Water & Sound 2025 “Rivers”

The Water & Sound Festival 2025 invites you to rediscover rivers through the power of imagination – as living actors of global culture, music and ecology. Rivers and people have always been connected in many ways: They shape cultures, inspire myths, music and art and are spiritual as well as metaphysical reference points for entire societies. In many traditions, rivers are regarded as sacred beings, as mediators between man and nature, as “living archives” of collective memory. As the multi-award-winning British-Turkish author Elif Shafak emphasizes, rivers remind us of the power of water to carry stories, memories and traumas across time and continents. The renowned British writer and naturalist Robert Macfarlane urges us to perceive rivers not as mere objects, but as sentient, narrative subjects: They are “our oldest singers, our oldest storytellers” – and our fate is inextricably linked to theirs. With their works, the author has shaped the international debate on the relationship between humans, nature and water.

Water & Sound focuses on the cultural, historical and ecological significance of rivers. The musical highlights include cross-genre concerts and extraordinary collaborations that reflect relevant positions in the global music scene. The opening concert “Rivers of the Sky” brings together the award-winning Polish singer and multi-instrumentalist Karolina Cicha with Patrycja Betley, the Turkish kanun player Didem Basar, the American-Indian songwriter Sheherazaad and the Water & Sound Ensemble from Augsburg. Together they span a musical arc from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and South Asia, interpreting rivers as symbols of change, memory and spiritual connection.

At Kuhsee, the audience can expect an energetic program that makes the close connection between music and river landscapes audible. Kin’Gongolo Kiniata from Kinshasa bring a musical statement on ecological challenges on the Congo River to the stage with self-made instruments and their mix of Afropop, punk and electro. Buzz Ayaz combines Cypriot folklore, Anatolian psychedelic rock and electronic sounds. The musical journey continues in the Annahof: Ana Frango Elétrico from Rio de Janeiro in collaboration with the Waterbirds with poetic indie funk, as well as the Catalan duo Tarta Relena with their distinctive interpretations of Mediterranean music. The festival closes with the acclaimed Afro-fusion band Mokoomba from Victoria Falls on the Zambezi, where the river is considered a lifeline and a myth; the finale is rounded off by Somali singer Sarah Halgan, whose powerful voice combines traditional melodies with rhythmic intensity, and the duo Aïta Mon Amour from Morocco and Tunisia, who reinterpret the sounds of North Africa with expressive and contemporary arrangements.

The participatory art project “Spirit Animals & Riverbirds” and the large waterbird parade unite art, music and community along Augsburg’s waterways. The Riverbirds are created from clay from the Sejnane River in Tunisia and travel to the streams in Siebentischwald. Interactive formats such as exhibitions, panels and guided tours to UNESCO World Heritage sites deepen the perspectives on water, culture and sustainability. The keynote speech by Dilip Da Cunha and as living archives, legal subjects and sources of identity – and show how the fate of humanity is interwoven with water.

Rivers are not mere resources, but – as Robert Macfarlane emphasizes – want to be perceived as living beings with their own stories and rights. “To call a river living is not to humanize it, but to deepen and broaden the category of ‘life’.”

The Water & Sound Festival 2025 is a celebration of joie de vivre, music and community – and a serious appeal to hear the voices of the rivers, pass on their stories and protect their future.

Girisha Fernando
Artistic Director