The third edition of Ultra Singapore is returning to the open field beside Marina Bay Sands, now known as “Ultra Park”, on the long Hari Raya weekend of Jun 15-16. Tickets are already out, but they’ve only just announced its first wave of artists this afternoon (May 7).
Headlining the festival are a mish-mash of producers who have been making waves the past year and returning names from Ultra’s alumni. We won’t be seeing the much anticipated reunion of Swedish House Mafia (rumor has it that the supergroup have already split just a week into their reunion), but we’re getting Steve Angello for the second year running after seeing Swedish house duo Axwell and Ingrosso at last year’s ZoukOut. Also back in Singapore is English trance trio Above & Beyond, who also headlined the first Ultra Singapore two years ago. Grammy-nominated French producer DJ Snake will also be making an appearance after being on the bill for Ultra Singapore’s first edition and last year’s ZoukOut, along with Dutch DJ Afrojack. The stage will also be shared with other familiar names like American producer Illenium, Germany-based Tunisian house DJ Loco Dice, “Toulouse” producer Nicky Romero, American trap, grime and bass extraordinaire RL Grime and trap producer Nghtmre and “heaven trap” duo Slander.
And that’s just the headliners who’ll be performing across the four stages at the festival, including the all-new Ultra Wordwide stage, which they’re bringing to Singapore direct from the bayfront of Miami. There’s a whole lot of trap and future bass producers this year, but you can also catch other stalwarts in their own right like Egyptian trance legends Aly & Fila, Moldovan producer Andrew Rayel, who’s come a long way since his breakthrough trance hit “Aether” back in ’11, Dutch house producer Fedde Le Grand, Dutch-Turkish big room house music producer Ummet Ozcan, Spanish techno and house DJ-producer and label owner Coyu, the French DJ-producer who just re-released a remix EP of his smash hit “Domino” last year, Oxia, and so many more.
Not much word on regional musicians who’ll be joining the fray, but confirmed artists from Singapore who’ll be returning are DJ collective Rave Republic and dance music producer Myrne, as well as Taipei’s Japanese “dancefloor shaker” Kaku.
It’s a pretty diverse lineup, but somehow, people are trashing it out on Facebook’s comments section, complaining that “this year is a disappointment” and whatnot. Well, festival organizers can’t please everyone guys. Let’s just hope that more pressing issues are being addressed this year, like the payment of artists (Singaporean R&B songstress Sam Rui did a great move calling them out for delaying) and better management of artists (we won’t be seeing Dutch EDM producer Don Diablo anytime soon).
For the full lineup, click here. Tickets are priced from $170 for a two-day ticket here.
Check out what went down last year below.
