The Top 100 Festivals of 2024, as voted by DJ Mag readers

This is the fourth year that DJ Mag has presented the Top 100 Festivals list, and a record-breaking number of votes were recorded in the poll this year.

Top 100 Festivals launched back in 2019, when the poll was voted for by a number of top DJs, before moving a public vote for the first time in 2022. Last year, in 2023, Tomorrowland topped the poll, boasting a brand new stage and the return of its One World Radio station. Below you can find this year’s Top 100 Festivals list.

The festival landscape has faced a tough few years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost of living rising crisis. Over 40 UK festivals cancelled, postponed or permanently dissolved ahead of 2024's season, according to a report from the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF).

The latest numbers from AIF, which represents 202 festivals across the UK, ranging from 500 to 80,000 capacity, show that 172 events have ceased operations completely over the past five years. This includes 96 lost to the pandemic, 36 in 2023, and another 40 so far this year — 21 of which had been called off by late-March. Many more are now thought to be on the cusp of collapse, with analysts warning that unless targeted support is provided up to 100 could bow out by December.

"The speed of festival casualties in 2024 shows no sign of slowing. We are witnessing the steady erosion of one of the UK’s most successful and culturally significant industries not because of a lack of demand from the public but because of unpredictable, unsustainable supply chain costs and market fluctuations,” said AIF CEO John Rostron. "In asking for a temporary reduction in VAT related to ticket sales, we have provided the Government with a considered, targeted and sensible solution, which would save this important sector. We need action now.”

With these challenges, it’s never felt more important or timely to celebrate all that festivals both large and small bring to our lives through their celebration of music, dancing and togetherness. Read DJ Mag's new feature examining some of the issues faced by the festival sector, and some possible solutions being explored, here.

You can find out more information and donate to the 5% For Festivals campaign here, and read the full Top 100 Festivals list below.

Tomorrowland –the Belgian mega-festival that takes place over two weekends in July in the appropriately named town of Boom — stands at the summit of the Top 100 Festivals poll for the fourth time this year. Continually pushing the envelope of production and curation, Tomorrowland also celebrates its 20th anniversary this summer with a stacked line-up of over 800 artists, who play across 15 stages, including the Mainstage, The Rose Garden, Elixir, The Rave Cave and Planaxis. Core, the stage that recently premiered in Tulum, will also feature at Tomorrowland's Belgian festival for the first time.

Tickets for the 2024 Tomorrowland summer festivals — which take place from 19th-21st and 26th-28th July — sold out in under a day when they went on sale in February. Over the two weekends this year the line-up includes Armin van Buuren, Amelie Lens, Bonobo B2B Dixon, ACRAZE, David Guetta, ANNA, Keinemusik, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Solomun B2B Four Tet, Eliza Rose, Swedish House Mafia, and many, many more. Belgian hardstyle DJ Mandy will also perform on the Mainstage for the first time. You can see the full 20th anniversary line-up here.

“Tomorrowland is a passion, a passion of over 200 people working every day to create the magic of Tomorrowland,” Debby Wilmsen, Tomorrowland’s press relations and internal communications lead, explains of the festival. Last year’s Adscendo event saw 400,000 attendees pack out the festivals that hosted over 750 artists across 16 stages. “This year we will celebrate LIFE," Wilmsen adds. "The theme is a prequel of the Spirit of Life from 2016. A brand new Mainstage will be introduced at the Belgian festival, but also other themes will relive and their stories will be told: Melodia, Plananix, etc. Every year we try to offer a broad range of new talents, international top DJs, local artists, new stage hosts, special performances and b2bs. We try to represent all styles and substyles in electronic music.”

Tomorrowland is also furthering its commitment to spotlighting the future of electronic music, in collaboration with the Tomorrowland Academy. Spread over the two festival weekends, seven young talents — aged 9 to 17 years-old — will have the opportunity to perform across different stages at Tomorrowland 2024. “Tomorrowland Academy, which also organises kids and adults bootcamps throughout the year, as well as around the festival, wants to inspire and empower talents from all corners of the globe to produce, release, create and perform music,” says Wilmsen, who perhaps sums up Tomorrowland most perfectly when asked: what is unique about the festival? “The People of Tomorrow: their spirit and their love,” she explains. “Tomorrowland is offering an escape to another world. A unique magical world, especially created and build, where people from all over the world will gather to enjoy music and life.” ROB MCCALLUM

It’s by no accident that EDC Las Vegas has become the largest electronic dance music festival in North America. Since being founded in 1997, and finding its forever home on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011, the neon-drenched festival has set new parameters for what’s possible on the global events circuit. At this year’s festival, EDC welcomed a staggering half a million revellers across three days, enticed by its 230-strong roster of DJs and jaw-dropping stage designs.

