The festival calendar isn't winding down just yet. With the final months of 2026 bringing everything from Halloween raves in Canada and artist-led carnivals in Los Angeles to electronic music gatherings in the Egyptian desert, there's plenty happening beyond the usual summer circuit.
And while major headliners remain a draw, some of the most interesting festivals are offering something more, whether that's a distinctive setting, a platform for emerging artists or an experience shaped as much by local culture as the music itself.
From Montréal's independent music scene and Vancouver's celebration of Asian Canadian talent to Mumbai's thriving live music circuit, the mountains of South Africa and the beaches of Brazil, we've rounded up 15 festivals around the world worth keeping on your radar before the year is out.
SCREAM (Edmonton, Canada)
Dates: October 30-31, 2026
Venue: Edmonton EXPO Centre
Genre: EDM, house, techno and bass music
SCREAM returns to Edmonton for two nights of electronic music and Halloween celebrations. This year's edition features four themed stages, elaborate costumes, large-scale lighting and visual production, alongside more than 200 performers, including dancers and aerialists. The festival has become a major fixture in Canada's Halloween calendar, with the audience playing as much a part in the spectacle as the artists themselves.
M for Montréal (Montréal, Canada)
Dates: November 18-21, 2026
Genre: Indie, alternative, pop, rock and emerging music
M for Montréal returns for its 21st edition with a programme spotlighting emerging Canadian artists alongside international talent. This year's official selection features 28 acts, including Lisa LeBlanc, Population II, Geoffroy, Afrotronix and HAWA B. Bringing together live showcases, industry panels and networking events, the festival has established itself as an important platform for Canadian musicians looking to reach audiences beyond the country.
Zamna Egypt (Khoroum Valley, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt)
Dates: November 20-22, 2026
Genre: House, melodic techno, Afro house and electronic music
Lineup: CamelPhat, Marco Carola, Mind Against, MRAK, Sasha & John Digweed, Shimz in a, Korolova, Gordo, MESTIZA and Major League DJz
Set in a natural sandstone amphitheatre in South Sinai, Zamna Egypt returns to Khoroum Valley for three nights of electronic music. The festival brings together some of the biggest names in house and techno, with the surrounding desert landscape providing a spectacular backdrop for its elaborate stage production. Its combination of international talent, ambitious production and an extraordinary natural setting makes it one of the more interesting destination festivals this November.
Meidum: A Mountain Oasis (Robertson, South Africa)
Dates: November 27-29, 2026
Venue: z
Genre: Disco, house and techno
Set in the Langeberg mountains, approximately two hours from Cape Town, Meidum is a three-day electronic music festival centred on a four-storey, 25-metre-wide pyramid-shaped dance stage. The event features three stages spanning disco, house and techno, with camping and glamping available on site. Its mountain location and unusual stage architecture make it an interesting alternative to conventional electronic music venues.
Time and Space Festival (Morelos, Mexico)
Dates: December 5-7, 2026
Venue: Hacienda La Luna, Tetecala
Genre: Psychedelic and underground electronic music
Time and Space Festival heads to Hacienda La Luna in Morelos for three days of underground electronic music. The organisers have announced 54 acts and 50 hours of continuous music across two stages, The Void and The Nebula, with Simon Posford among the featured artists. Built around a science-fiction-inspired concept, the festival combines psychedelic sounds with elaborate visuals and a programme designed to run throughout the weekend.
Strawberry Fields (Tocumwal, Australia)
Dates: November 20-22, 2026
Location: Murray River region, New South Wales
Genre: Electronic and underground dance music
Strawberry Fields returns to the banks of the Murray River for three days of electronic music, art and camping. The independent Australian festival brings together underground dance music and creative installations in a natural setting, with an emphasis on music discovery and outdoor experiences. The 2026 edition has already sold out, with tickets available only through the festival's official resale system.
