FVDED 2026 Review: Still Dancing Through the Next Era

By Ryan Hayes

A New Era, A Different Perspective

When the lineup was initially announced, we declared FVDED 2026 the beginning of a bold new era for the festival. Having now experienced the weekend in full, I can confidently say it delivered. It was a stronger, more evenly curated festival experience, with exciting artists and memorable moments scattered throughout the depth of the lineup.

But experiencing a festival at this stage of life comes with a different set of considerations. The excitement remains unchanged, the curiosity perhaps even stronger, but the body keeps a very different score.

All photos by Ryan Hayes

After pushing through more than fourteen hours of music, one of the biggest adjustments this year was the additional 3,000 attendees. Raising the daily capacity to 27,000 made the mainstage onslaught feel untenable after 7 p.m. Maybe it’s my old knees, the fading energy of youth long past—but I stood in the thick of Kx5 in 2024 and Subtronics in 2025, and the sea of bodies never felt quite this crushing.

From that perspective, VIP has become a necessity for any aging raver looking to attend FVDED’s annual Neverland experience. Escaping the doldrums of responsibility comes at a cost, and VIP is the gatekeeper to a successful weekend.

Not only does it grant access to a palatial raised viewing platform overlooking the mainstage, complete with dedicated food trucks and washrooms, but the VIP areas at both the Forest Stage and Northwest Tent are functionally on stage, providing a priceless vantage point where you truly feel immersed in the music and energy alongside the artists.

The Forest Stage: FVDED’s Hidden Crown Jewel

While the mainstage was timestamped with an expiration and the Northwest Tent frequently overflowed into a zone where bass from multiple stages blended together, the Forest Stage remained resolute. Over the last two years it has emerged as the king of the festival, boasting the most dialed-in programming, immaculate artist flow, stellar atmosphere, and the most welcoming—least cramped—crowds.

Champion (photo by Ryan Hayes)

The day one run of Champion, OMNOM, and MPH was the festival’s finest stretch of cohesive, wildly talented programming. Champion drew a crowd early for his first Vancouver appearance, with high spirits and infectious energy from the outset. OMNOM followed with a groove-first set built on chunky, low-slung basslines that prized rhythm above all else. MPH then brought it all home, cranking up the BPM and emphasizing relentless propulsion as he delivered his take on UK garage.

Day One: Legacy Meets the Next Wave

Outside of the Forest Stage, the mainstage still offered two major standouts on day one. After a two-year hiatus, GRiZ returned with an assertive sense of confidence, perfectly blending bass and soul. If his summer 2026 festival run was meant to serve as both a proving ground and springboard into the next era of his career, he absolutely crushed it. The set was wild, charismatic, and just funky enough to distinguish itself from the rest of the bass scene. On a personal note, I’ll always have a lingering preference for the more laid-back, funk-forward, jam-heavy version of GRiZ—but I understand there’s a time and place for both.

FISHER closed out night one, and heading into the set he was working from a deficit. I was exhausted, sore from hours of wandering the grounds, and honestly ready to call it a night. The personal hype just wasn’t there. I told myself I’d give him fifteen minutes—I stayed for the entire set.

In the four years since I last saw FISHER, he has fully honed the raw personality and relentlessly playful energy that make him a true festival headliner. After FVDED, I’m convinced he has become the face of modern festival house. By stripping the genre down to its most infectious ingredients—swaggering basslines, cheeky vocal hooks, and perfectly timed drops—he has mastered crowd phycology and distilled it into a signature blueprint that transforms a field of strangers into one massive communal celebration. It was just fun, and for an hour and a half I completely forgot I was coming unglued.

Day Two: Discovery Pays the Biggest Dividends

Breaking the seal on day two seemed, frankly, impossible…but that’s the unspoken contract of festival weekends: your body may be begging for mercy, but the music doesn’t care. Take the Advil, consume the caffeine, hydrate aggressively, refuel, and dive back into the depths of wobbles and synths with the reckless optimism of someone convinced they can absolutely do this again.

It may seem like the obvious choice, but the battle was real, and in hindsight—always worth it. Day two was less even keeled than day one but it brought higher individual moments, including my favourite set of the weekend.

