Got EDM running through your veins? Then these festivals were designed for you.
Electric Zoo (US)
Electric Zoo has quickly become one of North America’s most anticipated weekends, transforming New York City’s Randall’s Island Park into a playground for DJs, live acts, and of course tens of thousands of attendees every Labor Day Weekend (30th to 1st September) for the past four years. Another fest that packs plenty of big-name DJs into one weekend last year’s lineup included Skrillex, Datsik, A-Trak, Martin Solveig, and Porter Robinson to name a few. E-Zoo also showcases its share of burgeoning underground talent. This year they’re celebrating their 5th year with 5 stages in total! Find this year’s lineup here.
Global Gathering (UK)
Global Gathering is the world’s first truly global music festival brand, breaking all boundaries around the world to bring the best electronic music and production to over a million electronic music fans.First held in 2001 in Stratford Upon Avon, Global Gathering has continued to set trends in electronic music and has appeared in the US, Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Belarus, South Korea and Australia to name a few places. Festival organizers said it best themselves when they said, “The global journey is ongoing as it takes the market-leading brand to all corners of the globe. The festival concept came about following an unprecedented interest in the opening of GlobalGathering Group’s club Code in Birmingham. Code was the home of international nightlife institution Godskitchen and we recognized that the demand to experience the adrenaline filled nights was so great that we had to expand beyond the walls of the club into Warwickshire’s glorious green fields and beyond, and what an excellent decision that turned out to be. Over the years GlobalGathering in the UK has created an abundance of highlights in the dance music calendar.” Find this year’s lineup here.
Electric Daisy Carnival (US)
The Electronic Daisy Carnival is an annual festival-scale rave that’s been a huge part of the West Coast electronic dance music scene since 1997. It became the world’s largest E-music festival outside of Europe—reaching masses of 140,000 attendees at its original LA Memorial Coliseum and Exhibition Park location. Responsible for this extravaganza and many more of America’s top EDM festivals is Insomniac Events. No longer simply an electronic music festival, Electric Daisy Carnival has grown into a one of a kind, full entertainment experience. EDC combines the world’s most renowned dance music talent with leading-edge production to create an unparalleled experience of sight and sound that you will have to encounter for yourself to believe. This is your world, so come play and let your imagination lead the way. Find this year’s lineup here.
Ultra Music Festival (US)
In 1999, ULTRA Music Festival took Miami by storm with an epic one-day event on the sands of South Beach. Earlier this year they celebrated their 15 year anniversary becoming the first EDM festival ever to expand it over to 2 weekends. With anticipation boiling for the 2013 Festival, Early Bird Tickets sold out in record time to attendees in 77 countries. Because this is one of the most popular EDM festivals in the world, Ultra sold out 150,000 tickets six weeks before the event date in 2011. Packing hundreds of thousands of people into 32-acre Bayfront Park in downtown Miami is no small feat. It is also not easy to book the immensely popular (and expensive) talent to perform for the interested guests. Find this year’s lineup here.
Tomorrowland (Belgium)
Only the biggest EDM fans know that the best festival to head to in late July is located in DreamVille, Belgium. Tomorrowland features top artists like Avicii and Ferry Corsten, and world-class DJs have made a name for themselves performing at these festivals. Art, debauchery and some of the finest dance music come out for this show. Tomorrowland began as a relatively small festival in Belgium, originally opening with 10,000 party-goers. Started in 2005, Tomorrowland was intended as Europe’s answer to the amusement park setting of America’s incredibly popular Electric Daisy Carnival. It has grown massively since then bringing together huge crowds from all across the world each year and is now often described as one of the biggest festivals in the world today. Find this year’s lineup here.