The 2026 edition of the Walking Festival of Sound, a transdisciplinary and nomadic event dedicated to exploring the role of walking and listening in our everyday environments, launches today and runs through May 2.
Founded in 2019 by sound artist Tim Shaw and 2026 Loeb Fellow Jacek Smolicki, the festival brings together an international network of practitioners and researchers working at the intersection of sound, movement, and spatial practice. Through a diverse program of free public events—including soundwalks, walking performances, seminars, and listening sessions—the festival invites participants to engage more deeply with the acoustic dimensions of the built and natural world.
As Smolicki writes in a recent Harvard Design Magazine essay about his practice, “this edition will feature a range of artists, scholars, and community leaders who will activate various places in the city by drawing attention to their soundscapes, under-heard stories, and voices.” Smolicki, who is also the 2026 ArtLab Fellow, will lead a soundwalk titled Nature Amplified: The Secret Sounds of Trees on April 19 at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.
Among the festival’s many highlights are a conversation between scholars of sound-based work Garnette Cadogan and Julie Schapiro on April 23, and a soundwalk on Deer Island on April 30 led by artist and writer Sarah Kanouse and Elizabeth Solomon, an officer of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag.
“The festival will also be an occasion to bring together members of the Harvard community who work with sound and create an opportunity for them to exchange their work while opening it up to a broader audience,” writes Smolicki.
By foregrounding the act of walking as both a creative and critical method, the Walking Festival of Sound examines how embodied listening shapes the ways we perceive, navigate, and care for our surroundings. The festival creates a platform for shared inquiry, fostering dialogue across disciplines and geographies.
Visit the Walking Festival of Sound’s website for the full program. All events are free and open to the public.