Subtitled A Celebration of Sound, Le Guess Who? is considered one of the most progressive festivals in the world. Last weekend the festival celebrated its seventeenth edition with artists and visitors from all over the world.
Le Guess who? explores music as an art form, one that transcends languages, borders and cultures; considering it as a means to bring people closer together and stimulate new insights and ideas. The festival is all about sounds that you rarely or never hear elsewhere, and artists who explore new paths in music.
This year, Le Guess Who? welcomed 19,640 visitors from 51 different countries to the city of Utrecht, from Australia to Brazil, from Japan to Egypt. U?, the festival’s free city program, also welcomed thousands of visitors. It is a reflection of the diversity of the program, which consisted of more than 200 artists from 37 countries and with guest curators from Pakistan, Japan, Mexico, the United States and Egypt, among others.
Special projects and performances
On the opening evening of Le Guess Who? the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra, together with visual artist Arion de Munck, presented the premiere of Hadra Immersive: a centuries-old North- Moroccan ceremony in which visitors took their seats around the musicians in the Grote Zaal of TivoliVredenburg.
On Saturday, November 9, British-Egyptian historian Hannah Elsisi presented the 13-hour performance piece Chromesthesia–a project that tracks Afro-diasporic rhythms and explores the history that undergirds Afro-descendant electronic music–with performances by a.o. South African artist Sho Madjozi; Maurice Louca, one of the most adventurous artists in Egypt's thriving music scene; and Venezuelan singer Betsayda Machado presented a special collaboration with DJ Babatr, who is considered to be the Godfather of Raptor House.
There were many special performances, including the American electronic group DARKSIDE, who delivered a new show in the run-up to the release of their new album; Jamaican dub legend King Jammy, who celebrated the 50th anniversary of his music career at the festival; and Pakistani-born / Brooklyn-based singer, composer and producer Arooj Aftab, who closed the festival with a mesmerizing, poignant performance.
Visa Issues
Despite the many highlights, several artists were unable to perform at Le Guess Who? due to not receiving a visa to travel to the Netherlands. Over the last several weeks, assisting these artists became a daily job, and just before Le Guess Who? 2024 began, the festival published a statement about this on its website and social media.
Free city program U?
This year, U?--the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?--focused on local, creative communities. On Saturday, November 9, there was a festival playground in the Cartesius area with music, workshops, films, exhibitions, communal meals, conversations and much more.
For the first time, U? followed in the footsteps of Le Guess Who? by working with several curators–all Netherlands-based–to present their own programs. The collaborations with these emerging talents was very successful and is sure to continue in 2025.
International platform COSMOS
COSMOS is the global music platform of Le Guess Who?. Each year, the festival collaborates with eight partners who highlight their local music scene through films, performances, radio shows and interviews. During all festival days, COSMOS presented live radio from Pandora Foyer & Studio in TivoliVredenburg, which was broadcast on 10 different radio stations worldwide.
Short documentaries were made especially for COSMOS in Detroit, Karachi, London, Marrakesh, Nairobi, Seoul, Utrecht and Vilnius. These films premiered during the festival and can now be viewed via the Le Guess Who? YouTube channel.
Le Guess Who? 2025
In 2025, Le Guess Who? will take place from November 6-9. Two-thirds of the passe-partouts for Le Guess Who? 2025 went on sale this weekend and sold out within hours.
More information can be found at leguesswho.com.
