Brazilian visionary Arthur Verocai, the hedonistic DJ known as The Dare, and the legendary LSD and the Search for God are coming to Katowice for their first Polish shows ever, August 7–9, 2026, at the OFF Festival! Today’s lineup announcement features seven more exciting names, including artists you won’t see anywhere else in the country. Tickets are now on sale.
The OFF Festival continues to seek out new alternative artists and genres in our quest to give audiences unparalleled concert experiences and musical surprises. This year, we’re launching the European tour of an exceptional artist. The OFF Festival has invited the Brazilian musician and composer Arthur Verocai, who will be teaming up with AUKSO – the Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, to follow up his performance in Katowice with three more shows at some of Europe’s top festivals. The OFF Festival will also feature several other artists making their debuts in front of Polish audiences.
Arthur Verocai & AUKSO Orchestra
A pioneer and living legend of Brazilian music who aptly referred to his famous self-titled 1972 debut album – hailed by many as visionary and timeless – as a “sleeping giant.” The unique mix of jazz, funk, soul, samba, and bossa nova gave listeners a chance to forget about the military dictatorship ruling the country at the time, if only for a brief 29 minutes. But the record gained little attention. It resurfaced several decades later, rediscovered by DJs and rappers like MF Doom, Ludacris, and Cut Chemist, who called a live performance by the Brazilian artist “one of the best concerts” he’d ever seen. On his list of his 13 most formative albums, Thundercat wrote: “I would have loved nothing more than to get a chance to see Arthur Verocai play live.” That makes us even prouder to announce that Arthur Verocai will join AUKSO – the Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy for a performance at the OFF Festival in 2026. The show will be the first in a series of European tour dates initiated by the OFF Festival.
LSD and the Search for God
A guitar-driven classic that rocketed shoegaze into outer space. That’s one way to describe the 2007 debut release by the U.S. band LSD and the Search for God. They’ve only put out two EPs to date, but they’ve made every minute of runtime count! Both are among the best records in shoegaze history, securing LSD and the Search for God the title of one of the most important acts on the scene, up there with the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. Their live performances are equally the stuff of legend: even before their debut, the band quickly achieved a reputation for being a “must-see” alternative act across the United States. Now that reputation is spreading around the world. LSD and the Search for God have never played in Poland, and you’ll catch their first show here at the OFF Festival!
The Dare (DJ set)
They’ve called him the king of the “indie sleaze” revival. He claims, jokingly, not to know what that means. Asked what his album would smell like if it were a scent, he replies: “Alcohol and sweat and a fog machine.” He adores LCD Soundsystem and loves Lou Reed. His thoughts on Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor? “I think he may not be aware of The Dare as a thing, but he’s a hero of mine.” For anyone who doesn’t know: The Dare is a solo project by the American singer, musician, and producer Harrison Patrick Smith. He’s also friends with Charli XCX and Billie Eilish, with whom he recorded the track “Guess” before going on to remix it himself. He’s got plenty more music under his belt, and you’ll find it on the electroclash, dance-punk, and synth-pop drenched LPs What’s Wrong with New York and Freakquencies: Volume 1. You’ll have a blast spinning these records, because, as NPR explains, an album by The Dare “is a party – and you’re invited.” We agree, and urge you to see him live at the OFF Festival, August 7–9.
Saam Sultan
“Can you hear me? Can you feel me?” Saam Sultan asks on the track “I See Star.” You bet we can. And we’re not the only ones to see him as the next rising star of British rap. Born and raised in Florida, where he caught the music bug, he later moved to Brighton, England, where he went even deeper down the rabbit hole, with great success. Today, he’s a producer, rapper, and an entry on the NME’s 100 Essential Emerging Artists for 2026, a spot he earned for transforming “the internet swagger of 2010s Tumblr culture into a woozy UK cloud-rap revival.” Listeners who’ve already got Saam on their musical radars praise his experimental, ethereal production and recommend him to fans of Yung Lean and Bladee. And it just so happens that all three will be performing at the OFF Festival August 7–9. You know what to do.