Universo Paralello (Bahia, Brazil)
Dates: December 27, 2026 - January 4, 2027
Venue: Praia de Pratigi, Bahia
Genre: Psytrance and electronic music
Universo Paralello is scheduled to return to Brazil's Pratigi Beach for an extended New Year's celebration. The long-running gathering combines psychedelic electronic music with camping and beachfront performances, attracting audiences interested in psytrance and alternative festival culture. Its coastal setting and extended format offer a different experience from the usual two- or three-day music festival.
Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival (Los Angeles, California, USA)
Dates: November 14-15, 2026
Venue: Dodger Stadium Grounds
Genre: Hip-hop, R&B and alternative music
Created by Tyler, the Creator, Camp Flog Gnaw brings together live music and carnival attractions at Dodger Stadium Grounds in Los Angeles. The festival is known for its mix of hip-hop, R&B and alternative artists, alongside rides, games and merchandise. Its artist-led approach and distinctive creative identity set it apart from more conventional American music festivals.
Coup de cœur francophone (Montréal, Canada)
Dates: November 5-15, 2026
Genre: Francophone pop, rock, folk, alternative and experimental music
Lineup: Richard Desjardins, Safia Nolin, Catherine Leduc, Alphonse Bisaillon, Jeanne Côté, Jonathan Personne and more
Celebrating its 40th edition, Coup de cœur francophone returns to Montréal with more than 70 artists performing across 15 venues. Dedicated to French-language music, the festival brings together established names and emerging talent from Québec, elsewhere in Canada and abroad. This year's programme features 42 shows, including 21 album or EP launches, alongside special performances and collaborations. Highlights include Richard Desjardins' two-night appearance at Club Soda and the return of experimental pop duo Forêt after nearly 12 years away from the stage
Rolling Loud India (Mumbai, India)
Dates: December 12-13, 2026
Venue: TBA, Mumbai
Genre: Hip-hop, R&B
Lineup: Metro Boomin, Skepta, Burna Boy, Karan Aujla, Big Sean, Schoolboy Q, Raja Kumari, Wazir Patar, Seedhe Maut, Navz-47 and more
While other editions in Thailand and Australia haven’t exactly taken, Rolling Loud India is back for its second edition in Mumbai. Currently the only large-scale hip-hop festival in India, the two-day gathering marks the India debut of stars like Metro Boomin, Skepta and Burna Boy, plus a second consecutive performance by Punjabi star Karan Aujla.
Sunburn Festival (Mumbai, India)
Dates: December 18-19, 2026
Venue: Mahalaxmi Racecourse, Mumbai
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Lineup: The Chainsmokers, Sebastian Ingrosso, DJ Snake, Jason Derulo, Laidback Luke, Nervo, Nucleya and more
One of the longest-running electronic music festivals in India that was best known for its Goa editions, Sunburn Festival moves into cityscapes for its 19th edition held in the heart of Mumbai. They’re also expanding just a tad with the inclusion of R&B/pop hitmaker Jason Derulo as a headliner, who joins the likes of American EDM duo The Chainsmokers, Swedish House Mafia co-founder Sebastian Ingrosso, French heavy-hitter DJ Snake, India’s very own bass don Nucleya and several more international and Indian artists.
DGTL India (Bengaluru & Goa, India)
Dates: November 13-14, 2026 (Bengaluru), November 14-15, 2026 (Goa)
Venue: The Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru & W Goa
Genre: Electronic
Lineup: Nina Kraviz, Vladimir Dubyshkin, Biianco, Phil Berg, Nox Vahn and more
Amsterdam-origin music festival DGTL has gone trotting around the world. In India, the country’s sixth edition brings together topline DJs and electronic artists for two city editions. While the original plan was Bengaluru and Mumbai, DGTL India is now setting up in Bengaluru and Goa between Nov. 13 to 15, 2026. Known for its standout stage production and lighting design as well as an eye on sustainable practices, the festival delivers on its promise of top-notch music as well, bringing in Nina Kraviz, Biiano, Vladimir Dubyshkin and more.
No Art (Mumbai, India)
Dates: November 15, 2026
Venue: Bayview Lawns, Mumbai
Genre: Electronic
Originally slated to take place at the start of the year in March, the India debut of globally-renowned electronic music and art festival No Art — founded by music duo ANOTR — is now taking place in November. While the founders are expected to perform alongside a handful of international artists, No Art’s major draw is the location by the bay and the promise of discovering new music amid distinct stage and festival décor and production that promise a multi-sensory experience.