There’s no resting on its laurels here though, with promoters Insomniac constantly searching for new ways to improve the EDC experience. In 2024, the entire festival layout was rearranged to “improve crowd flow and comfort”, whilst the bustling Downtown EDC area was given a new centralised location. “Even EDC veterans felt like they were stepping into the festival for the first time,” the festival organisers tell DJ Mag. Additionally, 2024’s bill “showed more love to certain genres than ever before”, from bouncy d&b and psytrance to hard, fast techno. Festival favourites were still in abundance across the programme, including a surprise set from man of the moment, Fred again.., on the circuitGROUND stage, and an exclusive sunset b2b from Green Velvet and John Summit. EDC Las Vegas remains a colourful cornerstone of the global EDM scene as it enters its 13th year. OLIVIA STOCK

Romanian megafest Untold is relatively young compared to some of the top events in this list, holding its first edition in 2015, when its home city Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania was named the European Youth Capital. But what Untold lacks in years, it more than makes up for in everything else. That first festival hosted over 240,000 people over four days and nights, but in 2023, Untold welcomed a whopping 420,000 punters and 250 artists. Each year, the event is based around a new story that combines mythology and fantasy to create an immersive experience, while headline names in 2023 included Martin Garrix, David Guetta, ZHU, Amelie Lens, and Armin van Buuren (the latter is an Untold regular known for his unique performances at the festival; in the past that’s meant epic extended sets, and last year he brought 300 fans on stage).

Outside of the music, Untold celebrates Romanian culture through food and crafts, operates various campaigns such as encouraging blood donation and rewarding high-achieving students with free tickets, and last year implemented a new eco-friendly main stage powered by renewable energy. 2024’s edition will include a new Fashion Village to support Romanian designers, and will welcome superstars like Swedish House Mafia, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Alok, Purple Disco Machine, Black Coffee and Sam Smith. BEN HINDLE

With it's 25th anniversary edition coming up next year, Ultra began life as a one-day event on Miami Beach in 1999, with some 10,000 people in attendance. Since, it has morphed into a global phenomenon with more than 150,000 attendees each year. The Miami setting is a key feature of the festival’s identity — revellers can take in spectacular views of the Biscayne Bay, as well as the city’s stunning skyline, all while lapping up some of the best local nightlife in the US, if not the planet. 

The event’s production value is also key, with stage designs, light shows and state of the art sound systems. And then there are its lineups, which feature the best of that year’s EDM talent; Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki and Tiësto have all graced an Ultra stage over the years.

In 2008 UMF went global, with Ultra Worldwide editions in major cities across the world — the festival has held events in São Paulo, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Sydney, Buenos Aires, and many more, fostering an international community of Ultra lovers.

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 our top 100. RIA HYLTON

Cream is one of the most iconic brands in UK clubbing, started in Liverpool in 1992 by promoters James Barton, Darren Hughes and Andy Carroll. In 1998, Cream hosted a one-day festival — Creamfields — and the rest is history. The brand is now owned by events behemoth Live Nation, and the flagship UK edition, Creamfields North, has become a four-day extravaganza held over the Bank Holiday weekend in late August. Pick a superstar DJ name at random and it’s more than likely they’re playing, or have played, Creamfields. In 2023, the site in Warrington, in the north of England, welcomed Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, Andy C, Tiësto, CamelPhat, Becky Hill, Bou, Mochakk, Fatboy Slim, Adam Beyer, Jamie Jones, Chase & Status, Peggy Gou... you get the idea.

