FriendShip, the world’s premier music cruise founded by dance music icon Gary Richards (aka Destructo), has unveiled the stacked lineup for its 2025 event – a curatorial masterclass featuring 70+ international artists from across the electronic music spectrum. Aboard the Norwegian Joy for the floating music festival’s fifth edition, FriendShip 2025 will take place Friday, February 21 – Wednesday, February 26, 2025, departing from Miami and landing at Harvest Caye island in Belize for a full 24-hour private island party, making this the festival’s most monumental installment yet.
FriendShip 2025 Lineup
Continuing to build upon its legacy as a tastemaking force, FriendShip 2025 offers a robust lineup filled to the brim with established stars and emerging acts alike. The impressive, meticulously-crafted roster spans electronic music sounds ranging from house, disco, techno, bass, and more, further establishing the festival as a world-renowned platform of genre-crossing, left-of-center talent.
FriendShip 2025 will showcase superstar headliners making their festival debuts, including Disclosure (DJ Set), DJ Pee .Wee (DJ alias for modern neo-soul pioneer Anderson .Paak), and legendary electronic music superduo Duck Sauce (A-Trak & Armand Van Helden).
Other headliners performing at FriendShip for the very first time include A-Trak (Solo Set), underground house selectors Adam Ten, Mita Gami, and Ben Sterling, live electronic trio Klangphonics (making their Western Hemisphere festival debut), bass music producers Tape B and Hamdi, ethereal genre-blender HAAi, and percussive-oriented producer / Skrillex-collaborator Ahadadream.
Embodying his company’s All My Friends egalitarian ethos, Gary Richards designed FriendShip as a free-spirited playground that’s equally as fun for the performers as it is for the attendees – offering artists an unabashed forum to truly let loose and groove alongside their fans, while orchestrating once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for denizens to connect with their favorite artists, all in a safe and luxurious environment. This approach has attracted artists to repeatedly play the festival, and FriendShip veteran headliners returning to the event in 2025 include innovative German producer Boys Noize, Australian tech-house maestro Wax Motif, bass house innovator AC Slater, Armand Van Helden (Solo Set), underground legend Justin Martin, and the festival-founder himself, Destructo. FriendShip favorites such as Mary Droppinz, Mija, and more will also be returning for the 2025 sailing.
FriendShip 2025 will also showcase an extensive list of rising stars and emerging subcultural scenes, highlighting Gary Richards’ singular talent for discovering the next wave of electronic music powerhouses. UKG-expert Oppidan, alongside other UKG up-and-comers such as 33 Below, camoufly, and more, will be making their FriendShip debuts in 2025. Also joining the 2025 sailing are Brazilian heavyweights such as illusionize and Beltran, Ecuador-bred, Miami-based DJ/vocalist Milushka, renowned breaks DJ/producer Krafty Kuts, and Danish-Filipino DJ Manda Moor, who will be bringing her Mood Child brand to the ship with Parisian house artist Sirus Hood.
To go along with the FriendShip 2025 lineup reveal, festival ringleader Gary Richards has scrupulously curated a genre-bending, 106-track mixtape – a masterful collection that acutely showcases Richards’ boundary-pushing vision, and acts as a magnetic teaser for the artists performing on next year’s sailing. Listen to the FriendShip 2025 Spotify playlist here.
In addition to its meticulously-handpicked musical lineup, FriendShip boasts a unique curation of non-musical programming and activations. Olympic medalist skateboarder Nyjah Huston will appear at the festival for the very first time, joining the beloved ‘FriendShip Skate Team’ alongside ultra-talented skaters such as Aaron Jaws Homoki, Dominick Walker, and David Loy. Huston will also be playing his debut FriendShip DJ set aboard the 2025 sailing.
FriendShip 2025 will also welcome back festival-favorite Dita Von Teese for her annual ‘Ship Teese’ burlesque show, which will once again showcase the legendary performer’s lavish costumes and magnetic dance numbers.
FriendShip 2025 follows up a 2024 sailing that exceeded the festival’s own spellbinding reputation, and further cemented the event as the vanguard of dance music’s rare, ‘you-had-to-be-there’ moments. FriendShip 2024 featured an impromptu reunion of Dog Blood (Skrillex + Boys Noize) following their 4+ year hiatus; surprise sets/appearances from Rico Nasty and Chris Lake b2b Chris Lorenzo; a 24-hour island party; as well the festival’s signature unique activations.
The 2025 sailing will mark FriendShip’s second consecutive year aboard the Norwegian Joy, which was refurbished in 2020 and again this year. The 4,000 guest capacity vessel is 1,000+ ft in length, has 21 restaurants, a go-cart course and a 30 foot water slide. The cruise’s newest renovation will feature a bevy of new luxury accommodations, including an elevated onboard spa experience with the expanded Thermal Suite.
The brand-new Thermal Suite will feature a waterfall adorned entrance leading into 3x as many hot tile lounges, a sauna, ice room, aromatic steam room, as well as a new Biostation with IV Drip Therapy, four-senses loungers, and Kneipp haptic foot therapy.
The vessel will also expand its two Premiere Owner Haven Suites to include three bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, a fully renovated living room, master bedroom, outdoor balcony furniture, and a new separate dining room overlooking the forward-facing The Haven Horizon Lounge.
Those two suites, alongside the rest of the Norwegian Joy’s luxurious Haven suites (which encompass an area known as the exclusive “ship-within-a-ship”) is a key-card access only complex at the top of the ship, with spacious suites,a dedicated 24-hour butler and concierge services, a private pool, restaurant, bar, and private sundeck.
The ship’s redesign will also result in 24 new balcony staterooms and 40 new spa balcony staterooms, leading directly into the Mandara Spa and the brand-new Thermal Suite. All Haven suites are officially sold-out, with limited availability remaining for balcony, and interior tier cabins.
Press Release
