News/Announcements: The New Colossus Festival Announces 2026 Second Wave Lineup

Co-founded back in 2018 by three New York music industry vets and longtime friends, former Lorimer Beacon founder and head Mike Bell, Kanine Records‘ founder and label head Lio Kanine and Kepler Events‘ and Dedstrange Records co-founder Steven Matrick, The New Colossus Festival has quickly established itself as the first stop in New York and/or the first stop in the States for a growing number of emerging and buzzworthy artists and bands, who make the pit stop in town before heading down to Austin for SXSW. 

In previous editions of the festival JOVM mainstays GIFT, Penelope Isles, The Orielles, Thus Love, as well as acclaimed acts like Pom Poko, Pom Pom Squad, Sid Simons, Sobs, Water From Your Eyes, Peel Dream Magazine, Kiwi Jr., and a growing list of others have made a names for themselves playing New Colossus showcases across a handful of Lower East Side-based venues and clubs. 

The New Colossus Festival’s seventh edition will take place on March 3, 2026 – March 8, 2026 and will offer attendees a chance to discover the next wave of talent across multiple independent venues across NYC’s Lower East Side, including Arlene’s Grocery, Berlin Under A, The Bowery Electric, The Francis Kite Club, Niagara, NUBLU, The Parkside Lounge, Piano’s and Sour Mouse.

Earlier this year, festival organizers announced the first wave lineup for the 2026 edition, which included Runner (Dublin), DBA! (Liverpool), TRAVO (Lisbon), DeafDeafDeaf (Manchester), Junk Drawer (Belfast), We Hate You Please Die (France), Tukan (Belgium), Surma (Lisbon), Sunset Images (Mexico City), MAGDA (London), Winter McQuinn (Melbourne) and many more.

Today, festival organizers announced the seventh edition’s second wave lineup, which will feature BRNDA (Washington, DC), Catherine Moan (Philadelphia), Cootie Catcher (Toronto), Elephant Kind (Jakarta), FEET (London), Honey I’m Home (Amsterdam), I Dreamed I Dream (Cork), Lucid Express (Hong Kong), Mad Iris (Toronto), Makara (Bangkok), Mannequin Death Squad (Melbourne), Sean Nicholas Savage (Montréal), Tramhaus (Rotterdam), TVOD (NYC) and many more. The full second wave lineup, as always, is below.

In addition to the showcase, festival organizers are proud to announce the return of their partnership with Ditto Music for Colossal Conversations, a music industry-related panel series for independent artists and industry professionals.

Additions to the lineup: 

Aunt Katrina (US)
b1n0 (ES)
babybaby_explores (US)
Bad Tomato (PT)
Bee Blackwell (US)
Blushing (US)
BORSCHT (UK)
BRNDA (US)
Buddie (CA)
Buzhold (EE)
Catherine Moan (US)
closeout (CA)
cootie catcher (CA)
Dallas Love Field (UK)
DIE ANSTALT (DE)
Dinowalrus (US)
DOOM GONG (US)
DOUR (CA)
ELEPHANT KIND (ID)
FEET (UK)
Firstsex (US)
grima (DE)
Hause Plants (PT)
Heet Deth (US)
Honey I’m Home (NL)
HONK (UK)
I Dreamed I Dream (IE)
I See Orange (UK)
Iggy Mayerov (CZ)
Luc Swift & Kacie Hill (US)
Lucid Express (HK)
Mad Iris (CA)
MAKARA (TH)
Mannequin Death Squad (AU)
marcel (BE)
Martial Arts (UK)
Maura Weaver (US)
Midscale (FR)
Moon Goons (US)
Neon Wire (US)
New German Cinema (UK)
Oliver Beardmore (UK)
PANAM (ES)
Pretty Average (DE)
Prism Shores (CA)
redeye (US)
SamWoy (CA)
Sean Nicholas Savage (CA)
SHAGGO (US)
Silver Car Crash (US)
sorry face (US)
Still Depths (CA)
Sūn Byrd (NO)
sundayclub (CA)
Sweet Unrest (UK)
Talking Violet (CA)
Tilden (US)
The Baxbys (US)
The Heaven (US)
The Howlers (UK)
The Metric Ton (US)
The Sewing Club (US)
Thesaurus Rex (US)
Tramhaus (NL)
TVOD (US)
Van Vreeland (US)
warmachine (US)
Wilby (US)
YUVEES (US)

Label, Agency and Media Partners include:

8mm Festival, A2Z Media, A La Carte Records, Annibale Agency, Anniversary Group, Bands do BK, Born Losers Records, Crafted Sounds, Czech Consulate, Dedstrange, Ditto Music, Ernest Jenning Recording Co., Exclaim!, Focus Wales, Funhouse Merch, German Consulate, God Is In The TV, Groover, Iceland Airwaves, Kanine Records, Latin Lens, Left of the Dial Festival, Maker Park Radio, Motherland, Music Managers Forum (US), Opposite Marco, Park Life Taqueria, Planetary Group, Radio Free Brooklyn, The Spanish Wave, Westside Music Sweden and more to come.

You can purchase festival badges through Dice.fm here: https://dice.fm/event/92qpx9-the-new-colossus-festival-2026-badges-3rd-mar-arlenes-grocery-baker-falls-berlin-bowery-electric-niagara-nublu-nublu-classic-parkside-lounge-pianos-sour-mouse-new-york-city-tickets?lng=en-US

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