After canceling its 2024 edition in solidarity with the instability in Lebanon, Beirut & Beyond International Music Festival has announced that this year’s edition will return to Metro Madina from December 4–6, continuing its tradition of championing experimental, boundary-pushing Arab artists from across the region and the diaspora.
The festival opens with an introspective lineup bridging sound and experimentation. The evening begins with Bethlehem, an electro-acoustic project born out of Christmas 2023, when Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity canceled festive celebrations in protest of the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Instead, the church’s choir leader, Lawrence Sammour, alongside Beirut-based musicians Sary Moussa and Abed Kobeissy, broadcast hymns across 50 international radio stations. After debuting live at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, the trio reunites on the BBIMF stage for their second-ever live performance.
Followed by Farah Azrak, a Syrian multidisciplinary artist exploring voice performance and somatics. After a month-long residency with BBIMF’s B&BxProzess program in Bern, she brings her immersive sonic experiments to the stage. Maud Zeinoun continues the night with her hauntingly personal performance. The Beirut-based singer and producer channels her journey through mental health and recovery into textured electronica, blending post-punk influences with raw, cinematic soundscapes. Her debut album For the Waves I Rode / And the Ones That Broke Inside Me (Ruptured Records, 2025) transforms vulnerability into catharsis.
The experimental trio Wet Silhouette (Claudia Khachan, Anthony Tawil, and Ziad Moukarzel) follows with a set that flows seamlessly from freeform rock to noise improvisation, embodying the restless energy of Beirut’s underground scene. Closing the first night, Yaba & Mousa, featuring experimental saxophonist and composer Yousef Zaher, blends electronic textures with the chaos and tenderness of Beirut’s soundscape.
The second night dives deep into hip-hop, trap, and experimental electronic production, spotlighting some of the Arab world’s most progressive voices, which features Palestinian-Norwegian rapper Awtaf, who will open the evening with his Beirut debut and his first performance in the region after 12 years away.
Known for his poetic lyricism and emotional storytelling, Awtaf transforms memories of exile and belonging into powerful verses. He’s followed by a joint performance from Ramallah-based artists Baraari and Julmud, whose collaboration fuses Baraari’s emotive vocals with Julmud’s intricate production, pushing Arabic hip-hop into new experimental directions. Next up is Dakn, the Berlin-based rapper and producer from Ramallah, whose sharp Arabic wordplay and boundary-pushing beats have made him a cult favorite in the region’s SoundCloud rap scene.
The night also features Tunisian DJ and producer Deena Abdelwahed, whose genre-bending club sets bridge Arabic sonic heritage and futuristic electronic textures. South Lebanese producer Kays continues the flow with his hybrid of oriental rhythms and electronic soundscapes, a sonic evolution rooted in Lebanese tradition yet aimed squarely at modern dancefloors. Closing the second night is Wari (سبع سباع), a rapper from Gaza whose raw, politically charged debut 7BIB ALLAH (حبيب الله) (Manjam Records, 2025) transforms pain into defiance. His performance marks both his Beirut debut and the release of one of the year’s most urgent Palestinian rap albums.
The final night is a reflection of Beirut’s sonic depth from shaabi and jazz fusion to avant-garde collaboration and high-energy rap. The evening begins with Alborj, a Lebanese songwriter and producer crafting gritty shaabi-inspired tunes rooted in local storytelling. They are followed by Bonne Chose, a crowd-favorite fusion trio blending experimental jazz, psychedelic rock, and synthwave. Their set captures the immediacy of life in Lebanon, intense, unpredictable, and endlessly expressive.
A major highlight of the evening is the onstage collaboration between Charbel Haber, Nicolas Jaar, and Sary Moussa, presenting their recently released album Crashing Waves Dance to the Rhythm Set by the Broadcast Journalist Revealing the Tragedies of the Day.
The performance merges ambient, electronic, and poetic elements, uniting three boundary-breaking sound artists in one transcendent live act. Kaddour x Tohme, featuring Farah Kaddour on buzuq and Marwan Tohme on guitar and electronics, followed with an inventive reinterpretation of folkloric tunes.
Their experimental synergy bridges traditional instrumentation with contemporary sound design, performed fresh off their UK tour. Lena, a Beirut-based DJ and producer, brings the energy back to the club sphere with her fusion of Arabic rhythms, trap, and Sha‘abi influences.
Closing the festival, Nader Khalil, the Egyptian-Iranian rapper and producer, delivers his explosive Beirut debut. Known for his politically charged project Nader Khalil 3, he blends Arabic scales, custom synths, and raw lyricism into an electrifying performance that embodies the festival’s spirit of resistance and creative evolution.
Launched in 2013, Beirut & Beyond International Music Festival (BBIMF) quickly established itself as one of the leading showcases for the Arab world’s thriving independent music scene. Modeled after the Oslo World Music Festival, its long-time partner, the event not only highlights live performances but also fosters dialogue through seminars exploring the creative, political, and infrastructural challenges shaping the regional landscape.
Over the years, its stages have hosted a who’s who of Arab indie talent, including Lebanese icons Tania Saleh and Yasmine Hamdan, Egyptian singer Maryam Saleh, and Sudanese group Alsarah & The Nubatones.
Pre-sale tickets are available via Metro Al Madina.
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