3 Units You Can’t Miss on the 2026 VELD Pageant

VELD Music Festival has spent more than a decade turning Downsview Park into the heart of Canadian dance music culture each summer, and its 2026 edition is set to continue the trend.

The country’s biggest electronic music festival returns for its 13th annual edition with its signature Ferris wheel and the stylistic range that pulls a broad range of trance, house, techno and bass music onto the same grounds. Since its 2012 debut headlined by the late Avicii, it has grown into a weekend that draws over one hundred thousand fans to the park throughout the weekend.

The top of the bill runs the gamut with superstar DJs Armin van Buuren, FISHER, ILLENIUM and more. With a lineup this deep, narrowing it down becomes its own challenge. But three sets stand out as unmissable, whether you’re there for a rare reunion, peak-time techno or hard dance at full throttle.

Tickets to VELD are on sale here.

Kx5 (deadmau5 and Kaskade)

Alongside Avicii, deadmau5 headlined VELD’s very first edition back in 2012 and now returns to Downsview Park with Kaskade for their first time performing at the festival as a duo. Expect a catalog-spanning show from 2008 staples ‘I Remember’ and ‘Move for Me’ to 2022’s ‘Escape.’ The performance is one of only a handful of KX5 dates on the calendar this festival season.

Credit: Brian Rapaport for EDM.com

Sara Landry

Named to the EDM.com Class of 2024, the artist fans affectionally call the “High Priestess of Hard Techno” has turned 2026 into another momentous year, from a historic Ultra Miami b2b with Amelie Lens to this month’s new single ‘Shake That,’ with a sophomore album on the way. Expect one of the most physical, high-BPM hours of the entire weekend from Sara Landry.

Credit: Roger Ho

Charlotte White

Techno superstar Charlotte de Witte arrives on the back of a defining stretch. Her self-titled debut album dropped late last year, and April’s Amor EP with Brazilian vocalist CERES followed as she celebrates 15 years as an artist.

Credit: Tomorrowland