For five years, Pique has been a meeting point for artists pushing at the edges—now, at its 20th edition, it brings that community into focus.
After five years of reshaping Ottawa’s underground arts landscape, Pique arrives at its 20th edition with momentum, reflection, and an eye firmly on what’s next. On June 13, 2026, the award-winning festival series marks its 5th anniversary and 20th edition with a milestone event that honours its evolution from a pandemic-era experiment into one of Ottawa’s most vital platforms for underground and independent art. Since 2021, Pique has unfolded in seasonal chapters, each one reshaping Arts Court into a living, breathing hub of creativity and connection.
Graphic design by House9
This anniversary edition doubles as both reflection and launchpad. As Debaser shifts into a new phase—with plans to produce two marquee editions in 2026 tied to broader city-wide celebrations—Pique #20 captures the spirit that has defined the series from the start: a space where disciplines blur, new artistic languages take shape, and audiences move fluidly between performance, installation, and participation.
This season’s program brings together returning collaborators and new voices from across local and international scenes. It bridges different communities, genres, and styles, engaging the mind through thoughtfulreflection and bold dialogue, and the body through joyous dancefloor revelations.
AN ADVENTURE THROUGH PIQUE
Step into Pique and begin your journey: arrive at the entrance to be warmly greeted by volunteers, setting the tone for a day of discovery. Wander through the building to encounter captivating art installations, and join a curator-led tour by Danayit Zeru reflecting on memory, identity, and cultural connection. Follow the low-end vibrations to an open-air dancefloor, and discover Mumbai street-drumming-influenced electronic percussionist Sunken Cages; otherworldly dub-techno duo CHXMERAS; and Raf Reza, whose bass-forward electronic compositions blend UK Hardcore, Bangladeshi folk, and dubwise textures to create immersive sonic worlds.
Entering a dark club, be swept up by genre-defying innovators: the intense, cathartic hip hop of Zambian-Canadian rapper and producer Backxwash; the boundary-pushing, emotionally resonant experimental R&B of Emma Gabriel; and Cleo Reed, whose fusion of blues, soul, country, and dystopian electronics channels rage, lineage, and personal history into bold sonic statements. Drift into a theatre and experience Montreal outsider icon Elle Barbara’s One Man Show, a cosmic, avant-pop and soul-infused journey through theatrical storytelling, music, and video.
Emerging energized, you follow your senses into a light-saturated cube to discover shimmering alt-pop and futuristic electronic textures from sineila, whose classically trained instrumentation merges with ethereal vocals and bass-heavy synths; immersive, multi-sensory pop environments from SOPHIE-collaborator Hyd; and the audio-visual worlds of Montreal-based multimedia artist al11z, who collaborates live with electronic composer Djeity to create surreal, interactive spaces that blur the line between physical and virtual realities. Later on, fangsie! ignites the dancefloor with a high-intensity set driven by buzzing synths and the euphoric pulse of electro, global club, and harderstyles, channeling a singular belief in total release through sound and movement.
Step outside for fresh air and encounter Afrorack, Ugandan artist and engineer who merges polyrhythmic African traditions with acid, techno, and ambient experimentation on his self-built modular synthesizer, alongside alsoknownasrox, whose improvisational code-generated sonics push computational boundaries to explore speculative futures. Return to the bass-womb of the club for deep, low-end explorations by Honeydrip, whose hybridized dub, reggae, and dancehall sound empowers and moves audiences, and And.re, whose textured, rhythm-driven sets weave dub, bass, and breakbeat into kinetic, immersive journeys that keep the dancefloor locked in.
Pique is a journey through sound, space, and creative possibilities: every corner offers a new rhythm, every performance a portal to unexpected musical worlds that linger long after you leave.
LINEUP
BIG THINGS COMING
With more programming to be announced, get a sneak peak of the installations, symposium, and other programming to be featured at Pique.
Beyond the stage, site-specific installations will take over Arts Court’s overlooked spaces and reflect on the building’s layered history as the former city courthouse turned contemporary arts complex. Supported by Ottawa Tourism as part of the 200th anniversary celebrations of the founding of Bytown, two artists selected from an open call will exhibit conceptual installation work across the festival site. Artists and projects will be announced soon.
Topique returns on June 12–13 as Pique’s semiannual symposium, offering a dedicated program of panels, artist talks, and demonstrations exploring equity and sustainability in the cultural sector. With participants from Uganda, Hong Kong, the United States, and across Canada, Topique continues to foster artist-led dialogue and knowledge exchange. Emerging and early-career artists and cultural workers can also participate in the Topique Mentorship Program, which provides support to work with a mentor of their choice, free access to symposia programming, and travel support to attend the Venus Fest symposium in Toronto this May. Full Topique programming will be announced soon. Mentorship program applications are open now until April 14, 2026. Apply here.
Tickets to Pique are pay-what-you-can (PWYC), with sliding-scale and subsidized options available. Our PWYC ticket keeps the festival open to everyone while inviting those who can pay more to help cover the cost for others. Every contribution above the minimum goes directly toward fair artist pay, inclusive programming, and supporting independent culture in Ottawa. The Arts Court is accessible, and a detailed accessibility guide is available on our accessibility page.
Featuring more than 30 participating artists and speakers—with additional announcements to come—Pique #20 is not to be missed.
HISTORY
Pique was born during the pandemic, at a time when some of Ottawa’s most vital independent festivals were shuttering. Seeing a gap for underground, experimental music and arts programming that was accessible and thoughtfully curated, festival director Rachel Weldon developed Pique as a revival of the all-ages, pay-what-you-can Debaser series Fryquency (2013–2015). Unlike the monthly Fryquency, Pique was envisioned as a seasonal festival, spread evenly across four quarterly editions to foster deeper engagement with Ottawa’s arts community.
Pique’s identity is closely tied to Arts Court, the historic courthouse turned contemporary arts hub, whose 2019 redevelopment provided state-of-the-art performance spaces. To this day, Pique would not be possible without the support and trust of Arts Court host partners SAW, Ottawa Art Gallery, Digital Arts Resource Centre, Artengine, Ottawa Dance Directive, and Canadian Film Institute.
Originally planned for 2020, Pique was pandemic-postponed and pivoted to an online launch in June 2021, presenting local video performances, multidisciplinary collaborations, browser-based artworks, commissioned works. By September 2021, the first hybrid edition welcomed its first sold-out audience for a program that included live music, drag, comedy, DJ sets, immersive installations, and performance videos, including a performance by Pique #20 featured artist Backxwash.
Since then, Pique has grown beyond expectations. Guest curators expanded programming horizons, local and international collaborations flourished, and audiences grew rapidly. Festival offerings branched out into new territories, presenting contemporary classical ensembles, choirs, audiovisual projects, international artist residencies, and more, building bridges between Ottawa’s underground and global experimental scenes.
From its origins as a modest event series to its recognition as an award-winning festival, Pique continues to champion innovation, experimentation, and community in Ottawa’s creative underground.
PARTNERS AND FUNDERS
Pique is presented in partnership with the Arts Court, SAW, Ottawa Art Gallery, Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Dance Directive, Ottawa Fringe, Digital Arts Resource Centre, Artengine, Produced by Youth, and with support from Dominion City Brewing Company and WARP, and is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada, Ontario Creates, FACTOR, City of Ottawa, and Ottawa Tourism.