About

Founded in 2003 in the basements of Kraków, Unsound has grown into one of the most influential festivals of its kind — a meeting point for club culture, contemporary composition, sound art and critical discourse. The festival is known for pairing artists across genres and generations, commissioning new works, and staging music in unexpected spaces: brutalist hotels, salt mines, churches and post-industrial halls.

Over more than two decades, Unsound has built a reputation for pushing the boundaries of what a music festival can be. Each edition is organized around a central theme — a conceptual thread that runs through the programming, visual identity and commissioned pieces. Past themes have explored ideas such as interference, presence, dislocation and the future, inviting artists and audiences to engage with music not just as entertainment, but as a form of inquiry. This thematic approach has attracted collaborators from fields as diverse as philosophy, architecture, visual arts and technology, making Unsound a genuinely interdisciplinary platform.

The festival's commitment to new work is central to its identity. Rather than simply booking established acts, Unsound regularly commissions site-specific performances, premieres and collaborative projects that exist only within the context of the festival. Many of these works go on to tour internationally, but their origins remain rooted in the particular atmosphere of Kraków — a city whose layered history and architectural texture provide a powerful backdrop for experimental culture.

Unsound has also expanded beyond its annual October edition, launching satellite events in New York, Adelaide and other cities, as well as a year-round programme of recordings, publications and educational initiatives. Through all of this, the festival remains committed to its founding spirit: a belief that the most exciting music happens at the edges, where genres dissolve and new forms emerge.