‘A Catalyst For Growth’: Africa Rising Music Conference Sets 2026 Dates

After a successful 2025 event, Africa Rising Music Conference (ARMC) has announced its return to Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, May 22–23, 2026.

The 2025 edition welcomed more than 1,000 registered attendees from across South Africa and the world, which marks a new record.

Represented countries included the UK, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.S. and beyond. ARMC 2025 hosted 76 speakers from seven countries, with 58% of attendees identifying as female.

Over 140 jobs were created during the six-month build-up to the conference in 2025 in areas such as content creation, sound, staging, and event production.

This year’s so-called Cradle Crew initiative brought 15 underserved rural youth to the event. Next year, the aim is to scale to 100 beneficiaries.

Some of the recent real-world outcomes Africa Rising Music Conference has produced includ: Busiswa launched her new EP Honey & Grace — produced in Berlin via the SAMPRA Development Fund in partnership with ARMC and Paradise Worldwide; strategic partnerships like Jägermeister’s Global Pass saw KMAT perform at Ibiza’s International Music Summit; Money Badoo traveling to Germany to perform at Reeperbahn Festival, Europe’s biggest cub festival with more exports to be announced soon.

What is more, the first-ever “Mamas in Music” roundtable also took place at ARMC 2025, featuring South African singer-songwriter Yvonne Chaka Chaka. It was “more than just a conversation. It became the launchpad for a new community – the official Africa Chapter of Mamas in Music which will be launched in the coming weeks,” according to a ARMC press release.

Artist and speaker applications for next year’s Africa Rising Music Conference are now open until Oct. 15. Selected UK-based artists may receive travel support via PRS Foundation, Goethe-Institute, British Council, and other mobility schemes.

General admission tickets are on sale.

ARMC aims to be more than a conference, serving as “a catalyst for growth,” by its own admission. In five years, the event evolved from a local meet-up to a high-impact global platform that creates real opportunities.

ARMC 2026, which returns to Johannesburg’s Constitution Hill, will offer more thought-leadership panels, keynotes, hands-on workshops.

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