OMAI’s signature festival returns with performances, exhibitions, and lectures connecting campus and the Madison community.
MADISON, Wis. — The Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison will host the 19th annual Line Breaks Festival this spring, bringing nationally recognized artists and First Wave scholar-artists together for a series of performances, lectures, and community events across campus and greater Madison. This year’s theme, Activation, explores how artistic expression comes alive through context, intention, and community.
Founded in 2007 through OMAI’s Interdisciplinary Arts Residency with Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Line Breaks has grown into one of the largest hip hop-centered performance festivals in the Midwest. What began as a culminating student showcase has evolved into a multi-week festival featuring contemporary hip hop theater, spoken word, dance, visual arts exhibitions, and interdisciplinary performance.
Events will take place on UW–Madison’s campus and at community venues, continuing Line Breaks’s commitment to the Wisconsin Idea: bridging artistic communities between the university and the city of Madison. Programming will feature First Wave artist-scholars alongside invited professional artists, including choreographers, spoken word performers, authors, and interdisciplinary creators.
The 2026 theme, Activation, draws on the idea that creative expression is already within us, waiting for the right stimulus to emerge. Rooted in hip hop’s origins of creativity as an act of resistance, the festival invites audiences to engage the culture with greater awareness of its history, lineage, and social context.
“Line Breaks creates space for artists and audiences to reconnect with the roots and responsibilities of Hip Hop,” said Eric Newble, Line Breaks Festival Director. “Activation is about recognizing that the work we create today is part of a larger legacy. Through performance and dialogue, we invite our campus and community to engage that legacy with intention.”
The festival begins March 20 and continues through April 24 at multiple campus and community venues with select lecture events that are free and open to the public. Ticketed performances are available through the Wisconsin Union Theater box office at (608) 262-2201.
A full schedule and event details are available at: omai.wisc.edu/linebreaks
The press kit for this event are available at: https://uwmadison.app.box.com/v/LineBreaks2026
About OMAI
The Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) at UW–Madison amplifies multicultural arts and hip hop as tools for education, community-building, and social transformation. Through programs like the First Wave Hip Hop Scholarship Program and Line Breaks Festival, OMAI cultivates spaces where creativity and belonging thrive.