Imidiwan Festival Utrecht

Name: Imidiwan Festival Utrecht
Start: 2026-10-10
End: 2026-10-11
Location: Imidiwan Festival Utrecht

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 · — Sun, 11 Oct

Imidiwan Festival Utrecht, Utrecht · € 35

festival culture outdoor

Imidiwan Festival Utrecht — Imidiwan Festival Utrecht, Utrecht

Foto: Spotify

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On Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October 2026, TivoliVredenburg presents Imidiwan Festival Utrecht, a two-day festival dedicated to North African desert blues.

Artists from the desert regions of Algeria, Mauritania and Mali come to Utrecht to perform and share the stories behind their music and culture. The line-up includes Imarhan, Tamikrest, Songhoy Blues, Samba Touré and Noura Mint Seymali.

Line-up

About: Imarhan

Two decades after forming in the Algerian Sahara, Tuareg quintet Imarhan take their fourth album 'Essam' ('lightning' in Tamasheq) on the road - a record that for the first time pairs electronic textures with their signature desert grooves.

studio albums released (2016-2026)

announced concerts on the current world tour

What's new

jan 2026
Imarhan released their fourth album 'Essam' on January 16, 2026 via City Slang, featuring electronic elements in their sound for the first time.
jan 2026
For 'Essam' they collaborated for the first time with producer Maxime Kosinetz and electronic musician Emile Papandreou, who sampled live instruments via a modular synthesizer.
mrt 2026
Imarhan appeared as a guest musician on 'Hoggar', the tenth album by Tinariwen, which was released in March 2026.

Tour

ManchesterLeedsLondonCardiffMontpellierMarseilleGroningen

Tracks

Tahabortsingle from 2015, one of their earliest known songs

Azzamansingle (2017), from the album 'Temet'

Ehad Wa Daghfrom the album 'Temet' (2018)

Derhan N'Oulhinelead single from 'Essam' (2026)

Essamfourth studio album (Jan 2026), featuring electronic influences for the first time

Recent shows

Jul 12, 2026 Kulturzentrum Tollhaus, Karlsruhe (DE)
Apr 25, 2026 Le Temps Machine, Joué-lès-Tours (FR)
Apr 21, 2026 Hansa 39, Munich (DE)

About: Tamikrest

Tamikrest is a Tuareg band from Mali that blends traditional desert music with rock and blues. Formed around 2008 in the Kidal region, they sing mainly in Tamasheq. Albums such as Adagh (2011) and Kidal (2014) brought them an international following.

Recent shows

Aug 22, 2026 Mountain Stage, Crickhowell (GB)
Jun 27, 2026 Onze Lieve Vrouwekerkhof, Amersfoort
Jun 16, 2026 The Hope and Ruin, Brighton (GB)

About: Songhoy Blues

Songhoy Blues is a desert blues band from Bamako, Mali, formed by musicians displaced from the country's north. They blend traditional Songhoy music with rock and blues - raw guitars, pentatonic scales and driving rhythms. Their debut Music in Exile (2015) brought them international attention, and their album Héritage continues that path with a more intimate, multi-ethnic sound.

About: Samba Touré

Samba Touré is a Malian guitarist and singer who started out with the band Farafina Lolo before Ali Farka Touré spotted his talent and took him under his wing. That mentorship steered him toward traditional West African music, and he has since become one of the most distinctive voices in the desert blues tradition. His work is deeply rooted in the sounds of the Niger River region.

Imidiwan Festival Utrecht

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🎙️ Line-up

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Line-up

Trailer