The 23rd edition of Nuits sonores lit up Lyon last week, bringing together a vibrant mix of styles, sounds, and creative worlds in one place.
For five days, artists and audiences gathered with one shared purpose: to experience a collective musical journey through performances, discovery, and connection.
This year, the French independent festival featured several TIMES performances, resonating throughout the Days, Nights, and Lab programmes.
FIRST DAY
TIMES programme in the first day included: DJ and founder of Oroko Radio, Kikelomo with her workshop on Cultural Best Practices Beyond the Borders of Europe as part of Nuits sonores Lab programme.
Later in Les Grands Locos, TIMES presented Beatrice M. who delivered their signature blend of syncopated UK-inspired sounds—rooted mainly in dubstep—infused with trancy, techno-driven grooves. Their set balanced old-school influences with crisp, contemporary sound design.
On the Darse stage, Gezan delivered a powerful live performance, unleashing their psychedelic sound and raw, radical artistic energy.
The closing of the Day program was entrusted to Anetha and Vel, two familiar faces at Nuits sonores. They joined forces for their very first B2B set, bringing together two distinct artistic universes.
Their meeting on the festival’s main stage, La Nef, became a true fusion of energies, rhythms, textures, and sound.
SECOND DAY
On Thursday, another TIMES-labeled workshop took place at the main venue of Nuits sonores Lab, Hôtel71.
Ukrainian curators Natalia Matsenko and Yuri Yefanov invited participants to engage, through a playful and interactive approach, with questions surrounding existing and emerging threats to democracy and the cultural sector.
The workshop also encouraged collective reflection on ways to overcome ongoing crises and build supportive networks in the face of shared challenges.
At the same time that morning, another workshop took place in a neighboring room: Paye ta vie d’artiste x Manifesto XXI: Why is Syndicalism SO Sexy??? with Robyn Chien—a discussion exploring labor rights, collective organisation, and solidarity within the cultural sector.
Later in the afternoon, the Lab also hosted the round table Relearning the Commons: Mutual Aid, the Living World and Collective Culture.
Discourse programme also continued in the main site of the festival, les Grand Locos where the discussion on Soundsystem Culture took place together with Baalti, Roy Dipankar and David Bola.
After, Baalti took over the Soundystem stage with a DJ set blending UK-inspired club music with samples deeply rooted in their Indian heritage.
On the Darse stage, Bogdan Raczynski immersed the crowd in a deeply electronic and experimental set, weaving together frenetic rhythms with contemplative soundscapes.
The second night at Le Sucre hosted an all-night, eight-handed live performance by WSNWG, bringing together Rødhäd, Dasha Rush, JakoJako, and UFO95 for an immersive night-long session.
THIRD DAY
The day began with workshop at Hôtel71, which welcomed Allegra Rusconi and Virginia Rolland from Terraforma festival for a workshop focused on developing sustainable practices in the cultural sector.
The programme continued at Les Grands Locos continued with µ-Ziq and IDMora presenting their live A/V show, Gyrofield performing a DJ set on the outdoor stage, Blood of Aza taking over Darse, Nazar performing his hybrid live programme, and Kangding Ray presenting Superfluid.
At night, Cardozo, a South of France–based artist, presented his new live show at Le Sucre, performing with his instrument: a PlayStation 5 controller.
FOURTH DAY
The day at Les Grandes Locos began with another Artist Talk at the Darse stage, featuring Bclip, DJ Babatr, and Edna Martinez in conversation with moderator Daphnée Denis.
Together, they explored The Explosion of Latino-Caribbean Electronic Music.
This artist talk is part of the Rage Against The Mainstream series, developed in collaboration with TIMES, Tracks (ARTE) and the Gaîté Lyrique.
From the table to the DJ table, Bclip and Edna Martinez shifted seamlessly from discussion to performance, each taking over the SoundSystem and the Darse stage with their own DJ sets.
Aïta mon Amour, performed a live of raw poetry with an electro-rock touch.
One of the biggest highlights of the day and the festival, was hosting the third TIMES Creation Pitch, Pigeon, Puerta
This marked the second presentation of the performance by AGF, Kelman Duran, Kianí Del Valle, and Theresa Baumgartner. The project previously premiered at Elevate Festival two months earlier.
Bold, dynamic, and deliberately unexpected, the performance took over the Darse stage, drawing the audience into an immersive journey where sound and movement intertwined, echoing a continuously shifting, migration process.
The last night at Le Sucre was highlighted by live A/V of Noémi Büchi, a French-Swiss composer and sound artist, presenting Exuvie.
CLOSING DAY
The closing at Les Grandes Locos featured the final two TIMES curations of the festival: Bethlehem, presenting an electro-acoustic live set, and Dumama, who delivered a deeply personal performance blending memory-driven narratives with electronic soundscapes.