Dana and Alden
Jazz for Gen Z. Or anyone else who needs a cure for the creeping plague of brainrot. Dana and Alden make music that bucks the trend of short, generic Top-40 tracks. Having received an early education in Pharaoh Sanders and John Coltrane from their dad, the duo soon got into Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones, and other artists on Daptone Records’ roster. Now they play music that puts a thrilling twist on traditional jazz, performing it on stage and sharing it on TikTok, whose young users are taking a growing interest in refreshing sounds. Dana and Alden founded their band shortly after stumbling upon acid-jazz sounds while recording hip-hop covers in their home studio. It became the driving sound behind their tour alongside Benny Sings, and has continued to power their music over the three albums they’ve released to date, with lyrics about everything from Anthony Bourdain to chocolate-covered bananas and a coyote howling outside their studio. Don’t miss this show at the OFF Festival.
Vojdi
“No door’s closed to a neighbor’s nose,” the old adage goes, which is why Polish audiences (and everyone, for that matter) should check out Vojdi, from neighboring Slovakia, at the OFF Festival. The manic power trio borrows a page from Mr. Bungle, another from Black Midi, and yet another from System of a Down’s earlier days, and hails from the city of Prešov. “No other band in the country can play as well and with such intensity as these guys,” raves a local paper. Math rock, art rock, jazz, experimental, indie, psychedelic music, metal… this act has everything. After seeing them perform live, a reviewer for The Quietus wrote: “Their playing is phenomenal and as brazenly ‘uncool’ as it can get: chapeau!” You’ll be wowed, too. But start working on your cardio now if you want to keep up with them, and put on their LP Kompost or the EP Split & Doux. Vol. 1, a split record released early this year with the French band Ni.
Céline Dessberg
David Byrne, Chet Baker, and traditional Mongolian music are among her biggest inspirations. She sings (beautifully!), plays the guitar, piano, and traditional Mongolian zither. And she goes straight for the heart. Her music, which combines her Asian heritage with modern indie and pop sensibilities, is food for the imagination. Just close your eyes for a minute. It’s all thanks to her Mongolian parents, who gave their Paris-born daughter a yatga, a type of stringed instrument played in their homeland. Céline Dessberg and her new zither soon became fast friends. She started out playing pop, because, as she explains, “You can’t do Mongolian music just any old way.” It was only after she had mastered the technique that she felt comfortable combining her musical roots with the world she lived in. “Before I could share my music with the world, I first had to understand who I am,” she says. And she’ll be sharing it with us at the OFF Festival!
Bujaturla
It kinda rocks, it kinda rolls. It definitely stays in your head. This Warsaw band, whose name is a mashed-up Polish translation of “rock’n’roll,” features members of Zwidy and Syndrom Paryski. They’re modern-day troubadours searching for a panacea in love letters written to feelings of nostalgia. “Good soul, good music,” is what audiences say in the comments below their songs – if they can even find any online. Bujaturla is best seen on stage, where these contemporary chansonniers really dial up the charm. If you’ve heard Women’s “Public Strain” and “Cała jesteś w skowronkach” by Skaldowie, you might have an inkling of their sound. But there’s much more to it than that.
AGNT
He sends “Letters to M,” damp with tears and “feelings, feeling written in words.” What do we know about him? He hates cleaning up and has an irresistible urge to make music. He’s strongly inspired by British rap and its sound. Look up the titles of his tracks and you’ll find that he’s recorded a “Few smart things” and profiled “Poland’s First Generation.” And he’s proud to announce that Poles can play grime just as well as anyone else. Give him a listen, and you’ll probably agree. A broad smile, clenched teeth, and samples from the classic Polish comedy Boys Don’t Cry: that’s what AGNT is all about. Get ready for him to rock your world at the OFF Festival.
Tercet Imperial
An extraordinary lineup featuring the multi-instrumentalists Piotr Zabrodzki and Jan Emil Młynarski alongside singer Joanna Sztuczka take on Polish music, from the Oberek and Mazurka to forgotten wedding songs. Their original renditions of traditional melodies combined with electronic sounds and music from Africa and India at the 26th New Tradition Polish Radio Folk Festival won them the well-deserved grand prize. The time has come for alternative audiences to discover their creative prowess. “Captured within this tradition and these instruments is an enchanted emotional charge,” they explain. Anyone who’s had the opportunity to hear their music live will tell you it’s “off the charts, ingenious in its observations and executions.” Spread the news far and wide: Tercet Imperial is playing the OFF Festival this year.
