Revealing the full program for U? 2025

Thursday Sep 18th 2025

U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, celebrates local and creative communities based in the Netherlands, with a strong focus on Utrecht. The festival aims to strengthen relationships between people and presents a range of multi/interdisciplinary events, such as performances, exhibitions, food events, public discourse, participatory programs and any other activities that focus on facilitating new encounters.

U? returns 8 & 9 November to Utrecht. The festival now reveals its full 2025 program, after previously announcing the community curators: Al-Shaheen Falcon, Aslıhan and Luna van der Laan.

The program consists of themes of resistance, queerness, memory and belonging. Exhibitions and installations reflect on diasporas, vulnerability and ecological co-creation, while concerts feature talents from across the Netherlands and Belgium, presenting genre-defying eclectic sounds all across the music spectrum.

Artwork by Studio Wantia

Festival news U?

On Saturday, 8 November, U? presents a festival playground in the Cartesius area, featuring multiple music performances at De Nijverheid, including queer music duo LIONSTORM, with its signature aggressive clownesque style blending horrorcore, reggaeton and industrial metal; the percussive ensemble Terno Calunga Estrelada, whose work unites (Afro-)Brazilian cultures of congada, maracatu de baque solto and samba pisado; and Iranian-Dutch producer, rapper and performer Kourosh, who produces psychedelic trap and hip-hop while rapping and singing in English and Farsi.

photo of Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou by the sea

U? also features many other activities and events, such as We survive in sync, a femme+ gathering featuring workshops, conversations and performances at NAR Café der Kunsten hosted by The FemDem, a collective of DJs and producers committed to visibility, solidarity and shared growth within the electronic music scene. Utrecht-based dance company De Dansers will lead you through a series of improvisational movement exercises during their immersive dance concert at De Nijverheid. Community curator Luna van der Laan takes you on a bpm journey during 030HARDCORE at KABUL à GoGo, where (new) forms of art and sounds are presented by local hardcore talents. Studio de Kiemkamer presents Urban Playground, a green oasis in the heart of the city with interactive installations, workshops, art and performances that reveal the playful and wild side of urban life. Hof van Cartesius, a space where collaboration goes beyond humans – co-creating with waste cycles, plants, algorithms and the city’s sonic undercurrents – presents a stage for radical experimentation, featuring a.o. 030303, Creative Coding Utrecht, Warmoes, Uitvindersgilde, and more.

Amsterdam-based group Devon Rexi on the left, people from the group all looking at the camera, project bromwol on the right, two people playing with some textiles on a table

On Sunday, 9 November, U? presents several events throughout the city: De Voorkamer, a meeting space for newcomers and the local community, presents Zyara - Visit, inviting you to share your story through intuitive embroidery, reflective improvisation and spoken word. At Basecamp, community curator Aslıhan presents Not to explain, only to be, a multi-faceted approach to curation, including an exhibition and a decolonial dance performance. Community curator Al-Shaheen Falcon invites you to Moira for Libraries Are Not Supposed to Be Quiet, an intervention program that examines art legality under state surveillance.

View the full line-up for U? 2025 via leguesswho.com/u/lineup.

Photos from top to bottom: The FemDem, De Dansers, Terno Calunga Estrelada