Electronic dance music fest to open in Seoul next month

The hottest outdoor electronic dance music festival of the summer is once again happening in Seoul next month.

This year’s Ultra Music Festival Korea, a.k.a. Ultra Korea 2014, will take place at the Sports Complex Stadium in Jamsil, Seoul on June 13-14.

More than 80 internationally renowned and local EDM acts will be making their way to Seoul to perform at the two-day electronica festival. The final artist line-up was announced by UMF Korea on Wednesday.

The first day of the festival will be headlined by major London-based trance trio Above & Beyond and the famous American electro-house musician and Grammy-nominated record producer Steve Aoki, who performed at Ultra Korea 2012.

Other foreign DJs to present their sessions on the first night include the Australian EDM duo Empire of the Sun, Italian dance-punk artist The Bloody Beetroots, Filipino-Dutch DJ Laidback Luke, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Japanese DJ Mitomi Tokoto.

Popular local acts such as the electronic duo IDIOTAPE, Justin Oh featuring Younha, indie band Delispice and others will perform on Friday as well.

The second day of the festival will be headlined by the Greek-Swedish DJ Steve Angello from the world-famous EDM group Swedish House Mafia and the Grammy-winning EDM artist from Germany Paul Van Dyk.

Well-known foreign acts including M.I.A., famous for her hit single “Paper Planes,” the electronic-trance duo Infected Mushroom, Far East Movement who produced the Billboard-topping single “Like a G6,” Welsh DJ Sasha, Dutch duo Vicetone and Japanese hip-hop group M-Flo will take the stage on the second night.

Signature local acts including DJ Koo, Jay Park and Jason Lee Tribe will perform as well on Saturday.

Tickets for Ultra Korea 2014 are priced at 110,000 won for 1-day passes, 150,000 won for 2-day passes and 320,000 won for 2-day VIP passes. They can be purchased through Interpark, Auction, U-Ticket and Hanatour. Only those aged over 19 (born after June 13, 1995) can enter the festival.

Ultra Music Festival has been held in March each year in Miami, Florida, since 1999. It is considered one of the largest music festivals in the world. With the world’s top-class DJs and producers, UMF has successfully expanded to other countries including Chile, Buenos Aires, Brazil, Ibiza, Europe, South Africa, Korea and Japan.

Ultra Korea has taken place annually in Seoul since 2012. World-famous electronic artists including Skrillex, Steve Aoki, Tiesto, Carl Cox, Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, Avicii and Kaskade have performed in the two editions.

For more information about Ultra Korea 2014, visit the festival’s official website at www.umfkorea.com or Facebook and Twitter at /umfkorea.

By Sohn Ji-young (jiyoung.sohn@heraldcorp.com)