FME 2026: Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Koriass, Les Louanges, Bon Enfant, Charlotte Cornfield, Choses Sauvages, TDJ and Philippe B, among the headliners of this 24th edition of the festival!
The Emerging Music Festival in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, proudly presented by SiriusXM, invites you to its 24th edition. From September 3 to 6, 2026, Rouyn-Noranda welcomes local headliners, emerging artists and international exclusives offering music with an innovative approach and unique sounds. The event offers more than 80 concerts in varied and unusual places, guaranteeing festival-goers a multitude of musical discoveries.
A CAREFUL CURATION COMBINING POST-PUNK, ELECTRO, MODERN FOLK, METAL AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC IN THE CONFINS OF THE LITTLE THÉÂTRE DU Vieux-NORANDA, THE PARAMOUNT, THE PAZZO, THE AGORA DES ARTS, AS WELL AS THE BASEMENTS OF THE PETIT THÉÂTRE AND THE AGORA…
Irreverent and explosive, Choses Sauvages present to us Thursday at the Petit Théâtre du Vieux Noranda titles on the fringes of post-punk, new wave and krautrock. The bill begins with the self-taught multi-instrumentalist and synesthete, Max Baby (Montmagny, FR), who offers slick indie rock, then Camilla Sparksss (a Canadian relocated to Switzerland), who has just released a second opus reconciling electronic music and noise: ICU RUN. The room welcomes Friday: Mek’Dr’Dr, a Brussels duo with groovy and minimalist punk; Corridor, a group known for its knotty guitars, mechanical rhythms and dapper melodies; then La Sécurité and its very recent record, Bingo!, “which mixes egg punk, French-speaking pop, proto-punk, no wave and 80s gothic rock” (The Needle Drop). On Saturday, the theater hosts the Electro Evening, presented in collaboration with the SAT (Society of Technological Arts), which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. In turn, Hologram, an electronic artist inspired by house, UK garage and ambient, Martyn Bootyspoon (Fractal Fantasy), who stands out for his club music imbued with house and ghettotech, then TDJ (formerly Ryan Playground), recognized for his immersive audiovisual performances where trance, techno and eurodance intertwine. Sunday, time for the traditional metal deluge with the brutal Rouyn-Norandian groups Colony Omicron (death metal) and The Black Empire (black metal), which are followed by Outre-Tombe, a French-speaking group offering uncompromising OSDM (old school death metal), then A Canorous Quintet, a Swedish group formed in 1991 known for its melodic metal.
On the Paramount side, Étienne Coppée presents on Friday A tribute album to Joe Dassin, offering us very personal rereadings of a legendary repertoire, highlighting the pure emotion of the songs. In the first part, the alternative pop of Carla Chanelle, which makes you drift in dreamy waters, where a quiet force flows, then the universe mixing spoken word and alternative pop of Goodbye Karelle. Saturday begins with Charlotte Cornfield (Toronto, ON), “her witty and hesitant rhymes reminiscent of the best on country radio” (Pitchfork), then continues with Philippe B, who presented on March 13, Cigale, a seventh album which reveals him at his most raw and personal. On Friday, the Agora des Arts welcomes the eclectic trio combining ambient, folk and pop music, Afternoon Bike Ride, as well as the luminous melodies and refined arrangements of the singer-songwriter, Arielle Soucy. It continues Saturday with liturgical-sounding music, backed by timeless vocals and neoclassical textures, from Mykalle and Oji-Cree artist Aysanabee’s striking amalgamation – at once hypnotic and melodic, solemn and soaring, a swirling mix of indie, soul and electronic soundscapes.
The festival also presents a series of late concerts at the Pazzo. The hardcore band tinged with noise, Mulch, as well as the flamboyant French-speaking hypnagogic pop artist, Alix Fernz, launch the hostilities on the night of Thursday to Friday. Coming from the Quebec capital, Enfants Sauvages garoched to many irreverent decibels the next day as the opening act for the Dutch group Iguana Death Cult, known for its psychedelic garage rock blend with jazz, no wave and disco scents. Saturday from 11:30 p.m., the pioneers of experimental rock, Suuns, drag on stage drums, guitar, synthesizers and MIDI instruments, all anchored by a horde of loops and samples as heard on The Breaks. A second performance by Camilla Sparkss follows. Always later in the night, magnificent strangenesses follow one another in the Basement of the Petit Théâtre. The Japanese group VMO aka Violent Magic Orchestra (Thursday) presents its audio-visual show conducive to moshpits. The New York ensemble Balaclava (Friday) spits its trash punk masked in balaclavas, then Haha Laughing (Saturday) makes the journey from Austin, Texas, armed with its screaming rhymes combining rap and noise. Zach Zoya & High Klassified present Misstape 2, a new collaborative work covering rap, R&B and soul, at the Agora Basement on Friday from 11:30 p.m. The next day, it’s time for the zero-tolerance punk with a female front and the noisy guitars of Thee Soreheads, then the casual and impetuous noise rock of Dogo Suicide.
INGENIOUS POP, TAKEN SONGS AND LIVE ARTS DURING THE APERO…
Throughout the festival, it is possible to make discoveries as part of the Air Canada Apéros – a series of free concerts. First of all, the HQ is host to a host of artists to enhance happy hours. Friday, Hélène Barbier (5 p.m.) plays us pieces with aggressively anti-complicated avant-pop melodies taken from Panorama, then Julie Rains (6 p.m.), a Belgian singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist who navigates between jazz, soul and electronic music. On Saturday, the space transforms into a laboratory for the daring sound exploration – textures, conceptualization, sound design, maximalism and emotional exhibitionism – of Xela Edna (5 p.m.) and the sensual, squeaky and cathartic pop of the project born on the screen and delivered on stage: Le Belladonna (6 p.m.). Vincent Khouni reveals to us on Sunday at 6 p.m. the pieces from his most recent EP, Accident, a minimalist work combining garage, electro and song. L’Abstracto welcomes Maya Kamaty (5 p.m.) on Friday, a singer from Reunion who gives Creole the trappings of a universal language to assert its musical expression. It also serves as the setting for the return of the multi-stylistic author-composer and performer, Mantisse (LaF), who presents there on Saturday at 5 p.m. a new folk chapter entitled: My mother’s favorite flowers. We can see the multidisciplinary artist Erika Hagen there on Sunday (5 p.m.), an intimate and fiery project which is part of the big family of indie-rock-folk garage.
