Sónar travels to Tokyo for inaugural NU Festival 2026 collaboration

Sónar is travelling to Tokyo. The Barcelona-born festival has announced a new collaboration with NU Festival 2026. The three-day event takes place from June 26 to 28 at TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY. The collaboration follows this year’s 33rd Sónar edition in Barcelona and continues the brand’s international journey.

NU Festival is built around the concept Next × New × Unity. It transforms one of Japan’s most ambitious new urban developments into an immersive cultural field. Music, art, technology and the city converge across four venues and four programme concepts: NU Live, NU Art, NU Station and NU Park.

Sónar and Sónar+D will help shape two key strands of the programme. The Barcelona-born festival’s three-decade legacy meets Tokyo‘s experimental cultural ecosystem.

“Since 1994, Sónar has scanned the present and future of music, art and technology from Barcelona, while building a global community through more than 100 editions and collaborations around the world,” said Miquel Trullolls, Head of Communications at Sónar. “NU Festival represents a new connection point for that network: a Tokyo-born platform where sound, image, creativity and urban life meet in real time.”

Sónar Sound at NU Live

The NU Live × Sónar Sound programme brings a cross-generational spectrum of boundary-pushing electronic music. The main stage at TAKANAWA GATEWAY Convention Center, LINKPILLAR Hall, hosts the run. Highlights include Actress, one of the defining figures of UK electronic music. The producer appears both solo and in a collaboration with synthesizer pioneer Suzanne Ciani as Concrète Waves.

Plus, ambient icon William Basinski presents a world-premiere performance on grand piano. Grandbrothers make their Japanese debut with a sound that fuses classical minimalism and electronic energy. The programme also features DJ KRUSH, Nathan Fake, Two Shell, Daito Manabe, Meitei, Sapphire Slows, Sakura Tsuruta, Kyomi, Minna-no-Kimochi, COLA REN and more.

Sónar+D at NU Art

At MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives, NU Art × Sónar+D presents exhibitions, talks, installations and live performances. Artist and AI researcher Nao Tokui co-curates the programme. It offers alternative perspectives on AI, generation and automation. Featured artists include Dentsu Lab Tokyo x Qosmo, Sputniko!, Yutaka Makino, Ayumi Nagai, Neutone / Roland, Neutune x MixAudio, and Alexis André of Sony Computer Science Laboratories Paris in collaboration with Kengo Kuma & Associates.

Live and discourse highlights include performances by Portrait XO and Albert.DATA. Plus, conversations include Nao Tokui in dialogue with Andrea Faroppa, Director of Sónar+D.

A new urban festival for Tokyo

Beyond the ticketed lineup, NU Festival also runs a major free programme through NU Station × J-WAVE and NU Park. Artists on that bill include DJ EMMA, KO KIMURA, Kotsu & Nari, FULLHOUSE, Shinichi Osawa, RHYME, Shingo Nakamura and SATOSHI OTSUKI.

NU Festival reflects TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY’s vision as “an experimental field for life 100 years ahead”. Now, with Sónar locked in for two flagship strands, the inaugural edition sits as a defining dance music export moment of 2026. Find more via the official NU Festival site.