One of Creamfields’ biggest strengths is bringing the biggest names from such a wide range of genres. The 2024 event, for example, will see new-school trancer Ben Hemsley, slamming techno from Azyr, hardstyle legends D-Block & S-te-Fan, East End Dubs’ rolling minimal tech-house, Mozey’s bombastic jump-up d&b, new-gen UKG star Sammy Virji, and Will Sparks’ electrifying Melbourne bounce, among many more DJs and sounds. BEN HINDLE

Glastonbury has established itself as a British festival institution since first taking place in 1970, growing into a five-day festival that sees over 200,000 people flock to Worthy Farm near Pilton in Somerset following summer solstice every June. While Glastonbury’s biggest stages are topped by acts including Dua Lipa, Coldplay, SZA, Idles, and The National, this year, the festival — which raises millions of pounds for charity organisations annually — has a history entwined with dance music since the arrival of free party sound systems in the late ’80s. When Orbital played the NME Stage — Glastonbury's second biggest stage, now named the Other Stage — in 1994, it was deemed a pivotal moment in dance music crossing over into the mainstream.

The festival introduced its Dance Village in 1997, which has now morphed into Glastonbury’s Silver Hayes area, and while its main stages have seen a huge influx in electronic music over the years, the number of dedicated and dance-focused stages and areas has also continued to expand. Block9, the temporary queer autonomous zone which we once dubbed “the festival world’s wildest clubbing space”, after-hours favourite Shangri-La, Arcadia — whose fire-breathing spider will be replaced by a giant dragonfly this year — The Glade, The Common, Babylon Uprising, Stonebridge Bar, and many more all host a dizzying number of DJs and artists over the weekend.

A variety of high-profile names from the electronic music world have been confirmed for Glastonbury 2024. These include Orbital, Disclosure, LCD Soundsystem, Nia Archives, Peggy Gou, Eliza Rose, Honey Dijon, Nitin Sawhney, Justice, Barry Can't Swim, James Blake, Jamie XX, Ghetts, Headie One, and Bonobo. Faithless — who will be making their return to the live arena this summer following the passing of Maxi Jazz in December 2022 — will also perform. Emily Eavis has suggested that the festival will be taking a fallow year in 2026, meaning those that missed out on tickets this year are in with a chance of heading to Worthy Farm in 2025. ROB MCCALLUM

Founded on the centenary of Italian Futurism, a cultural movement that apotheosized modernity, Kappa Futur has become a beacon for electronic music lovers worldwide. In its biggest year, the festival attracted more than 90,000 attendees from 118 countries to its Turin location, a testament to its highly select line-ups, which pair global artists with up and coming local talent. Past performers include Carl Cox, Charlotte de Witte, Vintage Culture and Amelie Lens, while this year the likes of Mochakk, CARISTA, LP GIOBBI and Aurora Halal will grace one of the festival’s five main stages.

Outside of musical offerings, Kappa Futur is known for its art installations, seminars and workshops — and organisers are still finding new ways to improve on the festival experience. “We have enhanced the customer experience at the festival by eliminating queues at top-up and bar stations, expanding our food offerings, and adding VIP zones,” Kappa Futur marketing manager Stefano Dalla Villa tells DJ Mag. “We’ve also upgraded our technology — ticketing is now integrated with the cashless payment system used at KFF, and our official app is now available.”

This year also promises more immersive experiences, with interactive art installations and new sustainability measures promised, reaffirming the festival’s commitment to the environment. RIA HYLTON

Sunrise sets in the bowels of EXIT Festival’s vast Dance Arena are the stuff of legend. But this award-winning Serbian event is so much more besides. Beginning life as a student protest in 2000, EXIT has become a true destination festival, returning each year to its home in the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, on the banks of the River Danube. There are too many iconic moments from the festival’s history to mention, but 2023 added a performance by The Prodigy — a group with a long relationship with EXIT, who made an emotional return to the main stage — Dance Arena sets by Keinemusik, Amelie Lens, Indira Paganotto and Nina Kraviz, and Eric Prydz first appearance in a decade to the list.

Activism is still a core part of the EXIT ethos; the festival has worked closely with organisations such as the UN World Food Programme and UNICEF, and has recently been combatting digital addiction and mental health issues among young people with its Life Is Live campaign. In July, EXIT will welcome DJs including Carl Cox, Bonobo, Black Coffee, Sama' Abdulhadi, Barry Can’t Swim, and Sara Landry, but its always stylistically diverse programme will also include Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, trap icon Gucci Mane, The Black Eyed Peas, Kenya Grace, and more. BEN HINDLE

Held at the Deutsche Bank Park stadium in Frankfurt, World Club Dome is often pitched as the biggest club in the world — and it’s not hard to see why; the venue’s 700,000 square metres boasts 25 stages and attracts some 180,000 attendees across the festival’s three days, housing trance, techno, hardcore, hip-hop, future bass and minimal lovers all under one roof. 

