Blankets & Wine has announced its first 2026 edition will be held on Sunday, 7 June 2026 at Laureate Gardens, Moi International Sports Centre, Nairobi, unveiling a lineup led by Kenyan acts Labdi, Mordecai (Dexx), Mejja, Serro, Mutoriah and Watendawili, alongside Nigerian singer Fave.

In a press release dated 16 April 2026, the festival said the June event will be followed by two further editions on 6 September and 20 December 2026 as it begins its 2026 season.

The announcement also introduced “Your Taste Lives Here” as the festival’s 2026 campaign and “year-long cultural platform,” which organisers said will run across the three editions. According to the statement, the platform was launched on 14 April 2026 in Nairobi at Hit Labzz during the festival’s inaugural Storytellers Lab, which brought together media and the festival’s creative teams.

The June programme includes the festival’s electronic and alternative music offering on the Onja Onja Stage, with South Africa’s Goldmax scheduled to perform alongside Kenyan DJs Hiribae, DJ IV, LA Dave, Suraj and Sir M, the organisers said.

Blankets & Wine is produced by GoodTimes Africa and was founded in Nairobi in 2008 by Muthoni Ndonga. The organisers said the event is now in its 17th year. In Kenya’s events and creative economy, the festival’s continued run is closely watched by promoters, venues and brand sponsors as a barometer of consumer spending on live entertainment and the ability of large outdoor events to pull audiences across multiple dates in a year.

Muthoni Ndonga, Founder & Creative Director, said the event’s planning extends beyond music programming. “Every edition of Blankets & Wine begins with a question: what does it mean to gather well in this moment? 17 years of asking that question has taught us that the answer is never just about the lineup. It’s about the entire ecosystem — the music, the food, the energy, the people who show up and what they bring with them,” she said.

The festival also confirmed the return of the Onja Onja Market in 2026, describing it as a curated hub for “Made-in-Kenya” products spanning food, fashion and creative enterprise.

Michelle Njeri, Brand Manager, linked the market concept to the new platform. “The Onja Onja Market is where ‘Your Taste Lives Here’ becomes something you can touch, taste and take home. Every vendor is curated with the same intentionality as the lineup — these are the brands and makers who represent where Kenyan creativity is right now,” she said.

Ndonga added that the Onja Onja Stage is being positioned more distinctly within the festival’s offering. “Onja Onja has always been the home of the vibes at the festival. This evolution is about going deeper, giving the stage its own identity and the freedom to push the sound forward,” she said.

For Kenya’s wider entertainment and hospitality ecosystem, the three-date calendar has implications for suppliers and service providers tied to live events, including staging and production, security, ticketing, food and beverage vendors, and transport. The addition of a flexible ticket plan—described by the festival as “Lipa Pole Pole,” allowing payments in instalments—also reflects an approach increasingly used by event organisers to manage affordability constraints while maintaining attendance targets, though the organisers did not disclose ticket prices or uptake figures.

Blankets & Wine said tickets for the June 2026 edition are on sale via its website. The organisers did not provide financial projections, expected attendance, or sponsorship details in the statement, but said the 2026 platform will roll out across the June, September and December editions.