Slushwave is a subgenre of Vaporwave, the hyper-online microgenre that has explored digital nostalgia for over a decade. Where Vaporwave slows down pop music and visuals from the 80s and 90s, Slushwave dives deeper into dreamy ambient soundscapes. Layers of reverb, delay, and phaser create its signature “slushy” sound, evoking feelings of nostalgia, serenity, euphoria, and weightlessness.

Started in 2020 as a one-day livestream, Slushwave has grown into the genre’s main event and celebrates the diversity and community in the scene. It combines both online and physical experiences and offers space for established artists as well as new talent. Each edition features carefully curated live sets, exclusive video premieres, interviews, and hypnotic visuals.

Slushwave 2026 is the third physical edition, and for the first time incorporates all live shows across the 3 days into one cohesive festival. Day 3, the main event, returns to BUDA Kortrijk in Belgium. The event offers a full afternoon & evening of international performances, exclusive premieres, and immersive visuals projected on the big screen, while continuing to stream online for the worldwide community. The venue will be transformed into an ambient audiovisual dreamscape.

Live performances by:
desert sand feels warm at night & days of blue skies (UK/US)
memorykeeper7 (SW)
you still feel them out there, don’t you (US)
818181 (US)
18 DAYS (UK)
VANITAS命死 (BE)

The Slushwave community welcomes you to join this unique celebration of sound, image and connection.