Effin took my number one spot this year. Front to back, no notes. Slow waves of bass washed over the Forest Stage as he guided us on a carefully constructed journey through the heavier side of electronic music. A collision of heavy drops and intricate production, his set was one-part modern bass, one-part dreamy cerebral whimsy. The sun was out, my energy was at its peak, and Effin effortlessly punched a hole through the monotony that can creep into bass music’s sound design.

From there, it was off to the Northwest Tent, which was wildly overflowing for both Odd Mob and BUNT. While I’d always appreciated the occasional Odd Mob production, FVDED solidified him as a force to be reckoned with. His set was fluid, blurring the line between multiple genres—refreshingly unpredictable, and always groove-forward.

BUNT. took over the tent immediately afterward, and to say his charisma could hold down an arena would be an understatement. His stage presence was beyond infectious, oozing pure joy and an unmistakable zest for life. It was impossible not to get caught up in his set. Along with Effin, BUNT. is my biggest permanent playlist addition after this year’s festival.

The Next Generation Takes the Stage

As with day one, the mainstage was my least frequented, with Oppidan and Dom Dolla being the only artists I truly experienced there. Oppidan’s consummate mixing and track selection were second to none, reinforcing one of my biggest takeaways from the weekend: come early. I didn’t get to see enough of her set—the aforementioned near failure to launch—but the extra space at the mainstage and the greater opportunity for discovery make arriving early essential.

Dom Dolla closed the festival and delivered a proper house thrashing. No gimmicks, no unnecessary theatrics—just expertly paced dancefloor energy, and relentless grooves from start to finish. Unfortunately his set also came with my biggest festival regret: not seeing more of Levity B2B Wooli. But the fact that I never seriously considered leaving is a testament to the quality of what Dom was building.

More than anything, he seemed genuinely taken aback by the size and energy of the crowd. It didn't feel rehearsed or obligatory—it felt authentic. That connection translated directly into the performance. Armed with an arsenal of originals and remixes now stretching back nearly a decade, Dom Dolla has firmly stepped into the role of modern EDM headliner. He's emblematic of a new generation finally taking the mantle, ensuring dance music continues to evolve without losing sight of what makes thousands of strangers want to move together in the first place.

Still Dancing

For a festival built around the idea of a new era, that might have been the most fitting conclusion. The names may change, the sound may evolve, and the knees may get a little worse—but the feeling remains exactly the same. FVDED 2026 wasn’t about recreating a golden age; it was about proving one might still be unfolding. Trust the curation, embrace discovery, and let the next wave prove why they belong.

Osheaga's Electronic Field Guide 2026

By Ryan Hayes

For dance music fans with eclectic tastes and an ear for discovery, Osheaga is less than two months away and loaded with a genre-blurring lineup that stretches from bubbling Canadian talent to globally recognized superstars. Beyond the marquee names like Twenty-One Pilots, Tate McRae, and Lorde lies a deep roster of electronic acts and dance-adjacent artists that offer more than enough value to justify the price of admission. Whether you're chasing your next favourite artist or looking to step outside your comfort zone, Osheaga remains one of the best festivals in North America for musical exploration. Dive in with us and let the process of discovery begin. It is sure to be a weekend you won’t soon forget.

Day 1:

Amelie Lens lands at the top of our list to start your weekend off right. Recently she has become one of techno's defining figures, and it’s for good reason. Blending relentless energy with a hypnotic precision that blurs the line between trance she that keeps her audiences dialed in from start to finish—and we promise you will walk away a fan.

While not as commercial MPH represents the new generation of UK garage, delivering punchy basslines, infectious vocal hooks, and nonstop momentum. Currently his style of production is experiencing a massive resurgence across clubs and festivals worldwide. If you aren’t already familiar with his work, dive in and dig around—it will surely reward your curiosity. This booking pushes beyond bland, North America–centric festival norms and represents Osheaga’s holistic booking philosophy.

Canadian based Bob Moses occupy a unique space between indie & electronic music. Their live sets pair instrumentation with deep grooves and emotionally charged songwriting. Its authentic, infectious and personal while still perfectly attune to a festival stage.

