icelandairwaves.is/tickets

Dedicated to platforming and supporting musical talents from Iceland and across the globe, the three-day showcase schedule will run alongside a series of special events set to transform Downtown Reykjavík into a hub of cultural discovery and creative opportunities; from the festival's music industry conference programme and series of networking events, curated and presented by Iceland Airwaves and Iceland Music; to a series of special events with Shygirl, The Streets and Daði Freyr & The Iceland Symphony Orchestra at the city's waterfront opera hall, Harpa.

Announced to join the 2026 showcase lineup today is London musician Heartworms, whose 2025 debut album Glutton For Punishment was released via Speedy Wunderground to five star reviews from the likes of NME and DIY Magazine, alongside an appearance on the BBC show Later…with Jools Holland.

Fellow Londonders The Itch will make their Icelandic debut having spent the past eighteen months packing out basement parties around the UK, with a combination of dancefloor fillers and disenchanted pop songwriting from their debut album It's The Hope That Kills You; while soul artist Jamie Woon brings his extensive catalogue of critically acclaimed neo-soul and alternative RnB.

Over its history, the festival has provided career-defining early slots for everyone from Florence and the Machine, Young Fathers and James Blake to recent successes like Kneecap, Fat Dog, Magdalena Bay, Saya Gray, and Mary In The Junkyard. But, at its core, Iceland Airwaves acts as a springboard for homegrown Icelandic creativity, often offering emerging local artists their first opportunity to perform in front of a global audience and the music industry professionals capable of taking their careers to the next level.

Returning to the lineup for 2026 will be RAKEL, one of Iceland's new voices and the winner of the 2025 Iceland Airwaves PLUS Award, which awarded her with funding and bookings to take her live show to New Colossus Festival in New York, USA and Focus Wales in Wrexham, Wales.

Further representing the local community at Iceland Airwaves 2026 is Andervel, the music project of Mexico-born, Iceland-based artist José Luis Anderson. Drawing from a broad lineage of folk tradition, his lyrics spanning Spanish, Iceland and English have garnered recent praise from international press. Elsewhere, today's announcement brings the sound of SCAM, the electro-pop project of Icelandic composers and music producers Herdís Stefánsdóttir and Salka Valsdóttir.

SCAM will also perform at a special Taste of Iceland x Iceland Airwaves showcase event in New York, USA in October, offering New Yorkers a pre-festival opportunity to experience some of Iceland's new music prospects. The Taste of Iceland showcase will take place at Pianos on the Lower East Side on Thursday October 1st, with more details to be announced in the coming weeks.

Iceland Airwaves also continues to serve as a meeting point for artists, agents, media, and industry professionals from around the world, all coming together to discuss some of the prominent successes and problems of the current creative industries at the festival's accompanying two-day conference, taking place on 5th & 6th November.

Revealed today, the first topics of discussion for 2026 will include the likes of 'Anybody in There? Human Curation in the Age of the Algorithm'; a deep-dive into the revival of authentic discovery, niche communities and analog platforms in the face of an algorithm-divided industry; while 'From Local to Global: Against The Odds,' will explore how Iceland and smaller corners of the globe continue to produce some of the world's remarkable creative talents despite the map, market and odds being far from on their side.

Further details of this year's conference programme, including first topics and speakers can be found at icelandairwaves.is/conference. 'Pro' and 'Conference' ticket packages for Iceland Airwaves 2026 are available now, for more information visit icelandairwaves.is/tickets

Iceland Airwaves 2026 Festival Lineup, 5th - 7th November

Adult DVD (UK) | Amor Vincit Omnia (IS) | Andervel (IS) | Any Young Mechanic (AU) | Arima Ederra (US) | Arny Margret (IS) | Axel Flóvent (IS) | Bana Zahiti (XK) | bed (JP) | Bjarni Daníel (IS) | BKPM (IS) | Bleech 9:3 (IE) | BLUAI (BE) | Brynja (IS) | Brynya Rán (IS) | David Bay (DE) | Dove Ellis (IE) | Einakróna (IS) | Emmsje Gauti (IS) | Esmeralda Road (UK) | Falinn Gjóður (IS) | Flesh Machine (IS) | Formal Sppeedwear (UK) | Gosi (IS) | Haukur Páll (IS) | Heartworms (UK) | HER (PL) | Inspector Spacetime (IS) | Jamie Duffy (IE) | Jamie Woon (UK) | JEFF3 (DK) | Joe & the sboys (FO) | Jónfrí (IS) | Júníus Meyvant (IS) | knackered (IS) | KOIKOI (RS) | Liim (US) | LiteFun (IS) | LÓN (IS) | Lucy Dreams (AT) | MAMMÚT (IS) | Mar Pujol (ES-CT) | Marsibil (IS) | Nori (UK) | Oyama (IS) | PISS (CA) | Pollyfromthedirt (UK) | punktò (LT) | RAKEL (IS) | Revenge of Calculon (UK) | Róshildur (IS) | RSP (FO) | Sævar Jóhannsson (IS) | SAKARIS (FO) | SCAM (IS) | Sex Week (US) | Skeler (AU) | Spouses (IS) | SYL (DK) | TÁR (IS) | The Gnomes (AU) | The Itch (UK) | Them Flying Monkeys (PT) | Tunghoyrt (FO) | Úlfur Úlfur (IS) | Valborg Ólafs (IS) | Vicky Sometani (UK) | virgin orchestra (IS) | Yaelokre (PH/IS) | YARD (IE)

Special Events Lineup

4th November: Shygirl at Silfurberg, Harpa - TICKETS

5th November: Daði Freyr & The Iceland Symphony Orchestra at Eldborg, Harpa - TICKETS

8th November: The Streets at Eldborg, Harpa - TICKETS

About Iceland Airwaves

Launched in 1999 as a one-off event in an airplane hangar, Iceland Airwaves is the world's most northerly music showcase and industry festival, situated halfway between North America and Europe.

Each November, downtown Reykjavík comes alive with the country's emerging musical talent and forward-thinking international acts meeting for three days and nights of non-stop music hosted everywhere from tiny record stores and art museums to bars and stately churches to nightclubs and large-scale venues.

For two and a half decades, the festival has shone a spotlight on new talent, with early appearances from the likes of Mac DeMarco, James Blake, Sufjan Stevens, Young Fathers, Sigrid, Dan Deacon, Florence and The Machine, Hot Chip, Caribou, Dirty Projectors, Zola Jesus, Micachu, and others, along with many local luminaries such as GusGus, múm, Singapore Sling, FM Belfast, Of Monsters and Men, Ásgeir, sóley, Sin Fang, Kaleo, Mugison and Vök, all of whom have gone on to great success.

Established acts such as Björk, The Flaming Lips, The Knife, Kraftwerk, Sigur Rós, John Grant, Mumford & Sons, and Fleet Foxes have chosen to join music fans and delegates from over 50 countries for a three days of music and festivities.

Iceland Airwaves is also an opportunity to connect with musicians, agents, journalists, promoters, and managers from around the world, to build new relationships whilst celebrating some of the world's latest musical discoveries and game-changers.

The festival is now promoted and produced by the concert company Sena Live, with support from Iceland's national airline and founding sponsor, Icelandair, and in cooperation with the City of Reykjavík.

Since 2020, the team behind Iceland Airwaves has expanded its musical scope by organising standalone concerts, including Björk Orkestral, in Harpa and online, and a livestream festival called Live from Reykjavík. These new projects further support the Icelandic music industry and create opportunities for audiences to enjoy and discover Icelandic music.

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