From Caribbean islands to New Years Eve celebrations and the biggest party cities on the planet, EDM festivals with every musical genre can be found wherever you’d like to travel in 2025
Music is the best way to travel. In other words, music festivals can be a conduit through which to see the world. Whether it’s a trip to the Caribbean, the French Alps or Thailand; an urban vacation in Paris, Berlin or Dubai; or the perfect backdrop for celebrating the 4th of July, Labor Day and New Year’s Eve, a music festival makes traveling to the places you’ve always wanted to visit that much better. Fortunately, these celebrations of dance and personal expression take place pretty much everywhere you’d want to go.
My 2024 travel schedule included EDM festivals in Utah, Las Vegas, St. Martin, Miami and San Diego. For each event I was focused on the VIP experience and offering. What I found is that most could have done better. My sense is there’s a market for service tiers that eliminate the stress, discomfort and inconvenience of attending music festivals. This would include transportation to and from the venue, quick entry to the venue, convenient restroom access, comfortable places to sit (and lay down), proximity to the artists/stages and premium food and beverage options. Promoters can do better in catering to a clientele willing to pay for premium experiences.
That said, I saw some amazing performances from artists including Dom Dolla, Fred Again, Fisher, Cloonee, Gryffin, Mau P, Magit Cacoon, Subtronics, Wax Motif, Fleur Shore and many more. 2025 is certain to be a banner year for EDM festivals, several of which are already selling out. These are six of them to plan for starting in March and running through New Year’s Eve.
Kappa FuturFestival: Torino, Italy, July 4-6
Raving in Europe just hits different, especially when you’re partying alongside 100,000 people from 105 countries across five stages in the city of Turin in Northern Italy. The Futur Festival was voted best International Festival at the DJ Awards in 2019 and has been running since 2009, when it debuted as a New Year’s Eve event. For 2025, it’s conveniently held during our 4th of July holiday weekend.
My Forbes colleague Everett Porter describes Turin as “an elegant, magical, and uncrowded Italian city of vast piazzas, arcades and Art Nouveau-era cafes, with the snow-capped Alps in the background. That’s a pretty good description of the Italian city of Turin in the country’s northwestern corner.” Indeed, this region of Italy deserves a visit independent of the festival, and time should be set aside before or after to fully explore.
The festival takes place in Parco Dora, Turin’s largest urban park. It is located in the city center and described as an “open-air art installation” because of its 30-meter-high steel pillars that are remnants of its days as a strip steel mill.
Venue: Parco Dora
Talent: Anyma, Boris Brejcha, Diplo, Mau P, Meduza, Miss Monique, Peggy Gou, Solomun, Vintage Culture B2B Beltran
VIP: One of the key reasons I chose to feature FuturFestival is because its VIP Experience addresses most of the concerns I initially express about VIP offerings. It checks every box: a dedicated entrance to the festival with VIP terraces and lounge; lockers and luxury toilets; premium cocktail bar, restaurant and beauty bar; and shuttle service to and from the center of Torino. There are multiple tiers of VIP, one of which is the Art & Techno Experience that packages a 5-star hotel, gourmet dining and guided tours of galleries and art collections.
Accommodations: The 100-year-old Grand Hotel Sitea in Turin is one of the best five-star hotel options.
Transportation: You can fly directly to Turin, Italy. VIP tiers include shuttle service to and from the venue. Otherwise, public transportation is widely available.
By Rob Reed
