The best summer EDM and electronic music festivals of 2027

Summer festival dates for 2027 at a glance.

What are the biggest summer EDM festivals?

The best summer EDM festivals by attendance are in Europe: Tomorrowland in Belgium, Untold in Romania, Creamfields in England and Parookaville in Germany. Of the EDM festivals 2027 brings to Europe, all but Tomorrowland have firm dates. In the US, the summer's large weekends are Beyond Wonderland at the Gorge, Electric Forest and HARD Summer.

Tomorrowland, Belgium

Tomorrowland is held over two weekends in July in a park at Boom, between Antwerp and Brussels, and drew about 400,000 people across both weekends in 2026.

Its main stage is rebuilt every year around a new theme, and it is the one festival on this list that people plan a year in advance and fly in for. Tomorrowland has not announced its 2027 dates yet; it usually does in the winter.

Untold, Romania

Untold fills Cluj Arena and the park around it in Cluj-Napoca, in Transylvania, for four nights. Untold 2027 is on 5 to 8 August. It is the big-stage festival of eastern Europe, built inside a football stadium and the park beside it.

Parookaville, Germany

Parookaville builds a festival town on a former airbase at Weeze, near the Dutch border, and holds about 75,000 people a day. The 2027 edition runs from 16 to 18 July. Most people camp.

Creamfields, England

Creamfields has been held at Daresbury in Cheshire for most of its history and takes around 80,000 people. Creamfields 2027 is on 26 to 29 August, over the bank holiday weekend, which makes it the last big festival of the British summer.

Ultra Europe, Croatia

Ultra Europe is the July edition of the Miami festival, held in Split on 9 to 11 July 2027. People usually combine it with time on the Croatian coast.

Beyond Wonderland at the Gorge, Washington

Insomniac's Beyond Wonderland takes over the Gorge Amphitheatre, a concert venue above the Columbia River in central Washington, on 25 to 27 June 2027, with camping on the site. It is the summer's big-stage weekend in the Pacific Northwest.

Electric Forest, Michigan

Electric Forest is held in the woods at Rothbury, Michigan, and is known as much for the forest itself, lit up at night, as for the stages. The 2026 edition ran from 25 to 28 June. The 2027 dates have not been announced.

HARD Summer, California

HARD Summer is the Los Angeles festival of the season, held at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. In 2026 it ran on 1 and 2 August. The 2027 dates have not been announced.

Defqon.1, the Netherlands

For hard dance, Defqon.1 is held at Biddinghuizen on 24 to 27 June 2027. Its site shows 2027 tickets as sold out.

House and techno in summer.

Some of the best house and techno weekends of the year are in the summer, and none of them is small.

Awakenings, the Netherlands

Awakenings runs its summer festival at Hilvarenbeek, in the south of the Netherlands, on 9 to 11 July 2027. It is a techno festival from the first stage to the last.

Dekmantel, the Netherlands

Dekmantel has held its main weekend in the Amsterdamse Bos, the woodland park on the edge of Amsterdam, since 2013, with the first days in venues around the city. Its booking covers house, techno, disco and the more unusual edges of all three, and its stages are spread out between the trees. Dekmantel 2027 runs from 29 July to 2 August.

Kappa FuturFestival, Italy

Kappa FuturFestival is held in Parco Dora, a park built on old industrial land in Turin. The 2027 edition is on 2 to 4 July, and you sleep in the city.

Sónar, Spain

Sónar has been held in Barcelona since 1994, with a daytime programme and a night programme, and drew about 150,000 people in 2026. Sónar 2027 is on 17 to 19 June, at the very start of the summer.

Elements, Pennsylvania

Elements grew out of the Brooklyn party scene and now holds a camping festival at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It sits between the big US weekends and the underground ones: large names, but a house and techno crowd. Listings give 6 to 8 August 2027; in 2026 it ran from 7 to 9 August.

Underground summer festivals in Europe.

The best-known small festival in Europe is Garbicz, and most of the other summer electronic music festivals in this section get compared to it. What they share is a cap on numbers, a site in the country, camping, long sets and line-ups that matter less than the place.

Garbicz, Poland

Garbicz is held in a forest beside a lake in western Poland, about ninety minutes' drive from Berlin, and a lot of its crowd comes from that city. It was started in 2013 by people from Bar25, Holzmarkt and the Bachstelzen collective, and has grown from about 900 people in its first year to about 11,000, according to its founder Juval Dieziger in 2026. The 2026 edition ran from 30 July to 3 August. Listings give 29 July to 2 August 2027, not yet confirmed by the festival.

