Skaņu Mežs is the biggest festival for unconventional (one can also say experimental or avant-garde) music in the Baltic states that has been held in Riga since 2003. The festival not only observes the changes in contemporary music, but also gives insights into the history of 20th century music.
Since almost every form of modern music has an experimental side, the festival represents various genres – starting with free improvisation, academic avant-garde, electro-acoustic music and noise music – and ending with changes in rock music, hip-hop and rhythmic music.
This year's festival will be headlined by metal group Krallice (US), Gudrun Gut (DE), aya (GB), Charlemagne Palestine, Oren Ambarchi & Daniel O’Sullivan (US/AU/UK), Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals (US), and the trio of Michael Foster, Leila Bordreuil & Chris Corsano (US).