Baybeats returns to Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay from Thursday 3 September to Sunday 6 September 2026 for its 25th edition, with free outdoor stages and free indoor shows that require advance registration.
Esplanade’s Baybeats 2026 festival page, checked on Wednesday (Sep 2), frames the run as four days of indie rock and alternative music from Singapore and beyond. Programmer Hydhir Ramli’s published message names international acts including Japan’s Boris, Austria’s Bilderbuch, Indonesia’s The SIGIT, South Korea’s HOA and France’s Treaks, alongside Singapore acts such as Tiramisu, FUSE and Disco Hue.
The selection rule for this guide is outdoor LiveWire and Arena sets, one Chillout Stage ambient set, the Gear Market, and one registration-required Powerhouse² headliner, each with a published start time on Esplanade’s Baybeats pages checked on 2 September 2026. The full 48-act schedule sits on the festival microsite and is not repeated here.
OPENING NIGHT
On Thursday 3 September, Austria’s Bilderbuch closes the LiveWire Stage at Esplanade Forecourt Garden at 10.30pm. Esplanade’s artist page describes the set as rock, pop, disco, hip-hop and psychedelia colliding, with UCHE YARA on lead guitar. Admission is free and outdoor. The same page carries an advisory for loud sounds, strobe lights and coarse language, and strongly encourages young audiences to wear noise-reducing headphones.
Earlier the same night, Netherlands post-hardcore band Tramhaus plays the Annexe (Esplanade Annexe Studio) at 9.15pm for about one hour with no intermission. The listing is free by registration. Public registration opened on Monday 31 August 2026 at 3pm, after Esplanade&Me priority registration on 20 August. Unutilised seats may be released to walk-ins once the show starts, according to the advisory on the Tramhaus page.
Also on Thursday, Thailand’s Soft Pine is listed at the Arena (DBS Foundation Outdoor Theatre) at 10pm. Esplanade describes the Bangkok band as psychedelic rock and indie pop formed in 2018. That outdoor set is free, with no registration required on the artist page.
KIN LEONN
On Friday 4 September at 6pm, Kin Leonn plays a 30-minute stripped-down ambient set at the Chillout Stage on the Esplanade Concourse. Esplanade says the set interweaves piano and live electronics, drawing on originals from mirror in the gleam and Commune, plus film soundtrack pieces, and notes that the Concourse is where he made his solo debut in 2018.
Mr Ramli’s producer message separately flags an exclusive Kin Leonn collaboration with a live band later in the festival, created for Baybeats. That commissioned configuration is listed on the festival page rather than on the Concourse ambient listing.
THE SIGIT
On Saturday 5 September at 10.15pm, Bandung rock band The SIGIT headlines the LiveWire Stage. Esplanade’s synopsis places the group as a revitalised five-piece after a pandemic hiatus, with Absar Lebeh on guitar, Aghan Sudrajat on bass and Raveliza on drums. The outdoor set is free. The same advisory on loud sounds, strobes and coarse language applies.
BORIS
On Sunday 6 September at 9.15pm, Japanese experimental rock trio Boris plays Powerhouse² at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre. The listing is free by registration, with no intermission. Public registration opened on 31 August at 3pm. Esplanade’s artist note frames the band’s core as “heavy”, spanning sludge, noise, shoegaze and psychedelia since 1996 with members Takeshi, Wata and Atsuo.
GEAR MARKET AND VILLAGE
Gas Attack’s Gear Market runs on Saturday and Sunday, 5 and 6 September, from 3pm to 10pm at the Esplanade Black Room on Esplanade Mall Level 3. Esplanade lists 18 vendors selling and trading pre-loved guitars, pedals, amplifiers, keyboards and accessories. Entry to browse is open to everyone on the festival page.
The Festival Village spills from the Esplanade Courtyard onto the lawn outside Singtel Waterfront Theatre. Opening hours are 6pm to midnight on 3 and 4 September, and 5pm to midnight on 5 and 6 September. Official merch prices published on the same page include a Baybeats 2026 T-shirt at S$35 public (S$30 for Esplanade&Me), a windbreaker at S$50 public (S$45 Esplanade&Me), a cap at S$25 public (S$20 Esplanade&Me), a sling bag at S$22 public (S$18 Esplanade&Me), an A2 poster at S$12 public (S$8 Esplanade&Me), and a 25th edition bundle at S$75 public (S$55 Esplanade&Me). Payment is listed as PayNow or cash.
A free centralised bag drop sits outside Powerhouse² from 5pm to 12.30am across all four days, with last deposit at 11.30pm. Uncollected bags attract a S$50 fine per patron under Esplanade’s published terms.
VENUE AND REGISTRATION
All programmes listed here are at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, 1 Esplanade Drive. Esplanade MRT is the nearest station. Outdoor shows may be delayed, relocated or adjusted in wet weather, according to Esplanade’s festival FAQ.
Registration is required only for Annexe and Powerhouse² performances. Links sit on the Baybeats 2026 festival page at esplanade.com. Outdoor LiveWire, Arena and Chillout Stage sets named above do not carry a registration requirement on their artist pages.
For a later paid Esplanade indie date after this free festival weekend, see Silica Gel at Esplanade Annexe Studio on 19 October 2026. Classical listings at the same complex include SSO with Petrenko and Capuçon on 18 and 19 September.
