Lightning can strike out of the blue – dangerous, liberating and electrifying – lightning in a storm, flashes of inspiration, flashes before the eyes and in the ears – blimey! The theme of the Musikfestival Bern 2026 is «Blitz» (German for «Lightning») – a particularly memorable, demanding and sometimes even overwhelming acoustic event; a mythologically charged and inspiring natural phenomenon. The theme spans an enormous range within the festival programme – from science fiction and high-energy dance music to the current war situation in Ukraine. Amongst these are, for the first time, two projects from the «Scratch» programme for emerging artists, in collaboration with the Bern University of the Arts (HKB). The music of composer James Dillon, who will be accompanying the 2026 festival as Composer in Residence, is also highly explosive – fitting for the «Blitz» theme.
