Kaunas is about to be swept up in “Audra” – a four-day festival of contemporary music and urban culture.
Exhibitions, performances, gourmet initiatives for food lovers, and, of course, the now-legendary electronic music parties will immerse the entire city in a nonstop storm of experiences until late Sunday night.
According to the organizers, as every year, the central focus of the festival is music. Over the coming days there will be plenty of it – from live performances and unexpected collaborations to events that have already become tradition.
As is customary, “Audra” will expand across diverse spaces in Kaunas. On September 18, the festival will open with a free concert on the terrace of the M. Žilinskas Art Gallery. The evening will feature the now-traditional performance by Berlin’s radio station Refuge Worldwide – the first moment when the city plunges into dance.
On Friday, the festival will move to the “Pergalė” metal recycling factory. The stage will host Happyendless, Rūta MUR, Džiugas Širvys, Silvester Belt, Vitalijus Puzyriov (Vaiper), Giedrė Kilčiauskienė, and the revived project 808 Orchestra. This ambitious concert will transform well-known dance music hits into nostalgic, orchestral, and electronic arrangements.
That same night, electronic beats will also take over the M. Žilinskas Art Gallery, where some of the most anticipated festival guests – seasoned veterans of clubs worldwide – will perform. Among them: dance music star Shanti Celeste, who this year released her critically acclaimed album Romance, and American artist Sepehr, celebrated for live sets that merge techno, acid, and Persian cultural motifs into futuristic dance music.
On Saturday, the focus will briefly shift from night events to daytime culture, with a large free concert in Nemunas Island Park. The lineup includes Despotin Fam, Abudu, and other beloved bands. The concert is open to everyone – from families with children to seniors.
The festival’s musical program will close with Saturday’s all-night event at “Pergalė.” This climactic night will bring together special guests: Berlin club legend and BPitch Control founder Ellen Allien, the highly anticipated UK DJ Midland, and a unique collaboration between British DJs Leon Vynehall and Batu – promised to be the evening’s biggest surprise.
A Tribute to Art Lovers
Equally anticipated is the festival’s arts program, featuring a wide range of exhibitions and performances. In collaboration with the M. K. Čiurlionis Museum, Kaunas Picture Gallery will open the exhibition Spectral Drift. Marking the 150th anniversary of Čiurlionis’ birth, “Audra” will bring together nearly 30 Lithuanian and international artists. Inspired by Čiurlionis’ visionary works, the exhibition will invite visitors to explore previously unseen museum spaces and immerse themselves in experiences of light, darkness, sensation, and interdisciplinary art.
A rich program of performances will also unfold across several venues – Kaunas Picture Gallery, the former Bank of Lithuania building, and the Central Post Office. More than ten performances will be presented by internationally recognized and award-winning creators, including composer Billy Bultheel, winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, and London-based artist Eve Stainton, known for fusing industrial elements, choreography, and live music.
From Mushrooms to Suppers: Gourmet Journeys at the Festival
Food journeys, market tours, communal cooking, mushroom cultivation, special dinners, and much more will unfold throughout the festival in an experimental kitchen curated by artist and fermentation expert Sean Roy Parker together with chef and researcher Jonas Palekas. Their work will explore how something as simple as a sandwich can connect different city communities, tell stories of land, scarcity, overproduction, migration, care, and taste. Here, food becomes more than a meal – it is a social gesture, inviting people to gather, converse, share, and rethink the city through flavor.
The creators, who have already been active in the “Šilainiai Gardens,” will move into new city spaces during the festival. While rave parties will accompany the music program, the main exhibition will also present a dinner and installation.
Full program: www.audrafestival.lt
The festival is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Kaunas City Municipality.