This colossal club, however, has a lot more going for it than just size. Its production value, with state of the art sound systems, pyrotechnics and stunning lighting shows, provides a sensory experience hard to find at most festivals. This approach has served the festival well, which is why it continues to land so high in DJ Mag’s Top 100 Festivals.

World Club Dome has expanded its offering in recent years, holding events in South Korea, Malta, and even a cruise edition with dates across Sète, Barcelona and Ibiza, fostering a global community among dance music fans. This September it will hold its Future Edition, honing in on heady, forward-facing music, and putting up star headliners like David Guetta, Steve Aoki, James Hype and 3 Are Legend. RIA HYLTON

Celebrating 25 years since its debut in California this year, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has held a reputation as one of the very finest festivals to attend in the US, ever since its very first edition in 1999, which featured the likes of Autechre, Beck, Underworld and The Chemical Brothers. This year, despite slow-moving ticket sales and technical difficulties across its two weekends, Coachella continued to prove itself as one of the world’s best high-end festival destinations, welcoming 125,000 visitors to its home at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Dance music offerings came from the likes of ANOTR, BLOND:ISH, Mall Grab, Miss Monique, Skin On Skin and Cloonee, as well as Charlotte de Witte, Eric Prydz, Patrick Mason, and many more.

In another highlight from this year, while headliners Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, Doja Cat, and No Doubt entertained the more pop-leaning crowds with spectacular live performances and epic production, one of electronic music’s favourite headliners, Solid Grooves founder Michael Bibi, marked his first official show back after receiving the all clear from cancer. This year’s Coachella was unique for a lot of reasons, and we’re looking forward to seeing its next evolution in 2025. AMY FIELDING

Fuelled by its mission to “welcome the world’s top DJs to Indian shores” and “showcase the country as a premier destination for dance festivals,” Goa’s Sunburn has become a jewel in the annual festival calendar. Taking place each December in the coastal town of Vagator, North Goa, the four-day event boasts superstar line-ups, featuring both global electronic names and homegrown talent, alongside colourful, conceptual stage design. The festival’s forthcoming 15th edition will sport an underwater theme — dubbed “aquatic wonderland” — stretching across its five stages, and aimed at “encouraging creativity and participation among festival-goers.” OLIVIA STOCK

AMF is the biggest show at October’s annual Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), bringing 40,000 people to the Johan Cruijff ArenA. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023; over that time, it’s been a haven for EDM, and hosted DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs awards for most of its history. Alongside staples like Armin van Buuren, Afrojack, and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, AMF 2023 was about “setting the stage for the next 10 years,” we’re told. This meant bringing in new-gen artists like Charlotte de Witte, James Hype and Meduza — a theme that’ll continue in 2024 with the announcement of Tita Lau and Marlon Hoffstadt, joining Martin Garrix, Tiësto, Timmy Trumpet and more. BEN HINDLE

When it comes to festivals, it doesn’t get more fantastical than Parookaville. Founded in 2015, the three-day event is set in a fictional city where attendees become Parookaville ‘citizens’, taking part in the annual commemoration of Bill Parooke, the fictional town founder and mayor.

Every July, extravagant stage designs are plotted throughout the festival — held at Weeze Airport in west Germany — with Bill Parooka’s metal statue set in the city centre. The town even boasts its own newspaper, The Parookaville Post, and a church where citizens can even tie the knot. We’re getting FOMO just thinking about it. RIA HYLTON

The brainchild of hard dance behemoth Q-dance, Defqon.1 has been running since 2003 and is primarily focused on hardstyle and its numerous offshoots. Hundreds of DJs play across the long weekend each June, with 2023 boasting the likes of Headhunterz, Miss K8, Sub Zero Project, D-Block & S-te-Fan, euphoric masters Brennan Heart and Wildstylez, and rawstyle don Warface to name just a few. The main festival takes place in Biddinghuizen in the Netherlands, but international editions have previously been held in Australia and Chile too. 2024 looks set to rattle ribcages once again, with masked hardcore techno icon Angerfist headlining alongside names like D-Sturb, Deadly Guns and Da Tweekaz. BEN HINDLE

