Since its inaugural edition in 2016, Listen is Brussels’ first urban music festival dedicated to alternative electronic music. Our festival was born out of a common desire: drive local talent to the next level and support the development of a local alternative music scene.
Over the past couple of years our festival has evolved into a 6 day take-over of the city of Brussels with DJ-sets, concerts, talks, workshops, expo and more in various unique locations throughout the Belgian capital. The musical scope has also broadened quite a bit over the years. Next to the main electronic genres like House and Techno that were present from the very beginning, Listen now also incorporates a much broader alternative sound with genres like Hyperpop, Drum'n'bass, Amapiano, Punk Rock and Hip Hop.
The link to the city of Brussels and its local music scene has been very important from the early days of Listen. As a festival we aim to create and nourish a platform, within the city of Brussels, with an international reach to showcase local talent and place them among the most exciting international acts in the industry. 

Collaborative Music Platform

Listen is a collaborative music platform with each event being curated in collaboration with some of the most prolific Belgian artists, labels, venues & collectives. Curators over the past years have included: Flagey, Bozar, Stroom, Blck Mamba, Not Your Techno, Basic Moves, Under My Garage, La Cabane, Lefto Early Bird, Frontal, Breaxx, Slagwerk, He4rtbroken, Fuse, Crevette Records, AliA, Le Motel, Brikabrak, Gay Haze, Spek, C12, A.Brehme, Local Slang, Sono Ventura, Botanique, Soulful Sessions, Magma & many more. 

Artists

Each year we welcome some of the most exciting musical acts for DJ sets, lives, concerts and more. Some of the artists that have played at Listen: 808 State / A. Brehme / Acid Arab / Addison Groove / Alfred Anders / AliA / Altin Gün / Actress X Mount Kimbie / Andrew Weatherall / Antal / ANZ / Aponogeton / Aroh / Asa Moto / Avalon Emerson / Aya / Azo / Baraka / Barbara Boeing / Beautiful Swimmers / Benji B / Ben Kamal / Belaria / Bibi Seck / Bicep / Bitter Babe / Bjeor / Blawan / Blck Mamba / Bona Léa / Byron The Aquarius / Bradley Zero / Burenhinder / Cabasa / Call Super / Carista / Carlos Valdes / Céline Gillain / Charlie Bones / Cheb Runner / CJ Bolland B2B Nosedrip / Cleveland / Croatian Amor / Crystallmess / Danilo Plessow / dBridge / DC Salas / Deli Girls / Dengue Dengue Dengue / Delfonic / DJ Athome / DJ Food / DJ Masda / DJ Stingray / DJ Sweet6teen / Dolkraut Band / Doss / Dr. Rubinstein / DTM Funk / Ece Özel / Elena Colombi / Emily Jeanne / Enrica Falqui / Erykah / Fafi Abdel Nour / Fais Le Beau / Fahad Seriki / Fatima Yamaha / Floating Points / Fka.mp4 / Forsissies / Funkineven / Fransesco Farfa / Front De Cadeaux / Gene On Earth / Ge-Ology / GIDEÖN / Gigi Masin / Giuseppe Leonardi / Gurl / Gwenan / Habibi Funk / Hector Oaks / Helena Hauff / Hessle Audio Trio (Ben Ufo, Pangaea & Pearson Sound) / Hewan Aman / Hicham / Hiele & Wilan W. / HiTech / Hunee / I-F / Infuso Giallo / Intergalactic Gary / INVT / Islas / ISAbella / Ivan Smagghe / Jacob Meehan / Jane Fitz / Jamie Tiller / Jason Kendig / Jazzdee / Jennifer Loveless / Job Jobse / John Gómez / John Talabot / John T. Gast / Johnny Nash & Suzanne Kraft / Jovonn / Kai Alce / Kamaal Williams / Kamma & Masalo / Kappen / Karenn / Kleine Crack & Slagter / Kong / Konduku / Lawrence Le Doux / Lefto / Le Motel / Lipelis / LSDXOXO / Luke Slater / Luca Lozano / Mambele / Mankiyan / Marco Shuttle / Marie Davidson / Marina Herlop / Martyn / Maurice Fulton / Mary Lake / Mia Koden / Midland / M I M I / Motor City Drum Ensemble / Mr. Scruff / Nick Léon / NMSS / Nosedrip / Nu Guinea / Objekt / Ogazón / Omar S / Optimo / Orpheu The Wizard / Pablo’s Eye / Pablo Valentino / Palms Trax / Paul Seul / Paradox / Pender Street Steppers / Phanom / Phaser Boys / Plexi Stad / Powder / Reinel Bakole / re:ni / Rey Colino / Rick Shiver / Rrita Jashari / San Soda / Sapphire Slows / Sarkawt Hamad / Sassy J / Sara Dziri / Seba / Sixsixsixties / Skee Mask / Shackleton / Sherelle / Sky H1 / soFA / Soumaya Phéline / Spekki Webu / SP:MC / State OFFF / Suso Saiz / Syracuse / Ssaliva / Stellar OM Source / Still House Plants / Teki Latex / Terrence Dixon / The Mystic Jungle Tribe / Tramhaus / Varg / Victor De Roo / Vieira / VTSS / Walrus / Woody92 / X/O / Young Marco / Zenobia / Zouzibabe / ...

Each year we aim for a 50/50 split between Belgian and international artists with a strong focus to put our locals in headlining slots among the international guests. 

Locations

Another key factor for Listen are the unique locations we occupy throughout the city of Brussels each year. For the 2024 edition we occupied some amazing locations in Brussels like the Tunnel Complexe Louise/Louiza, Brussels Central Station, Brussels Congrès Station, C12, Fuse, La Cabane, Buda BXL, Notre-Dame De Laeken and many more.

Our Scene

Our Scene is a platform with in-depth interviews, highlights, radioshows and more. Promoting local talent is an integral part of our Festival’s DNA, both throughout the year and during the festival. With a yearly vinyl compilation with tracks from up-and-coming Belgian artists and a magazine that bundles the best content created throughout the year, we want to explore the core of what is happening in the Belgian music scene.

During the festival, an Our Scene discourse program takes place. It intends to be a platform where the music industry can be examined from different perspectives. Casting light on the structures and power dynamics behind club culture by giving voice to those that shape the scene and the world of today and tomorrow.