Navoi Region / 31 August – 2 September
The groundbreaking Stihia Festival is back for 2023 with a lineup of more than 40 high-profile artists from Uzbekistan and abroad. The name means “force of nature” and it comes from ancient Greek. The festival was conceived in 2017 to raise awareness of the environmental catastrophe of the Aral Sea, and to help the surrounding region. It has grown to become the biggest and best known electronic music festival in Central Asia. In 2023 the organisers decided to relocate the venue to a huge wasteland close to ancient Bukhara with the objective of boosting tourism in other
parts of the country and testing new territories.
The new place is a giant canvas of 10 square kilometers of perfectly flat, table-like surface. It serves as a field for the limitless amplifier of creative expression, by the sheer contrast of its absolute emptiness.
The festival is held on a salt marsh in Navoi region, close to Bukhara. Link to the location.
“a dance music festival in one of the strangest locations imaginable” – Resident Advisor
“event that serves as a vital platform for emerging DJs from within Uzbekistan, as well as supporting local sustainable development” – DJ MAG
“The Stihia festival, with avant-garde sounds and ambient techno played by DJs from Berlin, Georgia, Russia and Uzbekistan, was part of the new vision” – Aljazeera
“remarkably open and inclusive event that brought people together in a way that — until very recently — would have been almost impossible to imagine in Uzbekistan” – Electronic Beats
“Stihia are creating opportunities for tourism and economic development in Uzbekistan’s poorer regions” – Huckmag
Line-up 2023
Abadir (Egypt) / Howie Lee (China) / Edige (Kazakhstan) / Josef Tumari (Uzbekistan) / Wacław Zimpel (Poland) / Aisha Devi (Sweden) / Sote (Iran) / Meros (Uzbekistan) / Ishome (Russia) / Salome (Georgia/Germany) / Xyarim (Uzbekistan) / Loud373 (Uzbekistan) / Voiski (France) / The Wire Soundsystem (UK) / Acell (Kazakhstan) / QARAQOOM (Uzbekistan) / SHXCXCHCXSH (Sweden) / SAO (Kyrgyzstan) / E.V.E. (Uzbekistan) / Shadowax (Russia) / Toir Asqar & Alen Ismailov (Uzbekistan) / SO (Japan) / Kebato (Uzbekistan) / IANIIIRON (Uzbekistan) / Merlin Ettore (Germany) / Sorcery (Germany) / Maria Breslavets (Uzbekistan) / Densk (Uzbekistan) / Jazzadrass (Uzbekistan) / SSTROM (Sweden) / Mcloud (Uzbekistan) / X.Y.R. (Russia) / Miasm (Uzbekistan) / Varkal (Uzbekistan) / Yõldosh (Uzbekistan) / Alina Zhalikova (Turkmenistan) / Andrey Morozov (Serbia) / Bajjo (Uzbekistan) / DJ Soft (Uzbekistan) / Minor Unit b2b FO2YOU (Uzbekistan) / Sova (Uzbekistan) / Nikina (Uzbekistan) / Rem Aka (Uzbekistan) / Island (Uzbekistan) / T-Shunk (Uzbekistan) / Sha Gen (Uzbekistan) / BLOT (India) / Eyal Talmor (Germany)