#05 Extrema Outdoor Belgium
Belgium’s frontrunner in dance music festivals, Extrema Outdoor, is a no-nonsense production which has built up a more than solid reputation over the years. Top acts this year are Jeff Mills, Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler, Bjarki who’ll be performing a live set, Jeff Mills, as well a well-rounded representation of Belgium’s DJ scene with over 40 national acts on the bill.
Adriatique | Bjarki (Live) | Eats Everything | Guti (Live) | Igor Vicente | Jeff Mills | Purple Disco Machine | Richy Achmed | Scuba | Tale of Us
13th-15th May | Extrema Outdoor Belgium | Tickets | Houthalen, Belgium
#04 Lentekabinet
To say that Dekmantel’s little sister Lentekabinet is a mere introduction to its massive main show on the first weekend of August wouldn’t be fair. Lentekabinet has proved itself to being one of the cosiest festivals to attend in spring, soundtracked by some of Dekmantel’s favourites like Ben UFO, Hunee and Leon Vynehall.
Ben UFO | Daniel Avery | Delroy Edwards | I-F | Hunee | John Talabot | Leon Vynehall | Malawi | Robert Bergman (live) | Shanti Celeste
28th May | Lentekabinet | Tickets | Het Twiske, Amsterdam
#03 DGTL Festival
This weekend DGTL will return to Amsterdam for its long awaited 4th edition. The official kick off of the festival season to many, DGTL delivers on people’s expectations, while at the same time not being afraid to make bold decisions, like the fact that they’re going completely vega this year – a choice that was remarkably well-received by the meat-hungry Dutch.
This year will see the best line up to date, with 80 artists from all corners of the underground scene, spanning 12 stages over two days. Must-see acts this year are Bonobo, Agents of Time, Nina Kraviz and the eclectic post-punk veteran Andrew Weatherall.
Agents of Time | Bicep | Bonobo | DVS1 | Job Jobse b2b Jennifer Cardini | Interstellar Funk | KiNK | Nina Kraviz | Woo York (live) | Young Marco
25th March | DGTL Festival | Tickets | Amsterdam
#02 We Are FSTVL
The UK can brace itself for one of the first massive festivals of the season in the form of We Are FSTVL, starting Saturday 28th to Sunday 29th of May in Upminster. Spread across myriad stages, the entire techno, house and UK scene is represented, with exclusive stage hostings by MK, Jamie Jones’ Paradise (co-hosted by DHA), Defected, Rumors, CUFF.
Âme (live) | Chris Liebling | Henrick Schwarz (live) | Hot Since 82 | Jamie Jones | The Martinez Brothers | Richie Hawtin | Solomun | Sven Väth | Todd Terry
28th-29th May | We Are FSTVL | Tickets | Upminster, London
#01 Nuits Sonores
In short: Nuits Sonores can be dubbed effortlessly chic. Despite having to change its locations many times, Nuits Sonores has remained a consistently top class allround independent music event in France. Occupying the gorgeous city of Lyon for four days, Nuits Sonores brings the creme de la creme to narrating their very own night. This year the wheel is given to stage curators Motor City Drum Ensemble, Seth Troxler and Laurent Garnier. Besides, there really is nothing like Laurent Garnier playing in his home base, is there?
Africaine 808 | Antal | Bambounou | Laurent Garnier | L-Vis 1990 | Motor City Drum Ensemble | Rødhåd | Ron Morelli | Sadar Bahar | Veronica Vasicka
4th-8th May | Nuits Sonores | Tickets | Lyon, France