ABOUT WORLD PROTEST SONG DAY
World Protest Song Day arose from the need to bring music, activism, and free expression together on one day, in one place. At a time when artists are increasingly facing controversy, censorship, or repression, we want to create a space where words, images, and sounds can resonate without restraint—raw, poetic, urgent, and engaged.
The first edition will take place on Friday, September 26, 2025, in Haarlem, but our ambition extends further. We want to grow into an annual platform—first at the city level, then nationally, and ultimately internationally. A day on which we pause, listen, sing, shout, and reflect on the power of the protest voice in music and culture.
World Protest Song Day is an initiative of Slachthuis Haarlem and is organized in collaboration with the Haarlem Vinyl Festival.
Slachthuis Haarlem is a progressive music factory and incubator in Haarlem where music, encounters, and social issues converge. Slachthuis offers space for experimentation and contemporary programs, with a strong focus on young talent and current stories.
Haarlem Vinyl Festival is an annual music and culture festival that revolves around everything related to vinyl – from listening to collecting, from dancing to immersion. The festival demonstrates the importance of music as a vehicle for memory, identity, and change.
Together, we want to build a new tradition with World Protest Song Day: for artists, audiences, thinkers, dreamers, and disruptors. Because protest resonates – now more than ever.