17 Apr

19:30

Nobel

4-8 Marktsteeg, Leiden

A music festival for sensitive, queer, soft goth, and neurodivergent people, featuring melancholic yet danceable alt-pop acts and a silent disco.

Dark Music for Happy People

More info & tickets

Made for misfits, soft goths, queer and neurodivergent audiences.

Dark Music for Happy People festival is perfect for sensitive, queer, soft goth and neurodivergent people. We are a community of open minded, sensitive souls. Please feel welcome <3

We high sensitive, queer and/or neurospicy people experience quite a lot in this world that don't always fit our needs. Our concept reframes darkness and pain as something communal: you can feel deeply dark, but still dance.

More than music

We provide Silent Disco headphones where you can put on ASMR, meditation or dance music. You pick what fits your needs: you want to relax, de-overstimulate yourself? Pick ASMR or meditation channel. You feel under-stimulated: pick dance music and go for it. Either way you connect with you inner feelings and be present the way you wish. Especially helpful for people on the neurodivergent spectrum: you are seen, you are taken care of <3.

Line-up

Tjels is a true storyteller. Her melancholic sound fits perfectly within the darkness of Dark Music, where she channels both strength and vulnerability. She has even been compared to AURORA, what a great compliment!
LÖNA: identical twin sisters make alt-pop for sad girls who like to dance and are the initiators of Dark Music for Happy People. They believe music, especially the darkest, most dramatic songs, can be healing. LÖNA is melancholic yet danceable, dark yet comforting.
BARBARA.: synths, tension, and a beat (with a live drummer) that slowly builds until you can’t stand still. That’s what happens at the Dutch-language alt-pop show of BARBARA. It’s fragile yet bombastic — exactly the balance Dark Music for Happy People stands for.