Clipping. Announced as the 2026 Sled Island Music Festival Guest Curator

In this post, we share details of Sled Island’s announcement, plus how and why guest curators can offer local audiences a more bespoke largescale event experience in 2026.

Calgary’s Sled Island Music & Arts Festival Announces 2026 Guest Curator clipping.

Calgary’s Sled Island Music & Arts Festival has announced that LA-based experimental hip-hop trio clipping. will be the guest curator for next year’s festival, running June 17 – 21, 2026.

The group’s distinctive approach to the genre showcases a wide range of musical influences and a highly inventive style, often pushing the boundaries of what can be done both vocally and instrumentally, making them a very exciting choice as guest curator for Sled Island 2026.

clipping. has been on an upward trajectory this year since releasing their widely-acclaimed new album, Dead Channel Sky, and since appearing on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series (which tends to happen!).

Along with guest curator duties, clipping. will perform at the #1 Royal Canadian Legion on June 20, 2026. Sled Island passes grant access to this show (subject to capacity).

Each year, Sled Island’s guest curator puts their stamp on the festival through special programming choices and their presence at the event. clipping.’s curatorial selections will be announced in the coming months, along with 200 additional bands, comedy, visual art and conference programming chosen by the festival in multiple venues across Calgary.

And while this practice isn’t wholly embraced by all festivals, it does offer a unique ability to connect with audiences and concert-goers in meaningful ways.

How Guest Curators Offer Festivals Curatorial Credibility and Audiences a Unique Experience

Global festival-going audiences have long complained that, no matter where a festival are located, they’re often programming the same artists who appear everywhere else. With such globalized touring practices now, there is almost no distinction between regional festivals with regards to the list of headlining acts.

But lately, several music festivals around the world have started to utilize guest curators to help shape their lineups and artistic direction, inviting established artists and/or industry professionals who offer unique perspectives and programming choices. This model satisfies today’s listening audiences’ craving for a bespoke experience, and gives festivals an ability to curate a fully customized lineup. This also accomplishes a secondary goal of strengthening the ties and support between artists on the road, who often feel siloed and solitary amongst their own community.

Some notable examples of festivals that have used Guest Curators in recent years include:

• Sled Island Music & Arts Festival (Calgary, Canada): An annual independent festival that selects a new guest curator each year to help set the direction and tone. Past curators have included Otoboke Beaver, Bartees Strange, Flying Lotus, Peaches, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Kathleen Hanna.
• Le Guess Who? (Utrecht, Netherlands): This festival is known for its extensive use of artist curators, who are invited to present their own dedicated programs featuring like-minded or inspirational artists. Curators have included Heba Kadry, Nala Sinephro, John Dwyer, Midori Takada, and Phil Elverum.
• Burlington Discover Jazz Festival (Burlington, Vermont): A jazz-oriented festival typically loaded with both Grammy Award winning artists across a number of genres and local acts to spice up the regional flavour. It’s been guest curated by Adi Oasis, Lakecia Benjamin, and others.
• BRDCST Festival (Brussels, Belgium): This “genre-fluid” festival has a tradition of inviting guest curators to create an evening of music to their liking. The 2025 edition included Anna von Hausswolff, Backxwash, and Colin Stetson as curators.
• Vancouver New Music Festival (Vancouver, Canada): For its annual festival, VNM often invites guest curators from the local music scene to program nights centered on specific themes or emerging artists.
• SummerWorks Performance Festival (Toronto, Canada): In some editions, the festival has been collaboratively-curated by a panel of guest curators, each bringing their own unique perspectives to the overall programming. 

Sled Island Festival passes and individual show tickets for clipping. will go on sale this Friday, December 12, 2025. Passes will be available for a limited time at an early bird rate of 20% off. For passes and tickets, visit SledIsland.com. For more information on Sled Island’s guest curator program, visit SledIsland.com/GuestCurator.

About clipping.

In the hands of clipping., rap is a launchpad for total sonic experimentation. Their chopped-and-spliced approach pairs unrelentingly brutal beats with unrestrained lyricism delivered at a mile-a-minute. Comprised of William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes and Daveed Diggs, clipping. immediately enthralled listeners with their self-produced 2013 debut, midcity. Only five months later, the trio signed to Sub Pop and dropped their debut studio album, CLPPNG, in 2014. Since then, they have released two EP’s, a scorching live album, several remix collections, and four more studio LP’s. From contributing a track to The Rick and Morty Soundtrack to collaborating with Rivers Solomon on an award-winning science fiction novel, the breadth of clipping.’s work is vast. Their latest record, 2025’s Dead Channel Sky, moves the needle from straight horror-core to electro-drenched cyberpunk rave-ups, with guest appearances from Aesop Rock and Calgary’s own Cartel Madras. 

To learn more about clipping.’s creative process, watch their interview with The Needle Drop here.

About Sled Island Music & Arts Festival

Sled Island is an annual five-day independent music and arts festival in Calgary, Alberta that brings together a community of more than 200 bands, comedy, and art as well as over 25,000 attendees in diverse venues across the city. Since 2007, Sled Island has produced a thoughtful, eclectic and one-of-a-kind festival that earns rave reviews from attendees, artists and media across the globe.