Since its founding in 2016, the Copenhagen festival A COLOSSAL WEEKEND has been an artistic platform for boundary-crossing, heavy and experimental music. It is a festival where representation, inclusion and aesthetic radicalism go hand in hand, just as it is a free space where audiences and artists can meet in safety, openness and musical exploration.

Next year, the festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary, taking place May 7-9, 2026 with VEGA and Basement in Vesterbro in Copenhagen as the permanent location.

The festival places diversity as a foundation for artistic quality and presents a strong presence of female, non-binary and queer artists. Music and exploration are intertwined with existential and sometimes political themes – from furious punk to ritualistic ambient and poetic doom.

Full Festival tickets cost 1,165 DKK including fees and are on sale now, and single-day tickets go on sale in December.

The final schedule will follows. The first names we can present are:

Russian Circles (US)
Chicago’s Russian Circles have earned their place as one of the most influential post-metal trios of the past two decades. Their name — borrowed from a childhood ice-hockey drill — hints at the discipline and circular motion that define their music. Albums like the latest Gnosis (Sargent House, 2023) showcase their ability to pair heaviness with subtlety, crafting soundscapes that are simultaneously crushing and delicate. Their music flows from cinematic calm to overwhelming intensity, threading intricate bass lines, searing guitars, and punishing drums into immersive instrumental narratives.

Pelican (US)
Hailing from Chicago, Pelican are a band intrinsically tied to their city’s underground, forming in 2000 with guitarists Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec alongside brothers Bryan and Larry Herweg on bass and drums. Their sound grew from the rule-free, genre-agnostic creativity of the Fireside Bowl scene, a space where heavy riffs and expansive atmospheres coexisted without restriction. With Schroeder-Lebec’s return in 2022, Pelican tapped back into the spirit of their formative era for Flickering Resonance, creating music that honours their roots while embracing subtlety, human warmth, and expansive post-rock soundscapes.

Pain Magazine (FR)
Emerging from France’s underground, Pain Magazine fuse noise rock, hardcore, and avant-garde tendencies into a volatile, unpredictable sound. Their name, an ironic nod to consumer culture, reflects a music built on distortion and chaos. The 2024 album Violent God (Humus Records) was recorded in just sixteen days, capturing a raw snapshot of intensity, exhaustion, and catharsis. Their lineage includes ties to Birds in Row and Maelstrom, infusing their music with a blend of rage and precision. Guitars slice like razors, drums pound relentlessly, and electronics buzz like exposed wires.

Hyper Gal (JP)
From Tokyo, Hyper Gal are a whirlwind of punk, math-rock, and unfiltered DIY energy. Their music is fast, jagged, and bristling with nervy intensity, sitting at the crossroads of Japanese underground hardcore and experimental rock. The 2023 release Pure fuses experimental rock, warped electronics, and fractured rhythms into a soundworld that is simultaneously playful, terrifying, and hypnotic.

Feral Nature (NO)
From Oslo, Feral Nature strike with sharp intensity and urgent energy. Rooted in hardcore, their music is both ferocious and precise, blending punk’s raw power with metallic discipline. The result is a sound that balances rage and control, transforming aggression into poetry rather than destruction.

Shearling (US)
Shearling emerge from the US with a sound that blends slowcore melancholy, shoegaze textures, and weighty post-rock sensibilities. Their music is lush yet fragile, layering guitars and vocals into a dreamy haze that is both tender and crushing. The 2022 record Motherfucker, I Am Both: “Amen” and “Hallelujah” incorporates banjos, dulcimers, and electronics, creating a surreal sonic palette that challenges and enchants.

Truckfighters (SE)
From Örebro, Sweden, Truckfighters channel desert rock through thick layers of fuzz and groove. Their sound is steeped in stoner rock, fuzz pedals pushed to the limit, and playful swagger reminiscent of Kyuss yet distinctly Scandinavian. The 2021 album V (Fuzzorama Records) captures their love of wide-open riffs, hypnotic grooves, and psychedelic melodies that stretch like sun-drenched highways.

A COLOSSAL WEEKEND is a non-profit, independent festival organized by VEGA in collaboration with a number of local actors.

The concert is supported by Liveurope. Liveurope is the first pan-European initiative supporting concert venues in their efforts to promote emerging European artists. Liveurope is co-funded by the EU's Creative Europe programme.