Red-hot line-up for EDM, house festival
THE2016 edition of Ultra South Africa is finally upon us. This weekend, DJs from across the borders and right here at home will be blazing the decks in Joburg and Cape Town.
Things start in Joburg on Friday and continue with a full day’s festivities on Saturday at the Nasrec Expo Centre. The Cape Town jol starts on Saturday and takes over all of Sunday at the Ostrich Ranch.
US superstar DJ Skrillex was already announced as one of the headliners last year – as were Tiesto, Zedd and Afrojack. But last month, Ultra South Africa made a surprise announcement that Dutch DJ, Fredde Le Grand, would be joining the line-up.
The electro-house maestro was included in an announcement that also sees Dutch duo, W&W, return to South Africa as well as the deep house masked man, Claptone.
The international line-up is impressive, but so is the local one. On Friday, Joburgers can look forward to DJs Shimza, Cuebar, Mobi Dixon, Lulo Café, Vinny da Vinci, Roger Goode, Pascal and Pearce – who will invite Da L.E.S to perform – DJ Milkshake and Twins on Decks, amongst others.
On Saturday, acts like Goldfish, Black Coffee, Trancemicsoul, Lady Lea, Warras and Rob Forbes will be on the decks, while Timo ODV will also perform.
Over in Cape Town, the DJs who will be flying the South African flag high include DJ Fresh and Euphonik, Lebz, Soulful B, Dean FUEL and more.
Most of the acts who will be in one province will also play in the other province. Visit Ultra South Africa’s website to see the exact times that your faves will be on stage.
The Joburg leg of the festival will have three stages. There will be the Main Stage and the 5FM Live Loud Stage on both days. But on Friday, there will be the Soul Candi Live Stage, which will be changed to the RESISTANCE Stage on Saturday.
Cape Town will have a similar vibe. There, there will be a Main Stage and a smaller stage hosted by Strange Lovin on Saturday. That stage will then turn into the RESISTANCE Stage on Sunday.
If you’ll be camping, Mzansi’s non-profit organisation, Bridges For Music, will host the Red Bull Soundsystem at the campsite all weekend.
Ultra as a brand was started in 1997 by Russell Faibisch who used to put on electronic music events in south Florida. The first Ultra festival started on Miami Beach in 1999 and people partied like it was that year. So naturally, the Ultra team felt that the party should be a global affair and Ultra Worldwide was born.
Now, Ultra festivals take place in South Africa, Brazil, Ibiza, Japan and more. There are plans to expand to Puerto Rico, Singapore and other places. But first up is South Africa this weekend.
Will you be there? ● Ultra South Africa: Nasrec Expo Centre in Joburg on Friday and Saturday. The Ostrich Ranch in Cape Town is the venue on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are almost sold out, but a few can be bought at nutickets.co.za or ultrasouthafrica.com.