GALA

London, United Kingdom
June 2 - June 4

Summer is approaching, and the longer days call for music in the park. From June 2nd to 4th, the South London festival GALA returns for another idyllic three days in Peckham Rye Park. The event, now in its sixth edition, will play host to live acts like Little Dragon and KOKOROKO, while on the DJ front, essential dance music names like Soichi Terada, DJ Harvey, Josey Rebelle, Marcellus Pittman, A Guy Called Gerald and OK Williams will takeover the various stages.

RA Pick: Recordings of DJ Harvey sets are hard to come by—you'll want to catch three hours of his soulful bliss.

AVA Belfast

Belfast, UK
June 3 - June 4

AVA continues to go from strength to strength, following up on its London satellite event in March with the full show in Belfast. This year the festival is levelling up the production and moving location to the historic Titanic Slipways. Top billed is none other than the crown jewel of Northern Irish electronic music, Bicep, who are planning a spectacular homecoming show. The program also includes international acts like Floorplan—the father-daughter duo of Robert and Lyric Hood—as well as local heroes like rapper Biig Piig, drum & bass maestro Calibre, ELLLL and Sally C. As well as the musical offering, which promises big room sounds delivered with a down-to-earth kind of flair, there are a series of workshops, talks and in-store events to discover.

RA Pick: Bicep's live show is a special occasion anywhere, but nowhere more so than Belfast.

Festival Le Bon Air

Marseille, France
June 3 - June 5

Set in a former tobacco factory, Friche de la Belle de Mai (La Friche to the locals), Festival Le Bon Air ushers in the first days of summer in France's famous port city of Marseille. Stretching across five stages from the rooftop terrace to factory interior, the program includes more than 50 artists, from international acts like Paula Temple, Eris Drew & Octo Octa, and Floating Points to rising talents like re:ni and DJ Fart In The Club, plus a slew of local favorites. Spanning two days and three nights, the festival will culminate on Sunday with a family-friendly day of workshops, communal brunch and more, followed by a night of pummelling techno with international stalwarts, Ben Klock, Robert Hood and VTSS at the controls.

RA Pick: On Sunday, Massachusetts-based live duo Boy Harsher's daytime set fusing EBM, post-punk and synthpop.

Lente Kabinet Festival

Amsterdam, Netherlands
June 4 - June 5

Leave behind the hustle and bustle of the city at this intimate day long festival from Dekmantel. Held in a nature reserve north of Amsterdam, Lente Kabinet's surroundings offer grassy knolls, wildflowers, pools and swamps. This year's program presents live performances from iconic acts like Jamaican music collective Equiknoxx and Nyege Nyege Tapes affiliate and Acholitronix pioneer Otim Alpha. Behind the decks, DJs from across the dance music spectrum will be in attendance, including Bored Lored, Young Marco back-to-back Orpheu The Wizard, Crystallmess and Carista.

RA Pick: Since the late '00s, Den Haag-based producer De Schuurman has been a crucial figure in the evolution of bubbling house. Don't miss his wobbly, hypnotic rhythms performed live.

The Crave Festival

Den Haag, Netherlands
June 4

Nestled around a woodland lake in Zuiderpark, The Crave boasts a lineup of talent to rival a day at any festival. The Hague has long been a low-key hotbed of European electronic music and the festival draws on the region's rich history, blasting it into the future with its thoughtful curation of live acts, back-to-back pairings and new faces. The likes of Jeff Mills, Ben Sims and local hero I-F play alongside fresh acts like Mama Snake and Van Anh. RA will also be hosting a stage takeover with Honey Dijon, KiNK, Gerd Janson, Or:la, Vladimir Ivkovic, Leon Vynehall and Zohar.

RA Pick: A veteran of the local dance music community, I-F has all the insider knowledge to showcase the sound of The Hague.

Gottwood

Wales, United Kingdom
June 9 - June 12

Gottwood takes place on an idyllic site on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. During the day, more soulful tunes soundtrack throngs of punters hanging out by the lake on the grass. By night, dance in the woods, a walled garden, a barn and more. Crews like Percolate, Hit & Run, Half Baked and Adonis will be in attendance, with a lineup that touches on all corners of dance music, including the likes of Helena Hauff, Job Jobse, Tim Reaper and Peach.

RA Pick: The ecstatic, high energy pairing of Eris Drew and Saoirse playing back-to-back.

Sónar

Barcelona, Spain
June 16 - June 18

Founded in 1994, when establishing an electronic music festival was still a novel endeavor, Sónar has since been recognised as one of the leading events in the European festival landscape. Bridging the gap between music, culture and technology, the festival is a meeting point for those interested in avant-garde electronic music. This year it returns after a long three-year pause with a lineup replete with charms. Conducta, Richie Hawtin, Overmono and UNiiQU3 are only a few of the international acts to grace the Fira Montjuic and Fira Gran Via stages.

RA Pick: Kiwi Records boss Conducta is one of the key DJs representing the glossy, saccharine sounds of UKG.

Glastonbury

Somerset, United Kingdom
June 22 - June 26

Glastonbury returns to Worthy Farm this month for the first time since 2019. The iconic festival takes over a sprawling site that stretches across 900 acres of the Somerset countryside, in an area steeped in history and mythology. In the South East Corner after dark, things get weird and wonderful at Block9, Shangri-La, The Common, The Unfairground and more, where some of the best dance music programming takes place. Over in Silver Hayes, another dance area, this year's lineup includes Overmono, Avalon Emerson, Anz and so much more.

RA Pick: Fast rising star Nia Archives at the fire-breathing Arcadia spider.

Solstice

Helsinki, Finland
June 23 - June 25

Step into an extended dream at Finland's Solstice Festival. Unfolding beneath the midnight sun atop the arctic field, Rukatunturi, the three-day event offers a carefully curated program of DJ sets, live performances and art installations spanning June 23rd to the 25th. The festival culminates at the height of Midsummer, Finland's national celebration of the summer solstice. During this time the sun remains high in the sky all night, ushering in a dreamlike atmosphere for festivalgoers. Ben UFO, Powder, PLO Man, Roza Terenzi and Jimi Tenor are among the international guests playing alongside local heroes like Sansibar and Katerina.

RA Pick: Underground favourite, Tokyo-based producer and DJ Powder.

AUDRA Festival

Kaunas, Lithuania
June 29 - July 3

What better way to celebrate your city being named European Capital of Culture than with a five-day, multi-venue festival? The crew behind Kaunas club Lizdas step up to throw a series of art installations, parties and concerts, utilising public parks, galleries and a steel factory. The curation is suitably adventurous, with highlights including a back-to-back between LSDXOXO and Juliana Huxtable, live shows from Caterina Barbieri and Deena Abdelwahed, as well as DJ sets from Helena Hauff and Aurora Halal. With its mixture of free and ticketed events, as well as a wide-ranging choice of venues, AUDRA festival is the perfect way to explore the Lithuanian city and its rich music culture.

RA Pick: A live performance by Midori Takada is sure to be a spiritually healing and technically mind-blowing experience.

See our full festival listings for June right here