Chicago’s biggest house and techno event, ARC Music Festival, has announced the artists who will play at its 2025 edition in a massive and packed lineup. The festival will return to Union Park over Labor Day Weekend, August 29–August 31. This year’s ARC lineup is the most ambitious and sonically diverse one yet. It includes pioneering legends, next-generation tastemakers, and groundbreaking B2B sets that reflect the festival’s spirit of celebration and innovation.
Check out our experience at ARC Music Festival 2024.
In the past five years, ARC has become an important place for electronic music’s most important people, up-and-coming stars, and underground trailblazers to meet. It is located in Chicago, which is where house music got its start. The festival’s name has been built on a lot of great musical moments in its first four years. Eric Prydz brought all three of his famous aliases to the first event, along with Pryda and Cirez D. Other memorable moments include Carl Cox and Green Velvet‘s electrifying B2B at the Expansions stage in 2024, and Hiroko Yamamura‘s journey into the global underground for the weekend closer at Area 909 in 2023. These successes across generations and genres are what make ARC more than just a festival; it’s a look into the past, present, and future of music and culture that has spread from the Midwest to the rest of the world.
The ARC Music Festival lineup in 2025 includes Amelie Lens, Adam Beyer, Adriatique, Boys Noize B2B VTSS, Cajmere B2B Carl Craig, Honey Dijon B2B Derrick Carter, Green Velvet B2B Skepta Más Tiempo, Jamie xx, John Summit, Luciano, Skream B2B Hamdi (UKG Set) + Many More.
The big names on ARC 2025 lineup
ARC 2025 has a lineup with artists from althe l over the dance music range, from well-known artists to artists who are pushing the limits. In honor of ARC’s fifth anniversary, it only makes sense that Eric Prydz brings back his three alias event with performances by Eric Prydz, Pryda, and Cirez D for the second time. The line-up also includes the genre-bending superproducer Jamie xx, the global house star John Summit from Chicago, the techno giant Amelie Lens, the pioneering veteran Richie Hawtin, and the high-energy crowd favorite FISHER.
The b2b
One of the best things about ARC’s programming is that it shows amazing sets right after each other. This shows how the festival’s main goal is to bring together the different sounds of house music from around the world while still remembering its Chicago roots. This year, Cajmere B2B Carl Craig will meet in Chicago and Detroit to talk about ideas. Green Velvet B2B Skepta Más Tiempo will talk about heroes, and Felix da Housecat B2B Mike Dunn will do his first back-to-back. Chicago’s Honey Dijon B2B Derrick Carter, Boys Noize B2B VTSS, hard-hitting mainstays Adam Beyer B2B Layton Giordani, and a meeting of new and old school with HAAi B2B Hiroko Yamamura are some of the other highlights.
ARC is still at the cutting edge of putting together electronic music in North America. It’s a sign of what’s to come this season and a place where new trends can shine. Fans can enjoy the US invasion of UK Garage with Skream B2B Hamdi (UKG Set), the festival’s first-ever drum & bass set with Sub Focus making his ARC debut, the unique high-bpm styles of Interplanetary Criminal B2B Malugi, and the underground sounds of Eris Drew B2B Octo Octa, who have been a big part of spreading Chicago’s rich sound philosophy to underground spaces all over the world.
Some of the biggest names in modern house music will also be playing at ARC. These include A-Trak and Armand van Helden‘s project Duck Sauce, Luciano, the founder of Knee Deep In Sound, and music from Chile and Switzerland. Since 1982, the head of the Life and Death label DJ Tennis, the Canadian superstar band BLOND:ISH, the German DJ Loco Dice, the father of Dirtybird Claude VonStroke, the Swiss duo Adriatique, and the Amsterdam-based DJ Ki/Ki. Other standouts include KETTAMA from Ireland, DESIREE from South Africa, Chloe Caillet, founder of Smiile, Arielle Free from BBC Radio, TINZO + JOJO, a brother and sister pair on Book Club Radio, the catchy sounds of Shermanology, and the breakout hit it’s murph.
There will be heavier techno music from Nicole Moudaber, head of MOOD Records, Eli Brown, who was born in Bristol, Alignment, who lives in Berlin, rising UK star Effy, and Supergloss, who is a high-octane DJ.
Chicago and Detroit’s history is honored, and the next generation of artists shaping their futures is emphasized. ARC’s lineup also includes DJ Sneak B2B DJ Heather, the father-daughter duo Floorplan, and HiTech, whose electrifying mix of juke, footwork, and techno represents the city’s ever-changing underground sound.
ARC will feature 4 different stages in 2025
House and techno fans from around the world can expect an immersive experience at ARC, where carefully chosen art and production elements will connect each of the four separate stage settings. The four stages at ARC are the industrial Grid stage, the interactive and psychedelic elrow stage with its famous performers, the Expansions stage with its deeper sounds, and Area 909, which pays respect to the roots of house and techno in a raw, high-energy setting.
The afterparties
ARC goes beyond the fair grounds with its famous ARC After Dark series. It is put together by Auris Presents, which is Chicago’s top company for experiential festivals and events. These afterparties happen five nights, from Thursday to Monday, and keep the party going with artist aliases, exclusive back-to-backs, label takeovers, and surprise sets from festival favorites and special guests. They start with an exclusive opening party with PRYDA on Thursday, August 28th. ARC After Dark had 13 locations, 30 parties, and 80 acts in 2024. ARC After Dark is only open to people who have an ARC event pass.
Tickets will go on sale to everyone on Friday, March 14, 2025, at noon CT. People who have a Mastercard consumer credit card can get tickets to the ARC Music Festival before anyone else.
Start of the Mastercard Presale is at 10 a.m. CT on March 12, 2025.
The post ARC Music Festival Announces Starred Lineup for 2025 Edition appeared first on The Groove Cartel.
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