Dekmantel Festival

Amsterdam, Netherlands
August 3 - August 8

After two long years away, the essential Amsterdam-based festival returns with a lineup to brag about. Noteworthy acts for this edition of Dekmantel include Robert Hood and Loraine James (who will both play live), Jayda G, Kampire and Tirzah. This year, RA will continue its partnership with the festival, with an RA conference encompassing discussions, workshops and a live version of our Exchange podcast and Art of DJing feature.

RA Pick: It would be a shame to miss the father of minimal techno, Robert Hood, get down with a live set.

KALLIDA

North Devon, United Kingdom
August 5 - August 6

When a small intimate festival is made with maximum levels of love, you can't possibly go wrong. Taking place in a secret location somewhere in Devon, this year's edition returns for the first time since 2019. A top level production, it delivers immersive art and a brilliant sonic experience to some 400 people. UNIIQU3, Grace Sands, Tash LC, Gut Level, Rubiconman, Smiley Maxx and Joe Armon Jones and Maxwell Owin give an indication of the festival's eclectic vibe and ethos for giving a platform to niche and known names alike. If you want to learn about new music, this is the place to be.

RA Pick: To see heavyweight dub pioneers Iration Steppas is to witness a spiritual bass experience.

Charivari

Detroit, United States
August 11 - August 14

Named after a 1980s high school social club, Charivari has become a summer staple in Detroit, inviting people of all ages to celebrate the city's rich electronic dance music lineage. Now in its ninth year, the four-day event returns to Fort Wayne with its largest lineup of house and techno selectors to date, including homegrown headliners Moodymann, Juan Atkins, Ultra Naté, Osunlade and DJ Minx. Situated at the banks of the Detroit River in the Springwells neighborhood of Detroit, the three-stage festival plays host to more than 75 DJs and some 5000-plus attendees. With live yoga and art exhibitions, a wide selection of Midwest delicacies and a reasonable price tag, Charivari brings together generations of dance music lovers in Detroit.

RA Pick: Don't miss the steamy house heat of Women On Wax founder DJ Minx.

Houghton Festival

Norfolk, United Kingdom
August 11 - August 14

Three years after severe weather conditions forced organizers to cancel, Houghton Festival triumphantly returns to its idyllic home in the wooded sculpture gardens surrounding the Royal-owned Houghton Hall estate. Concocted by Craig Richards and team, Houghton established itself in 2017 as a mythical destination for forest ravers seeking out the sounds of UK dance music. Far from a good phone signal, this gathering is made a veritable rave heaven with its vaulting treelines, bespoke sound systems and wall-to-wall sunshine. With boutique camping, carefully selected menus of locally sourced specialties and an eye-popping lineup of electronic music's rising stars and established vets, the already sold-out 2022 edition looks to be one of the year's top festivals.

RA Pick: The hybrid live/DJ set from jungle master DBridge.

Honcho Campout

Pennsylvania, United States
August 17 - August 22

Situated in a Pennsylvanian forest, Honcho Campout has attracted crowds of queer people year after year with some of the top names in house, techno and disco based in the US and beyond. Attendees rave about the intimate, spiritual experience that results from taking in a pristine backdrop of nature with like-minded community, sexual hedonism and anything-goes sets. This year, DJs like musclecars, Lakuti, Tama Sumo, Ciel and Peach will reign over the decks. Continuing a years-long tradition, the Honcho program will also include performances from a handful of drag artists.

RA Pick: Love is always in the room when veterans Lakuti and Tama Sumo play. Their sets breeze past disco, house and classics, a funky tapestry that radiates with sensuous ecstasy.

