Soundedit has announced the lineup for its 18th edition, running in Łódź, Poland, from 23 to 27 October 2026. The festival confirmed Marc Almond of Soft Cell, former Kraftwerk drummer Wolfgang Flür, The Stranglers founder Hugh Cornwell, producer Howie B and The Wolfgang Press among the performing artists. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster and Eventim.

Soundedit is built around the people who shape recorded sound rather than around a single genre, and pairs a concert programme with what it describes as the largest pro-audio educational programme in Europe.

Soundedit 2026 lineup and dates

The confirmed performers are:

• Howie B – the producer known for his work with U2, Björk and Massive Attack, returning to the festival with new original material
• Hugh Cornwell – the original singer and guitarist of The Stranglers, performing with his full band, including “Golden Brown” and “No More Heroes”
• Wolfgang Flür – electronic music pioneer and Kraftwerk’s drummer from 1973 to 1987
• Marc Almond – the Soft Cell vocalist behind “Tainted Love”
• The Wolfgang Press – presenting new material following their return to live performance
• Maszynowa – premiering their album “Supernowa”
• Kasia Lins – with her Obywatelka K.L. project, built on the music of new wave band Republika and Grzegorz Ciechowski
• Dezerter – marking 45 years, with material from their 2026 album “Wolny wybieg”
• Lech Janerka – appearing as part of his farewell tour
• K-2 – the duo of Ziemowit Kosmowski and Agata Poremba-Kosmowska

Almond performs as the surviving half of Soft Cell, following the death of Dave Ball in October 2025. The Wolfgang Press last released the album “A 2nd Shape” in 2024, their first in nearly three decades.

The Man with the Golden Ear award and 50 years of punk

The festival weekend ends with the Man with the Golden Ear award, given for contributions to recorded sound. The 2026 recipient is Ziemowit Kosmowski, the Polish punk and new wave musician who founded Brak and Rendez-Vous. He also performs during the festival with K-2, the duo he runs with his wife Agata Poremba-Kosmowska. Further recipients are still to be announced.

Soundedit is also marking 50 years of punk rock with a photo exhibition at the Łódź Photographic Society Gallery, alongside meetings, workshops and awards tied to the anniversary.

After the concert weekend, the pro-audio programme runs on 26 and 27 October at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel and Klub Wytwórnia, with over a hundred masterclasses, workshops and lectures. The festival expects over 1,000 delegates each day, covering topics from live sound mixing to room acoustics measurement, led by working producers and academic staff.

About Soundedit

Soundedit was established in Łódź in 2009 by music producer, composer and radio broadcaster Maciej Werk, founder and frontman of the Polish rock band Hedone. He set it up to direct attention to record producers, sound designers and sound engineers rather than to performers alone, and it remains the only festival with that specific focus.

Since its first edition, the festival has combined concerts by Polish and international artists with a technical and educational strand, and has drawn both industry delegates and general audiences to Łódź each autumn. Its Man with the Golden Ear statuette has become the event’s central annual honour; Lech Janerka, who plays this year’s edition on his farewell tour, received it in 2014.

The 2026 programme is the festival’s 18th, and its lineup leans heavily on artists whose work runs through synth-pop, post-punk and electronic music, from Kraftwerk and Soft Cell through The Stranglers and The Wolfgang Press.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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