Rapper Kofi Stone, MC Jawnino, avant-garde hip-hop experimentalist Bloody Shield and more join 100 names being showdcased at the PITCH Scotland music festival and conference.
Now in its fifth year, PITCH takes place 2-4 September 2026 across multiple venues in Glasgow, including Drygate Brewery, McChuills Music Bar and BLOC+.
The three-day event combines an international showcase festival, music-industry conference and three-day songwriting camp, an effort to “place Scottish hip hop and music communities in direct conversation with artists and industry leaders from across the UK and beyond,” says the organisers.
More than 30 emerging acts will arrive at PITCH, spanning Scotland, the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Canada. They will perform alongside headline acts Kofi Stone, Jawnino, Bloody Shield, Kadiata and Tony Bontana.
The conference will “examine some of the most important questions facing artists and the wider music industry today,” says the festival, which includes topics on representation, organisational change and long-term artist development to revenue, international opportunities more.
Eunice Obianagha, Head of Diversity at UK Music, is invited to speak on the 2026 published Black Music Means Business: Driving Economic Growth in the UK report, while representatives from Newcastle-based arts organisation Generator, Liverpool’s BLK SCL!, and more.
PITCH will also welcome festival organisers from FOCUS Wales, Iceland Airwaves, Nuremberg Pop Festival and Spain’s Pro Weekend Fest.
Richy Muirhead, PITCH Scotland co-founder and festival director, said: “Five years into PITCH, this is our biggest and most ambitious programme yet.
Mobo Agoro (programme coordinator and booker of PITCH Scotland) added: “PITCH has always been about more than putting artists on stage. It’s about building an ecosystem where creativity can thrive.
By bringing together communities, industry leaders and international partners, we’re creating pathways for collaboration, knowledge exchange and sustainable business opportunities that extend far beyond the festival itself.”
Alan Morrison, head of music at Creative Scotland, said: “PITCH is the flagship event in Creative Scotland’s ongoing development work for the hip hop sector. Since the pandemic, Scottish hip hop has blossomed as artists and organisations have received support to record, tour and showcase their music at home and abroad.
This year, with support through the Scottish Government’s Expanded Festivals Fund, PITCH stakes its claim as a truly international event, with a conference programme that addresses key issues head-on, a live performance line-up that will raise the roof, and opportunities for all to make vital connections with the music industry. Scottish hip hop is thriving, and PITCH is the pathway to the next level.”
Tickets for PITCH Scotland 2026 are available now.
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