Waking Life

Crato, Portugal
August 17 - August 22

The desert landscape of Crato, Portugal offers a whimsical setting for a festival, as do olive trees and a glittering, otherworldly lake. The mystique of Waking Life, a relatively new camping festival based in one of the most deserted regions in Southern Europe, has been much-discussed. But the event has also offered workshops, vegetarian dishes and floating wooden boats over the years as well as transportive, euphoric sets. For their 2022 edition, the festival enlists a lineup that hints at a psychedelic and meditative experience: DJ Holographic, DJ Nobu, Maayan Nidam, OK Williams, Analog Soul and more join this bill.

RA Pick: Hailing from Japan, DJ Nobu is an expert at mixing lysergic wormhole techno with razor-sharp precision.

MUTEK Montreal

Montreal, Canada
August 23 - August 28

Following two years of hybrid editions, MUTEK Montreal returns in full form. Combining audiovisual storytelling with performances and talks across six days, it's a treat for both tech and music fans. Making their festival debut this year are Planetary Assault Systems and Loraine James, who will each be presenting multi-sensory live shows. Max Cooper will also be performing as he conducts a 3D light field. Also on tap are generative art shows of 3D landscapes. This year's non-music activities include conferences, panels and workshops on artificial intelligence and extended reality, including an RA masterclass on Web3, hosted by music collective Songcamp, and a live RA Exchange with Gabber Modus Operandi.

RA Pick: Koreless' solo live show of sci-fi elements, glitch and dystopian textures that's guaranteed to stir emotions.

We Out Here Festival

Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
August 25 - August 28

Gilles Peterson does it again with top quality music curation at a family-friendly Cambridge shindig, We Out Here Festival. Uniting club culture with live music performance, this event will deliver acts as diverse as old school jungle maestro Tim Reaper and gospel-jazz-soul trio Gabriels. You'll have to clone yourself to see the diverse wealth of artistry on this line up: Underground Resistance, Jah Shaka, Patrick Forge, Louie Vega, Shut Up and Dance, Ahadadream, Moxie and Jah Wobble are just some of this event's highlights. Beyond the musical programming, there will also be talks, including a panel discussion hosted by War Child & The Right To Dance called "Migrant Footprint," connecting the dots between stories of music and migration.

RA Pick: Music is a tool for raising the consciousness vibration with the stunning sounds of The Neue Graffik Ensemble.

WHOLE United Queer Festival

Gräfenhainichen, Germany
August 26 - August 28

Global queer collectives like BULTO, Mala Junta, Mamba Negra, Adonis and T4T LUV NRG, to name just a few, gather in the shadows of gargantuan 20th-century industrial machines in this former strip mine for three days of open-air dancing and queer communion. Find Paramida, D. Tiffany, LSDXOXO and Cashu behind the decks at the festival's various stages, which are adorned with colourful decorations and situated next to the lake or inside a double-story treehouse. Past editions have earned WHOLE an impressive reputation for balancing hedonism with their safe(r) spaces infrastructure, which includes roaming awareness teams. In addition to DJs, artists like Planningtorock and performance collectives such as House of Living Colors will be doing live shows. A cultural programme of films, panels and workshops extends festivities beyond the dance floor.

RA Pick: Check out co-founder of Kampala's legendary ANTI-MASS parties, Authentically Plastic, gliding through genres like techno, hard dance, singeli, gqom, acholi and more.

Full Circle Festival

Coronation Park, Jersey
August 27 - August 28

Set against the waterfront of Coronation Park on the channel island of Jersey, Full Circle looks to take its place upon the list of Europe's top destination festivals. With a lineup of international and emerging talent including the likes of Bradley Zero, Chloé Robinson, DJ Boring, LCY, LTJ Bukem, Nia Archives and Or:la, the inaugural edition of this two-day boutique fest offers a beautiful set and setting for ravers to let loose. In collaboration with the nonprofits A Greener Festival and ReWild Durrell, Full Circle has outlined its mission of becoming carbon neutral by 2025.

RA Pick: Get ready to rave to LCY's mind-melting mix of UK bass, breakbeats, techno and High-NRG rave romps.

See our full festival listings for August right here