After a decade of bringing international creatives together, Us By Night concludes its Antwerp chapter while preparing for a future beyond the Belgian city.
From 24 to 26 September 2026, designers, artists and creative professionals gathered at Waagnatie, Antwerp, for the latest edition of Us By Night. Across three nights, the festival brought together 45 talks, exhibitions, interactive installations, music and a night market, continuing its distinctive approach to creative exchange.
Founded in 2016 by digital artist Rizon Parein, Us By Night developed a format that moved beyond the conventional design conference. Talks were only one part of the experience. Visitors could explore exhibitions, engage with creative processes, discover independent work and connect with others across the international creative community.
This year’s gathering, however, carried particular significance. The 2026 festival marked the sixth and final Antwerp edition, closing a decade-long chapter in the city where Us By Night established its identity.
A Meeting Point For Global Creativity
The programme reflected the breadth of contemporary visual culture, bringing together practitioners from graphic design, photography, digital art, animation, advertising and spatial design.
Among this edition’s participants were Sabine Marcelis, Gary Card, Harry Gruyaert, Studio Dumbar, Wieden+Kennedy and creative coding artist Zach Lieberman. Their presence placed established creative studios and individual practitioners within the same programme, offering audiences different perspectives on how ideas are developed, communicated and translated into visual experiences.
The mix of disciplines also reflected the increasingly fluid boundaries between creative fields. Design, technology, image-making and art increasingly inform one another, creating opportunities for collaboration beyond traditional professional categories.
For a festival built around these intersections, the diversity of the programme was central to its identity.
Architecture As Part Of The Experience
Waagnatie, an industrial venue along Antwerp’s waterfront, provided more than a backdrop. Its warehouse setting became part of the festival’s structure, with purpose-built environments accommodating talks, exhibitions and participatory activities.
The Stadium and Teatro stages anchored the presentation programme, while surrounding spaces encouraged visitors to move between different forms of creative engagement. A large scaffolding balcony encircled the Teatro hall, offering an elevated view of the venue while hosting the Antwerp Poster Festival exhibition.
Featuring 100 selected posters, the exhibition brought an international selection of contemporary graphic design into the industrial setting. Its placement reinforced one of Us By Night’s defining characteristics: the integration of creative work into the physical environment rather than confining it to a screen or presentation stage.
Making Creativity Participatory
Beyond the talks, the festival invited visitors to take part in the creative process. A large wheatpasting wall evolved into a collective collage as prints were added throughout the event. Live printing, digital graffiti, screenings and portrait photography introduced further opportunities to experience creative production at close range.
Photographer Craig Fleming’s portrait studio offered a more personal point of interaction, while experimental digital tools sat alongside physical printing techniques.
These activities gave the programme a practical dimension. Instead of presenting creativity solely through finished projects and professional achievements, the festival also made visible the processes, experimentation and collaboration behind creative work.
The result was an environment in which audiences could move between observing, discussing and participating.
The Night Market And The Culture Of Connection
The night market provided a social counterpoint to the scheduled talks. Food stalls, music, games and informal meeting areas created spaces for conversation throughout the evening, allowing visitors to move between presentations and social activities without leaving the wider festival experience.
This combination was important to the event’s character. Speakers, independent designers, students and other creative professionals shared the same environment, making professional exchange part of the festival’s everyday rhythm.
Rather than separating education from entertainment, Us By Night brought them together within a single setting. The talks offered ideas and perspectives; the surrounding spaces created opportunities to discuss them, discover new work and establish connections.
Beyond Antwerp
The conclusion of the 2026 edition marks a significant transition for Us By Night. Parein confirmed that the festival would leave Antwerp after six editions, while making clear that the project itself would continue.
Its departure closes a chapter closely associated with the city’s creative community, but does not signal the end of the platform. The next phase remains open, with the festival’s future location and format not specified in the material available for this article.
Over the past decade, Us By Night has built its identity around a combination of international perspectives, immersive spaces and informal creative exchange. Its final Antwerp edition brought these elements together once more, demonstrating how a conference can also function as an exhibition platform and a meeting place for a wider creative community.
As Us By Night moves beyond Antwerp, its legacy lies in the connections it fostered between disciplines, practitioners and audiences. The city chapter has ended, but the idea behind the festival continues.
Photography by Juan Torres
