PAARD VAN STAL 2026
The Hague's festival for music discovery
Saturday 29 August
The first names for PAARD VAN STAL have been announced. The Belair Lip Bombs are four Australians who melt down influences from War on Drugs and the Stones into a sound entirely their own. Friko brings the energy of living room indie to the festival. Il Mago Del Gelato is named after an ice cream parlour in Milan, and their cosmopolitan funk tastes just like it. Last but not least, local heroes Gespuys., who will get you dancing and thinking with their Dutch electropop. More names coming soon!
Life is expensive enough in 2026. Tickets for this festival are just €10. The first 200 visitors will also receive a drink on us, to toast the new concert season!
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The Belair Lip Bombs
Four friends who know the Rolling Stones just as well as War on Drugs, raised in the suburbs of Melbourne, named their band after a set of 1980s skateboard wheels. They developed their sound in a rehearsal space in Frankston, where they kneaded all those influences together so effortlessly into something best described as ‘infectious indie rock’. In short: welcome to The Hague! Australia’s best-kept secret is no longer so well kept.
For fans of Alvvays, Slowly Slowly & Courtney Barnett
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Il Mago Del Gelato
Their name is a tribute to an ice cream parlour on Via Padova in Milan — a neighbourhood where languages blend and cultures mix. That is exactly what the music of Giovanni, Ferruccio, Pietro and Alessandro sounds like: their cosmopolitan funk merges seamlessly with influences from afrobeat and jazz. Rolling Stone Italia named the band their artist to watch in 2023. Anyone who has seen them live will understand why, because Il Mago Del Gelato is first and foremost a band you want to be there for. The horns, percussion, vocoders and guitars will make you long for your first holiday romance in Italy.
For fans of Nu Gunea, Altin Gün & Khruangbin
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Friko
Armed with razor-sharp melodies, Friko takes the stage at PAARD VAN STAL. Two school friends, Niko Kapetan and Bailey Minzenberger, convinced some neighbourhood friends to put on concerts in the backyard after school. That energy is still very much alive. Ballads alternate with bedroom punk and living room pop. Their debut album landed on year-end lists at Pitchfork and NME. The friends from Chicago are coming to the most beautiful city behind the dunes, new record in hand.
For fans of Bright Eyes, Florist & The Cure
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Gespuys.
Gespuys. A Dutch-language electropop band from Delft. Strong, poetic lyrics combined with heavy beats, hypnotic synths and interlocking guitars. Speaking in a familiar tongue, Gespuys. reaches for the absurdity of everyday life. They will have you dancing to your traumas, and how.
For fans of Elmer, Prins S. en de Geit & Chibi Ichigo
