Malik Peay
Malik Peay
EDC 2026 celebrated its 30th anniversary by setting up over 15 dynamic stages for legendary and new-age EDM artists to perform on a grand scale.
Shot by Orhun Uygur
EDC is known for being a producer-forward music festival. The Las Vegas festival grounds are where you can see dance music legends like Kaskade and Tiesto throw down for an electrifying weekend. EDC promotes nocturnal habits where festival-goers enter the Las Vegas Motor Speedway late at night and leave way past sunrise. The stages are immersively psychedelic and futuristic yet innovative at the same time. EDC is celebrating its 30th anniversary in a grandiose way underneath the electric sky, where fireworks paint light into the night. Historic b2bs are a massive part of EDC’s 30th installment, where DJs and producers can interact and mix their discographies together for heightened moments full of accelerated BPMs and dreamy memories.
For Canadian melodic dubstep pioneers, Adventure Club, the duo celebrated a throwback-style set on the racetracks. They are on track to release their new EP, CALLING ALL HEROES II, on May 29. “For the most part, this EP was really just being true to ourselves on every record,” the duo tells me. “Being completely unbothered or pressured to conform to trending sounds or algorithms. Just sitting down and making music for the love of making music and a return to sounds and creative processes that we used at the beginning of our musical journey.”
The dubstep pair recalls when their manager surprised them with gifted iPhones for their first EDC set announcement and really believes the music festival is the most impactful stage they have ever taken on together. Adventure Club commends EDC and “Insomniac for [taking a chance] on us and the fans that stayed up till 5 a.m. to watch” their first performance in 2012. “It just always feels like coming home… The one weekend where fans, artists, industry, and everyone in between just collectively agrees to put everything aside and just be one with each other and create the best environment to showcase and express the art that we all love to consume.”
Netherlands-bred legend and veteran Tiesto debuted his new track with Olivia Sebastianelli, “Don’t Lose Your Head” at the circuitGROUNDS. Tiesto’s new era of music marks a segue into familiar territory for the DJ who is known for developing global hits. This year, you could have caught GRiZ and Wooli intertwining their high-energy bass music at the kineticFIELD stage. Many surprises are surely followed suit as FISHER and Martin Garrix wereslated to take the same stage. The cosmicMEADOW stage showcased performances by San Holo, Seven Lions, and Underworld. HARD hosted a night on day 2 with The Prodigy. With a total of 16 stages, EDC returned bigger than ever with more surprises and a slate of new-age DJs performing with fabled producers.
CircuitGROUNDS had Chris Stussy and Tiesto performing amongst a lineup of phenomenal EDM artists: Joseph Capriati, Eli Brown, Indira Paganotto, Klangkuenstler, Prospa, and Peggy Gou. Insomniac transformed Las Vegas into an EDM playground where the dance community could come together to unify in a world where many feel divided. Whether it be bass, trance, dubstep, or house, EDC 2026 proved to be a life-changing event. Over 200 global electronic artists flocked to the overnight music festival to showcase that dance music is having a major renaissance. The world of electronic music is expanding more than ever as household names and newcomers come together to bring community and dance to Las Vegas.