From 5:30 p.m. at the chic Les Mooses, we can hear: Pastel Blank (Friday), a protean project mixing post-punk accents, pop hooks and offbeat grooves; Marie Céleste (Saturday) and her earworms “between arrogance and conscience, between rock, jazz and even samba” (Le Devoir); then Écarlate (Sunday), a trio from Moncton that seduces with music that is luminous, poetic and impactful. Friday from 5:30 p.m. at 55 Dallaire (Chevaliers de Colomb), it is possible to catch the big winner of Francouvertes 2025, Muhoza, who presents his hip-hop and jazz cocktail. On these same stages, Saturday follows Barre à clou (5:30 p.m.), a group with sludge, stoner and doom roots, and Truck Violence (6:30 p.m.), described by Le Devoir as presenting a “stunning alloy of metal and folk, sludge guitars and banjo. » On Sunday, we are treated to Moiré (5:30 p.m.), an indie-grunge quintet from Malartic flirting with slowcore, post-rock and shoegaze, then to Worry (6:30 p.m.), a noisy but dreamy group that mixes high decibels and nostalgic melodies. The Saturday and Sunday posters at 55 Dallaire are presented in collaboration with KeepHope Productions.
FROM RnB TO HIP-HOP TO PSYCHEDELIC ROCK TO SONG: IT’S ALL ON THE OUTDOOR MAIN STAGE AS PART OF SIRIUSXM EVENTS…
Following his surprise performance at the FME last year, singer-songwriter Vincent Roberge aka Les Louanges takes the lead on Thursday’s bill. Building on the success of his third album Alouette!, he releases his modern blend of funk and soul enriched with a refined pop coating as part of SiriusXM Events. He is preceded by Bon Enfant, whose record Special Request won the Félix for Rock Album of the Year at the last ADISQ Gala and whose concerts offer pop with well-balanced grooves between glam, disco, folk and psychedelia. The evening also features Malaimer Soleil and its soundtrack soaked in memorable evenings, uneventful journeys, simple joys and dull sorrows, just after Birds of Prrrey, a Riot Grrrl-inspired indie rock trio, kicks off the festivities on the traditional 7th Street stage.
Time for rhythmic verse on Friday evening, the festival presenting Koriass, a true pillar of Quebec rap who has been garnering praise for two decades now. He shares with us pieces from Seven Years of Misfortune, his seventh studio album including the hits: “Basse couture”, “Détour (feat. St-Prince)” and “Vingt- quatre Heures”. In the opening acts, there is Kamilou, whose music skillfully fuses a multitude of genres, from rap to trap, including jazz, pop and soul, his lyrics addressing resilience, love and social struggles. Then Aswell’s new show called Berger, where he mixes rap, pop, trap, drill and folk, a formula which should « cement the place of this guitar-playing rapper in the hip-hop landscape here. » (The Press)
The Saturday program begins at 7 p.m. with the finale of Nouvelles Ondes SiriusXM. Hawa B, an artist who escapes labels, opens the evening, offering a space where you can twerk or head bang, laugh or cry in the same breath. Follows N Nao, a regular on the long list of the Polaris Music Prize – Water and Dreams (2024) and New Language (2025) – favoring an ecofeminist approach, inspired by dreams and rituals for her experimental pop. The evening then takes a rock turn with the group Grand Eugène, offering an indie sound with a dreamlike character, carried by a whispered voice and fluffy arrangements. The winner will receive a $25,000 scholarship and the opportunity to perform at the MaMA Music & Convention in Paris. The festival closes with Lou-Adriane Cassidy, “an essential voice, a modern storyteller who invites her audience to dream bigger” (Radio-Canada) with her most recent works, the already neo-classical Diary of a Loup-garou and Triste Animal, an album that she released as a surprise a few months later.
As a bonus, the FME presents a series of free concerts under the stars on the Fizz Stage (also located on 7th Street). From Thursday to Sunday, there are: new signing Arbutus Public Appeal, who recently presented more of their avant-garde pop on a new long play; Jashim, a key figure in the Montreal underground Latin scene, Cult MTL describing his music as “a mix of sunny 2000s rhythms and hyper-pop”; then Aizysse Baga, an artist from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community whose electro-pop and alternative universe combines stage performance, flamboyant aesthetics and committed remarks. The stage also welcomes Saturday at noon Odie Harr, a folk-rock collective mixing brass, accordion, saloon-style piano and rhythm section inspired by garage rock, then the Winston Band, a Quebec group which draws on Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage to create unifying songs inspired by zydeco.
It is on the peninsula on Saturday from 1 p.m. that the Télé-Québec Afternoon is held. It features Passion_Partage, a transdisciplinary collective combining installation, video art and disc jockeying, then Rizomagic, a duo from Bogotá fusing cumbia and Afro-Colombian rhythms with IDM and ambient music. For those who would like to relax “with pedal steel licks, knee-deep melodies and lyrics imbued with true, unadorned poetry,” head to the À fleur d’eau botanical park, where Spaghatt offers a performance at the crossroads of country and Americana on Sunday from 1 p.m.