August came and went with lots of awesome music events (and some that are still going on). September will be packed with lots of open-air events too. So what is going on on the EDM festival front in September? Here is a list of our favorite festivals, starting with Electric Zoo (yeah, we are a little bit partial to NY events)
Electric Zoo is, well, around the corner. The 2-day festival is kicking off tomorrow on Saturday 4, at Randall Island’s Park, NYC with the Chemical Brothers and Benny Benassi on the main stage. Among the 70+ artists filling the ranks are Richie Hawtin, John Digweed, Armin van Buuren, Moby and Fedde La Grande. In our vice, only in its second year, Electric Zoo is well on its way to establish itself as one of the best electronic music festivals in the US.
Sonar Chicago (Chicago, Sept 9)
Officially described as a festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art, Barcelona-born and bred Sonar has become an international enterprise. The festival has got 17 consecutive years of success under its belt and has recently started expanding aggressively in the US. Their first gig in Chicago is scheduled for Sept 10 and features diverse acts such as Kid Koala, Ben Frost, Appleblim, and La Chambre des machines | Martin Messier + Nicolas Bernier. Focused on the bleeding edge in art and music, Sonar has got more to offer than electronic music so make sure to check out the whole program here.
Virgin Mobile Festival (Columbia, MD Sept 25)
The Free Fest (because it is free!) will take place in Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland on Sept 25. First off, it is free. Second, it is not necessarily an Electronic Music festival but the growing popularity of EDM is somewhat acknowledged with a electronic music-only program in “Dance Forest” (thanks Richard!, very generous of you). Chromeo, Sharam, Brooklyn’s Neon Indian among others will entertain those in attendance.
Stop Making Sense Festival (Petrčane, Crotia, Sept 3-5)
Moving over to Europe, those who are lucky enough to spend the Labor Day on the beautiful Croatian Mediterranean coastline, we got good news for you: You can enjoy “3 days of anarchy by the sea”. While lacking an all-star line up and a long history, SMS offers a good selection of live acts and DJs in Carl Craig, Theo Parrish, Matias Aguayo and Django Django.
San Francisco Electronic Music Festival (San Francisco, Sept 9-11)
Coming back to the stateside, the always-serious 11th annual San Francisco electronic music festival will be held from 9-11 Sept. The artist-run organization focuses on the experimental acts that push the borders of the electronic sound and this year features Ben Bracken, Carolinar, Pod Blotz and others. SFEMF is not your average dance-till-you-drop party but offers a good opportunity to stay abreast of what’s happening on the cutting “sonic” edge and meet with like-minded independent artists.
Bestival (Isle of Wight, UK, Sept 9 -12)
The last but not the least, the UK festival Bestival, which is on its fourth year this year, is absolutely sick. It will be held in Isle of Wight, UK from September 9th – 12th. 2009 The Best Medium Sized Festival of the year winner (whatever that means) Bestival’s 2010 lineup is so packed that it is futile to try to highlight some musicians over the others. Tickets are sold out already. We promise to give a little bit more lead time next year!
That’s all from the festival front for now. Will be back in touch in a week or two for the October calendar, which will be accompanied with an exciting Gigsby announcement so stay tuned.
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Tags: best electronic music festivals, electric zoo, Electronic Music, electronic music festival, kid koala, matias aguayo, sonar chicago, stop making sense festival, virgin mobile festival