From 28–30 May 2026, Arctic Electronic Music Meetup – AEM 2026 brought DJs, producers, artists, organisers, labels, festivals, researchers and music organisations from northern Sweden, Norway and Finland together in Luleå. AEM 2026 was developed within Arctic Pulse, the shared cultural brand of Arctic Music Circles – an Interreg Aurora project supporting long-term cross-border music collaboration across northern Sweden, Norway and Finland.
The professional programme welcomed 35 participants from the three project countries: 18 from Sweden, 10 from Finland and seven from Norway.
Across three days, AEM combined professional exchange, hands-on creation and public music events with one clear ambition: to make electronic music in the North more visible and build stronger relationships across national borders.
Connecting people across long distances
Electronic music is being created and presented throughout the North, but local scenes are separated by long distances and many people still have limited contact with artists, organisers and organisations in neighbouring countries.
The idea for AEM grew out of an Electronic Music Working Group, established during Arctic Pulse Producers Network in Kiruna in November 2025. The group identified a shared need for a dedicated meeting place where people working across different parts of the electronic music scene could discover one another’s work, exchange knowledge and strengthen east-west connections across northern Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Three days of exchange, creation and music
The opening day took participants to studios and venues around central Luleå for workshops and studio visits. The programme explored spatial and immersive sound, deep listening, electronic instruments and different environments for creating and presenting electronic music.
The main conference and networking day at Ebeneser included a panel organised in collaboration with North Creative Nodes, exploring what defines an Arctic electronic music scene and how stronger connections can be built across borders.
Presentations introduced electronic music labels, festivals, event organisers, experimental music organisations and researchers working with electroacoustic and electronic music. Informal conversations and networking were equally important, helping participants find common interests and meet possible future collaborators.
Turning meetings into music
Running alongside AEM was Electronic Producers Camp 2026, organised together with BD Pop.
The camp brought together 17 producers: 13 from Sweden, one from Finland, one from Norway and two from Denmark. They worked in BD Pop’s studios, tested new ideas and created new music together. Their work was later presented during the AEM programme, where they received feedback from the AEM participants.
The camp reflected one of the central ideas behind AEM: not only to talk about collaboration, but to create the time, space and conditions for people to begin working together.
Opening electronic music to a wider audience
AEM also reached audiences through three main public music events in Luleå.
Arctic Frequencies at Ebeneser presented live and experimental electronic music and attracted approximately 200 people.
Norrbotten Sound Lab at Lillan connected local music creators with artists and producers taking part in AEM, with around 130 people joining the afternoon.
The meetup ended with Arctic Pulses, a two-floor club night at Kulturens Hus featuring artists from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. Approximately 300 people attended, showing clear local interest in electronic music and potential for more events of this kind in Luleå and Norrbotten.
AEM also received regional media coverage through Norrbottens-Kuriren and NSD, as well as television coverage by SVT. Following the event, project leaders Daniel Morcillo-Almeida and Hans-Lennart Jonsäll also appeared in episode 308 of Dansmusikpodden to discuss AEM, Arctic Pulse and electronic music in the North. Together, the media coverage and podcast discussion extended the reach of AEM beyond its venues and Arctic Pulse’s own channels.
Looking towards a recurring AEM
The lasting value of AEM came not only from its programme, but from the people who met and the relationships that began to form.
New professional contacts were made, and conversations began around artist exchanges, residencies, shared events and other possible collaborations.
The ambition is for AEM to develop into a recurring meeting point that can move between different cities in the North. Connecting local scenes more regularly could contribute to a stronger and more visible Arctic electronic music community.
AEM 2026 showed that the people, music and energy are already here. Bringing them together made that impossible to miss.
Arctic Electronic Music Meetup 2026 was organised by Arctic Pulse and Norrbottensmusiken together with Kulturföreningen Kluster, in collaboration with Joncell Productions, North Creative Nodes, Studieförbundet Bilda Nord, Folkuniversitetet Norrbotten, BD Pop, City of Oulu, Nordnorsk Jazzsenter, Musikk i Nordland and Scene Nord.
With support from Interreg Aurora, Region Norrbotten, Luleå Municipality, Lapin liitto, Nordland fylkeskommune and Troms fylkeskommune
Learn more about the project Arctic Music Circles
