On Friday, May 22nd, KEXP celebrates World Goth Day — a day for the goth scene to honor its own culture and make its presence known to the world. It’s a shadowy global gathering you won’t want to miss.
We’ll be spinning all the dark tunes throughout the day on Early, Morning, Midday, Afternoon, and Drive Time shows, with special features on air and online in the surrounding week.
Summon your inner goth and tune in live on Friday, May 22nd, or catch the whole day on demand afterward at KEXP.org and the KEXP app.
Get ready for this year's World Goth Day by revisiting last year's programming, streaming on demand below:
Back in 2025, we heard from Martin Oldgoth, co-founder of World Goth Day, in conversation with Sharlese, host of Mechanical Breakdown, about the holiday’s origin in 2009. What started as a sort of joke on BBC Radio 6 Music rapidly spread across the world as a celebration of goth culture, which is constantly evolving. And, no, you don’t have to wear black.
“The goth scene is very inclusive,” Oldgoth says in the interview. “There are no rules. If someone tells you, ‘You’ve got to listen to this band’ or ‘You’ve got to dress like that,’ they’re wrong. It’s as simple as that. It’s gone from being an offshoot of the post-punk scene in the early 80s to being a global family of misfits.”
Take a look back at our DJs and staff sporting their best goth looks... in trees!
Layer on the black eyeliner and cue up Siouxsie Sioux — it's World Goth Day!
In Another of World Goth Day, KEXP takes a look back at the gothic cowboy aesthetics of Carl McCoy's Fields of the Nephilim
KEXP takes a look back at The Cure's classic album in conjunction with World Goth Day
KEXP's DJ Abbie chats with the legendary artist about expressing herself truthfully despite "notions of discomfort"
