Whether you’re a newcomer to electric dance music scene, or an alumni, you will not want to miss out on the electronic dance music festival experience.
Check out our list of 10 electronic dance music festivals that you need to experience.
Click below to begin the gallery!
Electric Daisy Carnival – Las Vegas, Nevada
The iconic Electric Daisy Carnival was originally held in California but has since relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada (3 days) and continued to expand to Mexico (2 days), New York (2 days), United Kingdom (2 days), and Florida (2 days). This 18+ event was known as the largest electronic dance music festival in 2010 with a record of 185,000+ people in attendance. This number has immensely grown to 400,000 people in 2014 over the course of the 3 day festival.
Electric Zoo – New York, New York
Electric Zoo Festival is known for bringing some of the best international DJs to this 3-day event in New York during Labor Day weekend. Beginning in 2014, all attendees were required to watch a 2-minute long, anti-drug public service announcement before entering the festival. However, this didn’t take away from the amazing experience with headliners such as Dash Berlin, Knife Party, The Chainsmokers, and more. Electric Zoo, as of 2013, has expanded to Mexico for a memorable 2-day experience.
Ultra Music Festival – Miami, Florida
Ultra Music Festival is held in downtown Miami, Florida as a 3-day event. With the upcoming 2015 dates on March 27-29, electronic dance music fanatics are hyping about this event. Ultra is also held around the world in Buenos Aires, Croatia, Japan, Ibiza, Chile, South Africa, and South Korea. 2015 will be the first year that Ultra will no longer admit minors into the venue, which will allow for more of a mature audience.
Escape: All Hallows Eve – San Bernadino, California
Escape From Wonderland is also known as Escape: All Hallows Eve. This Insomniac event takes place this year in San Bernardino, California on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. As one of the most popular Halloween festivals out there, you’re sure to have an amazing time with the venue in itself. Escape even harbors its own haunted labyrinth that will leave you having nightmares at night.
Artwork is displayed around the festival, which is a key component to most Insomniac events. Enjoy the amazing artist lineup and the ground performers for two great nights.
Beyond Wonderland – California & Washington
As one of the many electronic dance festivals organized by Insomniac Events, Beyond Wonderland is held in three wonderful US cities: Seattle, WA; San Bernardino, CA; and Mountain View, CA. It is considered to be the sister festival to Nocturnal Wonderland, which is also on our list of top 10 festivals. It’s home to genres like house, trance, drum and bass, and ambient.
You are likely to run into fabulous sparkle bunnies or the ladies of the flower chorus, making Beyond Wonderland a fantasy world for the most unforgettable night.
Nocturnal Wonderland – San Bernadino, California
Nocturnal Wonderland was created in 2011 and has been growing as a popular festival ever since. This two-day rager happens in September with 5 stages and over 60 different performing artists. Every stage is set up to host a different genre of electronic dance music, and the lineup alone should be enough to fulfill your enjoyment for the nights.
Electric Forest – Rothbury, Michigan
Originally called Rothbury Festival, Electric Forest was re-introduced in 2011 with a focus on electronic and jam band genres in a four-day camp setting. This festival is normally held in June, with headlining artists like STS9, Zedd, Flying Lotus, Excision, and more.
Electric Forest is home to 30,000 people with four stages that include fun activities like carnival decorations, light shows, yoga, hula hooping, silent disco, waterpark, golf, horse back riding, and more. You can think of it as paradise away from home.
Decadence – Denver, Colorado
One of America’s largest New Year’s Eve festivals is the City of Decadence, which has provided two nights and three stages of amazing DJ performances. Held on December 30 and 31 in Denver, Colorado, the lineup never disappoints those who make the journey from all over the world. Decadence has iconic headlining DJs like Armin van Burren, GrizMatik, DJ Mustard, Flux Pavilion, and more. Let’s just say you will never be disappointed with the positive vibes experienced here. There’s a reason they call it the Forest Family.
Coachella – Indio Valley, California
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a two-weekend, three-day event that includes a variety of music such as rock, indie, hip-hop, and electronic dance music. Visitors are amazed by art installations and sculptures that are situated throughout the festival grounds and four main stages. The festival is held on the second and third weekends in April and in 2014 had over 150 artists ranging from Kid Cudi to Calvin Harris.
A total number of 579,000 people attend this event and tickets sell out quickly, so make sure you try and join this memorable festival for at least one weekend.
Edit: RIP TomorrowWorld – Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia
Created in 2013 as the sister festival to Tomorrowland in Belgium, TomorrowWorld brought 140,000 people together and 30,000 of this number utilized the campground, known as Dreamville. TomorrowWorld has witnessed tons of publicity in its impressive first couple of years with over 300 EDM artists that have performed on eight different stages throughout the 3-day event. Artists like Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, and Hardwell have made appearances at TomorrowWorld, making it a must see festival for all EDM junkies.