Day 2:

For us KETTAMA tops day two. His sound is hard to pin-down but it fused old-school rave sensibilities with modern house and just a splash of techno. His diverse array of influences ensure his sets feel raw, euphoric, and unpredictable—perfectly capturing the spirit of today's underground explosion.

Odd Mob represents rising a new era of rapidly rising talent with a sound that is global & diverse. He has cut his teeth with a flurry of sets and proven he is built to handle dense crowds at high-energy stages.

It's Murph has quickly emerged as a festival favourite thanks to his blend of euphoric melodies, gritty basslines, and expansive soundscapes. Pulling from tech house, bass music, and melodic dance influences, his productions strike a sweet spot between emotional depth and crowd-moving energy, making him a perfect soundtrack for sunset sets and peak summer memories.

Day 3:

Subtronics reigns supreme on day 3. Hot off of setting attendance records for his sets at EDC Vegas & Coachella Subtronics is leading a bass music renaissance with a magnitude not felt in over a decade. His set promises to be an hour of absolute madness. The key ingredient is his ability to blend accessible mainstream anthems with thundering abrasive originals and VIPS, all chopped up and mixed at breakneck pace.

SG Lewis will shine as an accessible electronic act. He effortlessly blurs the line between electronic music and modern pop, weaving together house, disco, funk, and soulful R&B influences into a sound anchored in infectious grooves & lush synth work.

Bambii brings the focus back home. As a rising Canadian talent she has built a sound that pulls from dancehall, jungle, UK bass, & hip-hop. Expect a creative-vibrant, genre-defying set.

EDM Adjacent:

While not traditional electronic acts, The xx, Empire of the Sun, and Zara Larsson all share strong ties to dance music culture. From The xx's influential production style to Empire of the Sun's synth-driven anthems and Zara Larsson's dance-pop crossover hits, each offers dance music fans a familiar entry point beyond the genre's traditional boundaries.

At its core, Osheaga succeeds because it refuses to be confined by genre, making it a festival built for EDM fans with a wide breadth of musical sensibilities. Whether you're diving headfirst into techno with Amelie Lens, exploring the resurgence of UK garage through MPH, embracing the bass-fuelled chaos of Subtronics, or stumbling upon your next obsession somewhere deeper on the bill, the opportunities for discovery are endless. The headliners may sell the tickets, but it's the depth, diversity, and unexpected moments that will define the weekend. Come curious, stay open-minded, and let the music do the rest.

VELD 2026: Built to Endure

By Ryan Hayes

For its thirteenth outing, VELD is throwing its weight around as an established mainstream cornerstone of the Canadian EDM festival circuit. With 50 acts, this year’s lineup is engineered to satisfy as many fandoms as possible. The headliners are all proven, the genre coverage is wide, and the event is clearly focused on instant artist recognition and scale. There’s no boutique play here, no attempt to break new ground—but in an age of rising costs and festival insecurity, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

VELD 2026 aims to deliver a reliable, massive weekend resting on the shoulders of dance music titans and reinforced by accessible bass. And honestly, that’s a valid mission statement in a market that increasingly craves communal escapism.

This year’s curation leans heavily on high energy acts, with a somewhat unexpected reliance on trance. Whether pure and classic (Armin & Above & Beyond), trance-inspired progressive (Artbat, KX5, Miss Monique), or refracted through a techno lens (Charlotte de Witte and Sara Landry), trance is one of VELD 2026’s defining through-lines. It’s less about genre purity and more about emotional resonance. VELD’s programming prioritizes spectacle, emotional peaks, and big-room, all-in moments.

Beyond traditional mainstage euphoria, there’s a clear secondary focus on the rising mainstream power of bass. Subtronics, Slander, Illenium, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Crankdat, Levity, Ray Volpe, and others bring chaotic torrents of peak-time energy designed to keep massive crowds fully engaged.

House music is represented but downplayed—offering just enough star power to ensnare house heads and convince them the lineup is worth their time. Here, big names like Fisher, Disco Lines, and Mau P carry the genre. There’s also a smattering of more EDM-leaning acts set to deliver a flavor of digestible mainstream, house-adjacent sets: Galantis, Frank Walker, & Lost Frequencies.

