Skopje Jazz Festival 2026: Punkt International, Makhathini and Peirani on the final three nights

15 October 2026 1 min read

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Forty-five editions in, this is still not background music

The Skopje Jazz Festival has been running since 1982 and this year reaches its 45th edition. From 15 to 18 October the National Opera and Ballet hosts musicians from eleven countries on two stages. After tonight's opening, three nights remain on the main stage, each starting at 8 pm, with tickets at 800 denars. The festival pass for all nights costs 3,000 denars.

Friday, 16 October: Punkt International

Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset and sampler Jan Bang have worked together since the early nineties, and they share the night with the Icelandic duo Skúli Sverrisson and Ólöf Arnalds. It ends with a live remix, the format the Punkt festival in Kristiansand is known for: the concert that just finished is turned into a second one. The details are in our preview of Punkt International.

Saturday, 17 October: Nduduzo Makhathini and Andrea Mirčeska

Makhathini is the first South African signed to Blue Note, with four albums for the label and a musical language that joins Coltrane's spiritual tradition with Zulu folk music. The night opens with the quintet of Macedonian bassist and vocalist Andrea Mirčeska, so a Macedonian musician shares the bill with a Blue Note pianist. More on the Saturday night.

On 17 October at midnight, on the Small Stage, Alexander Hawkins and Sofia Jernberg take apart Ethiopian, Armenian and Swedish folk songs, with tickets at 500 denars.

Sunday, 18 October: the close with São Paulo Underground and Vincent Peirani

The Brazilian-American trio São Paulo Underground turns twenty, and French accordionist Vincent Peirani brings the final chapter of his "Living Being" cycle. The festival closes with Brazilian electronics and a French accordion. The full preview of the closing night.