The 13th Haizebegi Festival begins in southwestern France on 8 October 2026 and will devote its final three days to Ezidi history, music, art and testimony. The programme, taking place from 16 to 18 October at the Cité des Arts in Bayonne, will bring together survivors of the Ezidi Genocide of 2014, artists, musicians, researchers, legal experts and human-rights advocates.

Under the theme “Ezidis: Voices of Exile,” the festival will examine how Ezidi culture is preserved and rebuilt after genocide and displacement. Screenings, discussions, exhibitions and concerts will place survivor voices alongside living artistic traditions, including oral singing, painting and contemporary musical collaboration.

Highlights include the immersive exhibition Nobody’s Listening, discussions on justice and memory, a concert by Ezidi singer Hussein Lawand with Basque singer Julen Achiary, and a final day of art, advocacy and music.

Haizebegi runs from 8 to 18 October across Bayonne, Anglet and Labastide-Villefranche. The festival brings artistic creation together with academic research and public discussion, examining how music can preserve memory, connect people and resist cultural erasure.

The Ezidi programme will begin on 16 October with a presentation on the role of stranbêj and dengbêj in transmitting Ezidi history, stories and collective memory through an oral tradition. Anthropologist Estelle Amy de la Bretèque will introduce the place of these singers and their importance to the preservation of Ezidi heritage.

The evening will continue with a screening of Love in the Face of Genocide, a 2020 documentary directed by Şêro Hindê. Filmed over three years in Sinjar, the documentary follows Ezidi singers in a region still marked by the genocide. Through songs about love, loss and belief, it explores how music can preserve personal memory and cultural heritage after destruction and displacement.

On 17 October, the immersive exhibition Nobody’s Listening will use virtual reality, photography and works by Ezidi artists to present the genocide and its continuing consequences. The exhibition will be inaugurated by Thikran Mato, a survivor from Kocho and the project’s director.

A full day of discussions titled “Ezidis: Genocide, Exile and Song” will bring together survivors, researchers, lawyers, human-rights advocates and representatives of organisations including Yazda and Voice of Ezidis. The sessions will address Ezidi history, recognition of the genocide, justice, reconstruction and the place of survivors in documenting their own experiences.

The day will conclude with Chanter l’absence, a concert bringing Ezidi singer Hussein Lawand together with Basque singer and percussionist Julen Achiary. Lawand, a survivor of the Ezidi Genocide of 2014, will present Ezidi stran and kilam alongside the traditional songs of the Basque province of Soule. The performance will explore memory, absence and transmission through two distinct oral traditions.

On 18 October, the Cité des Arts will host a full-day celebration of Ezidi culture. The programme includes a concert by Hussein Lawand, discussions about Ezidis living across different countries, an art market featuring Ezidi artist Hales Murad, film screenings, song and dance workshops, and a session on the advocacy of Ezidi women.

Natia Navrouzov, executive director of Yazda and a lawyer specialising in international criminal justice, will discuss the advocacy of Ezidi women. Farhad Shamo-Roto, a genocide survivor, researcher at the University of Manchester and founder of Voice of Ezidis, will present a proposal for a Truth Commission on the Ezidi Genocide. The festival will end with a concert by Rusan Filiztek and accompanying musicians.

Event details

📍Location: Cité des Arts, Avenue Jean Darrigrand, 64100 Bayonne, France

📆 16 October 2026

7:30 p.m. — The Art of Ezidi Bards: stranbêj and dengbêj

8:30 p.m. — Screening of Love in the Face of Genocide

The film is in Ezdiki with French subtitles

🎫 Admission to the film screening: €5

    📆 17 October 2026

    10:00 a.m.–8:30 p.m. — Nobody’s Listening immersive exhibition

    10:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m. — Ezidis: Genocide, Exile and Song

    8:30–10:30 p.m. — Chanter l’absence, featuring Hussein Lawand and Julen Achiary

    The exhibition and discussions are free to attend

    🎫 Concert admission: €20, or €15 at the reduced rate; free for children under 15

      📆 18 October 2026

      9:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. — Full-day celebration of Ezidi culture

      11:00 a.m. — Concert by Hussein Lawand

      11:30 a.m. — Discussion on Ezidis living across the world

      2:00–6:00 p.m. — Art market and film programme

      2:00–3:30 p.m. — Song and dance workshop

      4:00 p.m. — The Advocacy of Ezidi Women

      4:30 p.m. — Proposal for a Truth Commission on the Ezidi Genocide

      5:00–6:00 p.m. — Literary discussions

      6:30 p.m. — Closing concert by Rusan Filiztek and accompanying musicians