A firm favourite in the north of England, this year’s very wet edition of Parklife was splashed all over social media. But revellers were not deterred by the weather for another round of festivities at Manchester’s Heaton Park. Now in its 14th year, the festival — founded by the city’s Night Time Economy Advisor Sacha Lord — hosts 80,000 people during its June weekender. With huge headline slots from the likes of Kaytranda, Disclosure, and Becky Hill, alongside smaller stages with firm underground dance favourites like ANOTR, Barry Can’t Swim, Jyoty, TSHA, Interplanetary Criminal b2b Sammy Virji, salute and Nia Archives, Parklife holds its Top 20 spot in DJ Mag’s Top 100 Festivals poll for a reason — all the people love it, rain or shine. AMY FIELDING

Mannheim’s legendary Time Warp is about to enter its 30th year — a lifetime in electronic music — and, considering how difficult it’s been for most festivals of late, this fact alone is worthy of praise. Right from the start, the annual event has been a place of musical education; as house and techno began to spread across Europe, Time Warp was there to platform what would become future legends, as well as identify emerging talent. This history adds a layer of depth to the festival, making it a must-see for those looking to connect with cultural roots in the scene. RIA HYLTON

Originally founded as a means of preserving Barcelona’s cultural programme after the 1994 Olympics, Sónar has since grown into one of the world’s leading festivals of electronic music, art and technological innovation. Divided across two distinct programmes — Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night — the three-day Spanish festival offers a world of discovery, from boundary-pushing workshops, panels, and interactive installations, to cutting-edge live shows and DJ sets. “What makes Sónar unique is how we combine so many different things in the same festival,” Miquel Trullols, head of comms and marketing, explains, “we’re proud to be the venue where the underground and the mainstream meet, and where local and international converge.” OLIVIA STOCK

For six days in August every year, Budapest’s Óbuda island becomes a utopia of music, magic and revelry for nearly half a million people to enjoy. The occasion is Sziget Festival, a genre-expansive showcase of global music culture founded in 1993, set to celebrate its 30th anniversary edition this coming summer. Boasting what it describes as a “360° cultural program”, Sziget brings together heavyweights from the electronic music world (last year’s event boasted Fred again.. and Four Tet) amidst a diverse bill of pop, indie, rock and more. The festival is also home to the Yettel Colosseum – “one of Europe’s most unique electronic music venues” – which serves as the hub of alternative dance music at Sziget. OLIVIA STOCK

Awakenings Festival is the biggest summer date from the collective that have run techno parties in the Netherlands since 1997, including its much-loved annual visit to Gashouder during Amsterdam Dance Event, and the all-new Upclose festival, described as an "intimate, dancefloor oriented" experience. The Awakenings summer festival, which takes place on a site near Hilvarenbeek in the south of the Netherlands, amps up the production the collective are known for to light up nine incredible areas, delivering a feast for the senses with a barrage of high-end sound and lasers.

"Awakenings has been a bucket list experience for the true techno fanatic for over 27 years already," says Shannon Schrader, Awakenings head of PR and communications. The summer festival presents a selection of techno’s biggest names, with Amelie Lens, ANNA, Adam Beyer, SPFDJ, Deborah De Luca, Anfisa Letyago, Richie Hawtin, Joseph Capriati, Helena Hauff, Indira Paganotto, and many more all set to spin the 2024 edition in July. "Shout out to our techno family!" Schrader adds. "It’s been an honor having you on our dance floor and behind our decks for 27 years already." ROB MCCALLUM

Taking place at the Parc del Fòrum on the seafront in Barcelona, Spain, Primavera recently celebrated its 20th anniversary after starting in 2001 as a one-day "showcase for Spanish noise bands" at the city’s Poble Espanyol. Primavera, the Spanish word for spring, has since grown into an annual showcase of the biggest names in alternative music and, although there is still a strong representation of noise and adjacent sounds, over time there has been an huge expansion into electronic and dance music. In 2024, Justice, Peggy Gou, Jai Paul, Arca, Barry Can't Swim, Mount Kimbie, Charli XCX and Romy, ANOTR and Mochakk all featured on the line-up. ROB MCCALLUM