Dance Dates: 2024's Club Festivals

Queen's Park Spring Weekender
Queen’s Park Recreation Ground, Glasgow, Scotland, 4-5 May
All roads head to the southside for Melting Pot and Optimo's Queen's Park Spring Weekender, as dance acts ESG and Aba Shanti-I touch down for live performances in the Big Top Tent, joined by DJ sets from Todd Terje, Joy Orbison, and Glasgow’s Ribeka, across two days in Queen’s Park. meltingpotglasgow.com 

Riverside Festival
Riverside Museum, Glasgow, Scotland, 25-26 May
Riverside returns to the transport and technology museum for two days of techno, house and high production across four stages on the Clyde’s waterfront, consisting of local legends Slam (Live), Frankie Elyse B2B Van Damn and TAAHLIAH, together with international highflyers Dax J, Green Velvet, and Eliza Rose. riversidefestivalglasgow.com

Riverside Festival. Image: Tim Craig.

Watching Trees
Location sent to ticketholders, Wiltshire, England, 1-2 Jun
Dance music royalty Optimo and Ransom Note join forces in sharing their musical odyssey of bands, DJs, and live acts with 500 ticketholders. Rent a tent, bring your own, or go without for a 24-hour sonic ramble in the North Wiltshire countryside. Not to be slept on. watchingtrees.com

Gottwood
Carreglwyd Estate, Anglesey, Wales, 13-16 Jun
The mystical little party hidden in the middle of the woods that is Gottwood welcomes a plethora of DJs, including Ploy, Peach, Red Axes, Mia Koden, and many more to Wales for four days of underground electronic music. gottwood.co.uk

Gottwood. Image courtesy of the festival.

PLTFRM
West Street, Glasgow, Scotland, 29-30 Jun
Fresh off a rebrand, PLFTRM – now under the reigns of techno heavyweight Fraz.ier – stops at West Street for two days, hosting Estella Boersma, Chlär, and Narciss, alongside Farnaz, Domenic Cappello, and E.DN underneath Paisley’s railway bridge. instagram.com/pltfrm.fstvl

Big Smoke Festival
Crystal Palace Park, London, England, 6 Jul
Skepta presents a two-stage, one-day festival, with live performances from The Streets, K Trap, and Lancey Foux, alongside DJ sets from Más Tiempo – his latest tech house endeavour with Jammer – and friends. bigsmokefest.london

Love International
The Garden, Tisno, Croatia, 10-16 Jul
Witness an impressively exhaustive lineup of carefully curated underground dance music DJs from around the globe at Tisno’s Garden resort over six days of certified fun. Notable billings include Batu B2B Leon Vynehall, Eris Drew B2B Octo Octa, Ron Morelli, Avalon Emerson, and Scotland’s 12th Isle. loveinternationalfestival.com

Reggae Land Festival
The National Bowl, Milton Keynes, England, 3-4 Aug
For dub and dancehall lovers, see Burning Spear, Shabba Ranks, and Dawn Penn, amidst the sounds of King Tubby’s, Mount Sinai’s, and Mungo’s Hi Fi’s systems at the UK’s largest Reggae celebration. Grab some memorabilia at the on-site flea market or refreshments from the Caribbean food village. reggaeland.co.uk

Field Maneuvers
Secret Location, Norfolk, England, 16-18 Aug
An intimate no-frills rave. Despite the lineup yet to be announced, you can categorically count on excellent DJs playing excellent sound systems to an excellent crowd. Be sure to celebrate the tenth anniversary and final year in its current form before downsizing from 2025 onwards. fieldmaneuvers.com

Field Maneuvers. Image: Khris Cowley.

We Out Here
Wimborne St Giles, Dorset, England, 15-18 Aug
Gilles Peterson curates four days of jazz, hip-hop, electronica and everything in between, presenting DJ sets from the likes of KODE9 B2B Sherelle and Nick León, together with live performances from André 3000, Mount Kimbie, Floating Points, and Scotland’s own corto.alto. weoutherefestival.com