Soledxb (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Dates: December 11-13, 2026
Venue: The Square Nad Al Sheba, Dubai
Genre: Hip-hop, alternative, jazz, pop, electronic music
Lineup: Lola Young, Odeal, Nia Archives, Masego, Yussef Dayes, Fatoumata Diawara, Smino, Peter Cat Recording Co. and more
One of the long-running music festivals that brings in international artists to Dubai, Sole DXB’s 14th edition is packed with good-vibes music across genres. While the upcoming edition is moving from the longstanding venue Dubai Design District to The Square at Nad Al Sheba, the three-day festival continues to go from strength to strength to deliver an international lineup like few others in the region. That includes everyone from Grammy-winning British artist Lola Young to Hong Kong DJ Gia Fu, Indian alternative act Peter Cat Recording Co., Malian star Fatoumata Diawara, British duo Overmono and several more.
Wonderfruit (Chon Buri, Thailand)
Dates: December 3-7, 2026
Venue: The Fields at Siam Country Club, Chon Buri
Genre: Electronic, jazz
Lineup: Tangerine Dream, Nubya Garcia, Salin, Jane Fitz, Faustus, Sweely, Sansae, Shanka Tribe and more
At the center of Wonderfruit festival in Thailand is wellness and transformation, so you can never really expect just the music to be a draw. There are movement-focused performances, Buddhist philosophies, premieres of new documentaries with a live music performance to pair, culinary experiences and workshops as well. From communal dining to “forest therapy”, Wonderfruit is for music lovers, but more so for the curious.
Courtesy of Martin Garrix
Louis Van Baar*
Courtesy Photo
Courtesy Photo
Liam Payne (left) and Harry Styles of One Direction onstage during the 2013 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Nov. 24, 2013
Harry Styles Finds the Right Words on Liam Payne Tribute Song
For the past seven weeks, Harry Styles has reserved two minutes at each of his Madison Square Garden shows to reflect on the last time he gathered this many people in this room. Four years have passed since he performed 15 record-breaking nights at the venue during his Love on Tour. Now, every night at the new Together, Together shows, which span 30 nights at MSG, he acknowledges that “a lot of life happened to me and landed on me in ways that maybe it hadn’t before.”
Styles doesn’t usually go into much more detail; he typically just describes those in-between years as “a great reminder for me of just how wonderful and beautiful, difficult and inspiring, and also how fragile a life can be.” He encourages the audience to look around at each other and celebrate the community they’ve built together. Then he dives into “Sign of the Times.” It happens every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday like clockwork. But when he delivered this speech on Friday, Oct. 16, there was a shift. It didn’t conclude in its usual way.
Instead, Styles turned his attention to the banner commemorating his 15 consecutive nights at the Garden in 2022. “It means a lot to be able to look up there at my name up there from the last tour,” he said. “There are so many people, friends and people that I’ve worked with, that I would’ve never been able to do this without.” Two years ago, he continued, he lost one of those pillars. Friday’s show fell on the same day as the second anniversary of the death of Liam Payne, a loss that time has not made it easier to acknowledge. “I’m sure a lot of you have been through something similar,” Styles said. “I hope you haven’t.”
A frequent assessment of Styles, both among his fans and those who’ve only encountered him at a distance, is that he often talks at length before getting to the point. He recognizes it himself on the Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally song “Coming Up Roses,” where he sings about fumbling his words. But recently, comments about his long-winded way of speaking have started to feel like purposeful misreadings. There are clear and carefully considered thoughts present between his starts and stops. Anyone truly listening will pick up on those threads.
Styles cut himself off a few times during his speech on Friday. He tried to talk for a second about looking after each other, and repeated his point about the banner and the people who’ve supported him. He never mentions Payne by name, instead referring to him as a friend, which somehow became a point of criticism from some fans. The context is clear enough. Still, he seems to know it’s a gamble to expect understanding, especially when the conversation grows more complex and personal.