NACHTI, Germany

NACHTI, known for most of its history as Nachtdigital, has been held since 1998 at a holiday bungalow village at Olganitz, near Leipzig. It sells about 3,000 tickets. NACHTI 2027 runs from 30 July to 1 August.

Houghton, England

Houghton is held in the grounds of Houghton Hall in Norfolk and curated by the DJ Craig Richards. Since 2017 it has had a licence for music around the clock, so the sets run long and some of the best happen when other festivals have closed. It holds about 10,000 people. Houghton 2027 is on 5 to 8 August.

Field Maneuvers, England

Field Maneuvers is a small camping weekend somewhere in Norfolk. The exact site is sent only to ticket holders. Field Maneuvers 2027 is on 20 to 22 August.

Freerotation, Wales

Freerotation is the hardest festival on this list to get into. It is held at Baskerville Hall in Clyro, just over the Welsh border from Hay-on-Wye, is run by a group around the DJs Steevio and Suzybee, and tickets go only to members. The 2026 edition was on 10 to 12 July. The 2027 dates have not been announced.

Gottwood, Wales

Gottwood is held on the Carreglwyd Estate on Anglesey, in north Wales, and is capped at about 5,000 people. It has been reported for 10 to 13 June 2027, one of the first small festivals of the summer.

Waking Life, Portugal

Waking Life is a gathering of about six days around the summer solstice in the Alentejo countryside near Crato, run by a non-profit association. In 2026 it ran from 16 to 22 June. The 2027 dates have not been announced.

Kala, Albania

Kala takes over the beach at Dhërmi on the Albanian coast for a week, with a ticket that includes a hotel. Kala 2027 runs from 2 to 9 June. It is the choice for a small festival and a beach holiday in one booking.

Underground summer festivals in the US.

The US has fewer of these than Europe, and they are harder to find, because most never advertise outside their own scene. The summer rave festivals below are the ones with a record behind them.

The Great Beyond, Minnesota

The Great Beyond is a techno campout in rural Minnesota, at the Minnesota River Valley Sanctuary and Retreat. It started in 2021 and is run by the DJ Dustin Zahn with Steve and Jasmine Seuling of the Intellephunk collective. In 2026 it ran from 24 to 26 July, with fewer stages and shorter walks between them than before, which the organisers described to Resident Advisor as a tighter, communal experience. The 2027 dates have not been announced.

Tec-Troit, Michigan

Tec-Troit is a free, all-ages festival in Detroit, funded by donations. Raul Rocha, who DJs as DJ Roach, started it in 2011 in a tent in Harmonie Park, and it still books mostly Detroit artists, with workshops alongside the music. It moved from August to June, and in 2026 ran from 26 to 28 June. Listings give 25 to 27 June 2027, not yet confirmed by the festival.

Dirtybird Campout, California

The Dirtybird label's summer camping festival now runs with Northern Nights at Cook's Valley Campground in Piercy, on the Eel River in northern California. It is a house weekend with a sense of humour. Listings give 15 to 18 July 2027, not yet confirmed by the festival.

Bass Coast, just over the border

Bass Coast is in Canada, but it belongs with this group. It is independent and owned by artists, held at Merritt in British Columbia, with five stages and more than 150 artists. Bass Coast 2027 runs from 9 to 12 July. More on it in the guide to Canadian festivals.

Not on this list, and why.

• Desert Hearts, the Californian house and techno campout, took 2026 off and has not said whether it returns in 2027.
• Fusion, in northern Germany, has no 2027 edition. It returns on 28 June to 2 July 2028.
• Movement in Detroit and Lightning in a Bottle in California are both in May, before the summer. See the guide to Movement.
• Burning Man starts at the end of August and runs into September, and is not a music festival in the sense of the rest of this list. See what Burning Man is.
• Deep Tropics in Nashville is held over Labor Day weekend, in September.
• Unknown Perception, the 350-person techno campout in southern California, is listed by Resident Advisor for 16 to 18 April 2027, before the summer.
• Draaimolen in the Netherlands and Meakusma in Belgium are both in September.

How to choose.

If you want the spectacle, Tomorrowland is still the one to see once, and Untold, on firm dates, is the large festival you can book now. In the US, Beyond Wonderland at the Gorge has the best setting of the big weekends.

If you want house and techno, Dekmantel and Awakenings are the two biggest weekends, in July and early August, and Sónar is the city option in June.

If the crowds at the big festivals put you off, the underground lists are where to look. In Europe, Garbicz and NACHTI are the two most people start with; Houghton is for long sets, and Freerotation is for when you know a member. In the US, The Great Beyond is the closest thing to Garbicz, and Tec-Troit is free.

For the wider picture, see the guides to electronic music festivals in Europe, EDM festivals in the US and techno festivals.