How Aegis Festival Is Holding Space for the Region’s Electronic Music

Amid the ongoing Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon and Beirut, and the wider instability across the region, Aegis Festival - one of the region’s most anticipated electronic music festivals taking place annually in Arnaoon Village - is shifting its focus this year.

Rather than building its programme around international headliners, as is often the case across regional festivals, Aegis is taking a different route. Its 2026 edition places homegrown and regional artists at the centre, stepping away from the imported festival model in favour of a programme shaped by people with a direct, lived connection to Lebanon, either by birth or choice. Since its launch in 2023, Aegis has never had an easy run. Each edition has faced the possibility of cancellation, yet the festival has persisted, defying the odds to bring the region’s electronic scene together in one space, spotlighting forward-thinking local and regional talent, collectives and labels, while also hosting sought-after international acts like Fumiya Tanaka, DouDou MD, Eli Verveine, and Seth Troxler.

“Honestly, the question of whether to continue has come up every single year, and I mean that. We launched as underdogs in a saturated market in 2023. In 2024, we were navigating a war and a direct competitor targeting our exact dates. 2025 brought escalating regional conflict. And 2026 is the most intense environment we've faced yet. Every time, the rational case for stopping existed. But what kept me going was the same thing every time - a belief in what this actually is. Aegis isn't just a festival. It's proof that this place, these people, and this culture are worth showing up for. Walking away would've felt like a betrayal of that.” Emile Houkayem, Founder of Aegis Festival, tells SceneNoise.

Across the region, there has long been a tendency for festivals to prioritise international DJs as a default measure of scale or prestige. Those bookings often come at the expense of sustained investment in local scenes, where artists are expected to compete for limited slots in their own environments. While such a strategy can be crucial in introducing international audiences to the diverse sounds of the region’s electronic scene, it can result in a circuit that frequently amplifies external, already big and sought-after names while leaving less room to build infrastructure for the region’s own talent.

Titled 'Of This Land', Aegis Festival’s 2026 edition will run from July 10th to July 12th, transforming Arnaoon Village into a three-day sanctuary shaped by its picturesque natural surroundings and the artists who have grown within it. The edition draws on the idea of continuity - what has been built locally, and what has persisted despite ongoing disruption.

“What excites me most about this edition is that it’s the most honest version of Aegis we’ve ever put on. ‘Of This Land’ isn’t a response to circumstance; it’s something we’ve been building toward. For the first time, we’re going fully homegrown - and by homegrown, we mean people that were born in this land, or choose to be a part of this land regardless, from locals to regionals and to our international community abroad. And most importantly, we launched an open call that invites creators across disciplines to be part of it. We’re not bringing the world to Lebanon this year. We’re taking Lebanon to the world. We’re deciding to look inwards instead of outwards. To believe in and support each other in these times,” Emile Houkayem tells SceneNoise.

While the full line-up remains under wraps, Aegis has announced an open call inviting music producers, DJs, visual artists, designers, wellness practitioners and marketplace vendors from across the SWANA region to help shape this year’s edition. With this initiative, the festival is reasserting its original intent as a multidisciplinary platform for creatives. “This edition is a collective effort; we are moving toward an edition built entirely by those who share our rhythm. We aren’t just making a festival; we are building a space together.”