UMF returns to Seoul for summer blow-out festival

One of the world’s largest annual outdoor dance music parties, the Ultra Music Festival, is returning to Seoul this summer with some of the hottest DJs from around the world for an electrifying two-day concert series of house music and fist-pumping.

This year’s Ultra Korea 2013 music festival will be held on June 14 and 15 at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium Complex and will feature an all-star lineup of some of the top names in the EDM scene including three of the world’s top 10 DJs as listed by DJ Magazine: Armin van Buuren, Avicii and Afrojack.

The Dutch trance producer DJ Armin van Buuren has set a record for being listed as DJ Magazine’s No. 1 DJ in the world five times and is the host of the weekly satellite and Internet radio program “A State of Trance,” which has approximately 25 million listeners in 26 countries, making it one of the world’s most listened-to radio shows. 

The 23-year-old Swedish DJ and record producer Avicii began remixing and producing house music in his room at the young age of 8. After some of his friends persuaded him to upload some of his music online, he gained a huge following of listeners and eventually grabbed the attention of the legendary DJ and producer Tisto. Avicii has now made a name for himself as one of the world’s best, including being ranked No. 3 by DJ Magazine last year.

Dutch music producer and DJ Afrojack, who has also been named among the world’s best DJs at the No. 9 spot, was featured on rapper Pitbull’s chart-topping club hit single “Give Me Everything.” Afrojack was also personally selected by world K-pop star Psy to produce an official remix of his monster hit track “Gangnam Style,” which is scheduled to be released sometime next month.

Some of the other confirmed acts of this year’s summer fest so far ― and guaranteed to keep the crowd in a trance throughout the night ― include: a return appearance by Carl Cox along with Kaskade, Sander van Doorn, Tommy Trash, Fedde Le Grand, Boy George DJ Set, Krewella and Riot Gear. Last year’s inaugural festival in Korea brought in more than 40 acts including headliners Skrillex, Tiesto and Steve Aoki.

The UMF originated in Miami, Florida, and is now in its 15th year. The outdoor electronica music festival has since spread across the globe to include annual shows in Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Croatia.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)