SANAM, Ma-Beyn & More to Perform at Lebanon's Rumman Festival Sep 4-5

Lebanon’s independent Rumman Festival has announced the lineup for its fifth edition, returning to Tripoli’s Stereo Kawalis in El Mina from September 4th to 5th.

Since launching in 2022, Rumman has carved out a space for independent music in Tripoli, bringing established homegrown and regional acts alongside a younger generation of emerging artists. Previous editions have featured the likes of El Waili, The Synaptik and TootArd, while maintaining a focus on discovery, collaboration and creating opportunities for artists beyond Lebanon’s usual cultural centres.

For its fifth edition, Rumman builds on that mission with an edition framed as an ode to the South, a love letter to Beirut and Tripoli, and an invitation to artists, creatives and cultural workers to imagine a future rooted in the region’s history and culture. Rather than treating Tripoli, the South and the wider Arab region as separate geographies defined by their struggles, the festival positions them as a connected cultural landscape shaped by music, movement and community.

This year’s programme brings together local and regional artists working across Arabic folk, alt rap, trip-hop, free rock, experimental ambient and indie rock. The lineup includes Lebanese acts Alsilk and SANAM, rapper Jamul and Sham Lhawa, alongside Palestinian-Egyptian artist Ma-Beyn, producer Kubbara, and Lebanon-based musicians Saadeh Katouh, Jad Kamareddine and Oliver Hajj. Moscow-based Jordanian-Palestinian rapper and audiovisual artist Emsallam also joins the programme.

The festival will also present Black Mouse: Deconstructed, an audiovisual performance that reimagines Ahmed Naboulsi’s award-winning short film Black Mouse as a live work combining music, light and fragments of memory. The project draws on the history of the Tripoli International Fair, with Lebanese soprano Mona Hallab and multidisciplinary artist Mohamad Choucair performing, alongside Firas El Hallak on spatial direction.

For the first time, Rumman will also introduce a two-day professional programme of workshops in partnership with Tiny House Music. The mentorship programme is designed to connect selected emerging artists with established practitioners, industry professionals and international collaborators, while addressing the practical side of building a sustainable career. Sessions will cover intellectual property, publishing, production, marketing and career management, offering artists a route from creative potential to professional practice.

Tickets are available on Ihjoz’s official website.