After about a minute and a half, Styles figured it best to show us what he means rather than tell us. “I’m gonna sing a song I wrote two years ago for my friend,” he said before premiering “Wise Enough.” The sullen tribute to Payne settled the room into a cool near-silence, punctured by quiet gasps and muffled crying. It was beautiful, devastating, and deeply exposing to watch Styles share his grief with 20,000 people in the best, and maybe only, way he knows how.
Earlier this year, Styles told Zane Lowe about the acute dread surrounding the expected performance of his mourning. “Full transparency, even the idea of talking about it, I struggle with that a little bit. There was a period when he passed away where I really struggled with acknowledging how strange it is to have people own part of your grief, in a way,” he said. “I have such strong feelings around my friend passing away. And then suddenly being aware there’s maybe a desire from other people of you to convey that in some way, or it means you’re not feeling what you’re feeling.”
Artists often describe the act of sharing new music as a change in ownership, something that is no longer their own once it has been handed over to an audience. “Wise Enough” feels protected from this. It would be confounding to see Styles ever record and release it in any official capacity. The song is openhearted in a way that exposes deep scars, anxious in a way that worries and fidgets about time and how it passes, and inconsolable in a way that doesn’t make the futile attempt to fight through anger, regret, or sadness.
“I can tell you what it’s like to bury friends on Wednesday nights/Gather in a garden around the fire,” Styles sings in a particularly cutting verse on the song, which concludes with an honest admission: “I’m not wise enough to call for a conversation/And then back it up, right?/Like you’re in the sky.”
Celebrity doesn’t obscure grief. It doesn’t come with a script for what to say when someone is sorry for your loss, or when they recollect their own version of the person you knew. No one really has the right words for these moments. Over the weekend, fans debated whether “Wise Enough” is actually titled “What Is Enough?” Styles introduced the record so briskly it was hard to decipher. The question of adequacy feels similarly impossible to answer.
Grief is so plain in how universal it is, but so complex in how and when it chooses to present itself. It can be policed only as much as it can be predicted, which is to say barely at all. That Styles let us into his now yearslong search for some semblance of understanding — knowing how his words have been picked apart before for far lesser things — shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Styles never acknowledges that banner at MSG. It’s not for lack of gratitude — he cried when it was unveiled. But the point he has reiterated every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday since the end of August is that the achievement is something that must be shared because he couldn’t have done it alone. He talks about being on stage as if what happens in that room exists far beyond and outside of himself, something that endures even in his absence.
It’s true in a way. There’s muscle memory tied to the music. It’s in the spinning, dizzying way fans dance to “Satellite,” or the way they wildly kick their feet and make the building shake during “Kiwi,” a song he brought back to the set just for New York. It’s just like before, but still so different.
Friday night continued as usual after “Wise Enough.” Styles belted out “Sign of the Times” in the sobering way he always does, then “Aperture” let in a cathartic flood of strobing lights and pulsating beats. The emotional whiplash took physical form as fans consoled one another, holding out their hands to help up friends and strangers who crumbled to the floor at the conclusion of the tribute. Some were crushed by their memories of loving One Direction, and the care they hold in their hearts for Styles. Some were just as wrecked by their own personal losses.
A lot of life and loss can happen in four years, as Styles says each night. For some people who were at MSG on Friday, there are friends present in their memories from the last tour who are missing from the new ones they’re making. The lyric “You dance until you’re tired/No, you don’t, and now you never will/Will you?” surfaces their own devastation completely separate from what inspired Styles to sprawl those words on a page. How do you dance to “Aperture” — the beating heart of this show in its declaration that “we belong together” — after hearing something like that?
You take the hand of the friend or the stranger who pulled you from the ground and use it to lead each other back to the dance floor. When Styles talks about community and stresses the importance of caring for one another each night, he reminds everyone of the fragility of a moment, and urges them to cherish every second they get. To dance wildly and sing loudly and wrap their arms around each other. To hold tight to what’s here right now.
It’s all any of us have, so it has to be enough.