Kokong Festival 2025: A Nordic Outpost for Experimental Sound
Each August, something unusual happens on the quiet Åland Islands: a geodesic dome in the middle of the forest becomes a portal. For two days, the Kokong Festival transforms the Dome at Stallhagen into a living instrument, home to ambient drift, off-grid techno, experimental electronics, and the kind of late-night moments that only occur when sound, light, and space align perfectly. Now in its fourth edition, Kokong has outgrown its status as a local curiosity. It’s a full-bodied experience, complete with live sets, spatial sound design, visual installations, movement performances, and workshops, crafted by Kulturföreningen Ström, the nonprofit organization that has built Åland’s most refined sound system and a wider platform for electronic and electroacoustic arts. This year’s edition (August 1 to 2) will feature around thirty acts in total, mixing top-tier Nordic talent with handpicked international guests, all performing just a few feet from the crowd.
“This summer’s edition will be the biggest yet,” says Johan Grönlund, Chair of Kulturföreningen Ström. “With more international acts, a handcrafted high-end sound system, and greater investments in the visual experience.” Among the headliners are Icelandic dub techno veteran Exos, Swedish modular explorer Andreas Tilliander, and Norwegian legend Mental Overdrive, joined by artists from Austria, the Nordics, and a strong showing of Åland’s own community of producers, DJs, and tinkerers. But Kokong’s ethos extends well beyond the stage. Free hands-on workshops with synth makers give festival-goers and local youth a chance to build, tweak, and discover. A performance by the Urgrund collective will blend movement, sound, and storytelling into a cohesive experience that defies easy categorization. Kokong moves at its own pace, quietly growing into one of the Nordic region’s most thoughtfully curated electronic festivals.
As part of this feature, we’re thrilled to share an exclusive preview from the upcoming KOKONG Festival Vol.1 Sampler, a compilation capturing the spirit of the festival through sound. The track is a collaboration between Swedish electronic mainstay Andreas Tilliander and Croatian-Swedish jazz innovator Goran Kajfeš. Built on a steady, hypnotic groove, the piece lets Tilliander’s textured synth work stretch out like smoke, while Kajfeš’s trumpet drifts in and out like a distant signal. It’s deep, psychedelic, and quietly ecstatic, exactly the kind of alchemy that feels right at home under the Dome’s glimmering ceiling.