Although the lineup is light on them, if you’re hungry for the unknown—underground-adjacent artists you can claim as your personal 2026 discoveries—make sure to catch ¥ØU$UK€ ¥€, Panteros666, and Effin. While the three share little sonically, these are your “avoid autopilot” choices: the sets most likely to feel like discovery rather than consumption. Two additional standouts—less underground and more under-commercialized—are Lilly Palmer and Genesi. You’ll likely recognize a few of their productions; at the very least, their styles will be familiar, and they’re both primed to deliver.

Ultimately, VELD 2026 knows exactly what it is—and executes that vision with confidence. It’s a festival built on familiarity and emotional long-term fan payoff, designed to deliver a massive weekend for a broad audience rather than challenge it. Guaranteed escapism.

This year, VELD doesn’t redefine anything—but that isn’t the mission statement of every festival, nor should it be. What this lineup does accomplish is firmly securing the festival’s place as one of Canada’s most dependable—and consistently attractive—pillars within a dwindling festival landscape.

FVDED 2025: The Old Guard Reigns, But Subtronics Is Everything a Headliner Should Be

Source: UMF TV

By Ryan Hayes

Beyond Nostalgia: What’s Next

Aside from a very select handful of dance music festivals globally, most lineups still play it safe. Headliners continue to be pulled from EDM’s last “golden age”—a time when the genre’s dominance on the worldwide Top 40 catapulted a handful of DJs to mainstream icon status. That kind of reach will likely never be matched, and those same dozen-or-so acts still sit atop most festival posters around the world.

That’s not to say those artists are without merit—their names hold sway, their hits cut through generational barriers, and their sets have been meticulously honed over decades. They are dance music’s first true legacy vanguard.

But the scene has shifted. Today, it’s increasingly driven by branded niche artist events—where the current generation, no less talented than their predecessors, cultivate fanbases and headline events at unique venues curating genuine experiences. For diehard fans, these shows are priceless. Despite have legions of dedicated fans willing to travel to experience their shows the top of a mainstream festival lineup continues to elude many of these current heavyweights.

Festivals are massive financial burdens on the companies that throw them. Huge gambles banking on corner a market, and that makes risk difficult…but at what point in time does the old guard lose its cache? Or is the only way to continue traditional festivals to have the battle-worn star’s name in lights?

Regardless, shouldn’t the real excitement come from seeing someone fresh—someone pushing boundaries and innovating in real time?

Subtronics is one of those artists.

While he isn’t technically headlining FVDED, I expect—hope—that the audience he draws is as large and ravenous as any top-billed act all weekend.

His sound has evolved, but his signature remains: bass-heavy, tempo-shifting, sonically unique, emotionally genuine—and never taking itself too seriously. The hunger and drive to grow his singular brand is still front and center. And that deserves to be praised.

Bass, Chaos & Control: Subtronics Is Built for the Big Stage

Earlier this year, Subtronics took on the Ultra mainstage, a daunting tightrope walk balanced between appeasing 50,000 festivalgoers and staying true to a sound not traditional globally showcased.

Source: UMF TV

He triumphed, unleashing an hour of absolute madness. The key was accessibility, blending mainstream dance anthems like “Levels,” “Satisfaction,” and “Show Me Love” with originals like “Scream Saver,” “Amnesia,” and “Ecstasy of the Soul” (with Zeds Dead). He even dropped hard-hitting bass-infused mashups with iconic pop hits—“Livin’ on a Prayer,” “Set Fire to the Rain,” and “Where Have You Been.”

It was a set filled with twists and turns, countless remixes and VIPs, and a flood of unreleased IDs. With a track list spanning 46 tracks in 60 minutes—more than 95 if you count the mashups—it was adrenaline-fueled escapism at its best. Musical opium for the masses. And the best showing on bass/dub since Skrillex headlined Ultra in 2015.

Don’t get me wrong—his FVDED set will be aggressive. But his energy is contagious, his stage presence magnetic, and he always pulls back just before things tip into overload. It will be a rollercoaster.

Show up, strap in, and enjoy the ride. No matter what, it’ll be a memory. Subtronics is meant to be experienced in a sea of 10,000+ fans, all-in and going off. Subtronics is what moves the needle—and he’s reason enough to be there, front and center, for another unforgettable year at FVDED.