DJ Mag’s Top 100 Festivals poll takes its fourth year for 2024 and the results are in. Tomorrowland is crowned #1 on the list through a record-breaking number of votes. Top 100 Festivals launched in 2019, with votes coming from DJs alone. In 2022, the vote moved to the public with Tomorrowland topping last year’s poll. It’s been a journey for festivals since COVID-19 shut things down and changed how the industry operates. Check out the full list here while we summarize the top few below.
#1 Tomorrowland, Belgium
The Belgian mega-festival takes place over two weekends each year in July at Boom, Belgium. Tomorrowland stands as #1 for the fourth year in a row! The event celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with over 800 artists, playing across 15 stages. Acts include Armin van Buuren, Amelie Lens, Bonobo b2b Dixon, ACRAZE, David Guetta, ANNA, and more. The craze for this festival is no joke, swiftly selling out within one day. Enhance your European vacation with this festival!
Tomorrowland is a passion, a passion of over 200 people working every day to create the magic of Tomorrowland. This year we will celebrate LIFE. The theme is a prequel of the Spirit of Life from 2016.
Debby Wilmsen, Tomorrowland PR & Internal Communications Lead, to DJ Mag
#2 EDC Las Vegas, USA
For us stateside, we all know EDC Las Vegas to be a top contender. Since 1997, it has become the largest electronic dance music festival in North America. Cemented at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, this neon-drenched festival outdoes itself each year. Half a million headliners flock to the desert each year from across the globe to revel in this three-day weekend. This is where true Insomniacs come to play, as partygoers dance from dusk until dawn. A multitude of stages, fireworks every night that light up the sky, jaw-dropping stage designs, and good vibes all around, EDC bustles each year for an unforgettable experience.
Even EDC veterans felt like they were stepping into the festival for the first time. EDC Las Vegas remains a colorful cornerstone of the global EDM scene as it enters its 13th year.
Olivia Stock
#3 Untold Festival, Romania
Romanian megafest, Untold, held its first edition in 2015. While still a young event, it has welcomed 420,000 guests and 250 artists to its home in Cluj–Napoca, Transylvania. Each year, the event themes itself around mythology and fantasy to immerse guests in a unique experience. Coupled with performances, Romanian culture, food, and crafts, the event even achieved an eco-friendly main stage powered by renewable energy. This year, Untold includes a new Fashion Village for Romanian designers and welcomes Swedish House Mafia, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mik, Alok, Purple Disco Machine, Black Coffee, and more.
#4 Ultra Music Festival, USA
On the east coast resides Ultra Music Festival. It turns 25 this year, and what started as a one-day party on Miami Beach in 1999 is now an iconic event housing over 150,000 attendees. Miami is integral to its identity, as the location and view of Biscayne Bay and its city skyline is show-stopping. Stage takeovers like RESISTANCE invite numerous fans of all genres to come party. Lineups often include Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki, and more. It’s even grown to take over the world with locations in Sao Paolo, Croatia, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Sydney, and Buenos Aires.
Its evolution, from a local event to global mainstay in the electronic music calendar, largely unparalleled in its production, makes Ultra more than worthy of its place in [DJ Mag’s] Top 100.
Ria Hylton
#5 Creamfields, UK
Creamfields is the iconic brand of UK clubbing. The Liverpool-based event founded in 1992, started as a one-day festival in 1998. Now, the brand hosts a four-day extravaganza over the Bank Holiday weekend in late August each year. Previous lineups have boasted Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, CamelPhat, Fatboy Slim, and many more to the north side of England. Its biggest strength is compiling a lineup that spans across all genres, even new-school trance, slamming techno bombastic jump-up d&b, new-gen UKG, and Melbourne bounce.
The number of music festivals is surely on the rise, so don’t forget to read about them all. For the remaining events in the top 10 spots, we have:
- #6 Glastonbury Festival UK
- #7 Kappa Futur Festival, Italy
- #8 EXIT Festival, Serbia
- #9 World Club Dome, Germany
- #10 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, USA
Did your event make it to the Top Ten? If not, find your favorite one and see where it ranks on the list!
Source: DJ Mag