PREVIEW: Digital Dreams Festival 2014 by Richard Granholm

Held at the spectacular Flats @ M.C.A., Digital Dreams Festival has become the most popular electronic music festival in Toronto (and perhaps even in Canada). The reason: Digital Dreams continues to feature a diverse set of huge artists, all in an incredibly beautiful location by the shores of Toronto.

Let’s look at the festival’s debut in 2012: on the “Echo Beach” and “Dreams” stages, the headliners alone covered the genres of trance, house, deep house, electro, progressive house, and more. In one weekend, audiences got to see Afrojack, Kaskade, BT, Major Lazer, Dubfire, and many more. And like any proper festival, there were smaller stages: the aptly named “Bass” stage for the avid bassheads, and the “Canada” stage which featured solid acts like Andy’s iLL and Dzeko & Torres. Over 25,000 people attended in the festival’s first year of operation.

The 2013 lineup increased the stakes with new artists but with the same diversity, bringing the likes of Tiësto, Porter Robinson, Wolfgang Gartner, Dash Berlin and more. As well, the previous “Bass” stage was renamed to “House of Boom” and huge bass artists were brought in (Dillon Francis, Excision, and Datsik – just to name a few). The 2013 year brought over 50,000 concertgoers – double the previous year’s attendance!

With 2014 ushering in the third year for Digital Dreams, we can expect bigger and better things. Look for a new, diverse lineup with some of our favourite artists making a return. Envisage a community of 50,000+ attendees and great vibes. Anticipate improvements in organization, facilities, food, and much more. Mark your calendars for one of Toronto’s greatest summer events!

Check out the 2013 official recap video:

The full line-up is on this handy flyer, which fans have been editing to show who they will and won’t be seeing when they attend the festival.