As the festival season charges full steam ahead, the preparation for each event becomes a task in itself. Welcome to MP3 PREP, your ultimate guide to navigating the pulsating world of music festivals. Here’s what you need to know about some of the highly-anticipated changes coming to Global Dance Festival this year.

Every year, Global Dance Festival brings a stellar (and usually massive) EDM lineup to Denver, embracing the wide variety of sounds and genres dance music has to offer. House, techno, dubstep, drum and bass, and everything in between; this is the music that traditionally makes up the wide-reaching display of talent on the annual Global Dance Festival lineup, which has been held at Empower Field since 2017.

But this year, Global Dance Festival, which will take place on July 26-27, is taking a different approach — Global Dance Festival 2024 showcases a more contemporary lineup and a brand new location: Denver’s Stockyards Event Center Grounds.

This refreshed approach comes with some perks, including extended event hours, promising music until 1:00 AM, and a more immersive festival experience.

Here are four things you need to know about Global Dance Festival 2024.

1. Extended Event Hours and a New, Immersive Location

Since 2017, Global Dance Festival has been held in the parking lot of Denver’s Empower Field Stadium — home to the Denver Broncos. It’s a huge venue, and it often felt like a much smaller replica of Ultra or EDC Las Vegas. It felt like a city festival, through and through.

This year, Global Dance Festival is taking a different approach and hosting the event at a more immersive location: ​​the Stockyards Event Center Grounds.

Nestled against the South Platte River in North Denver, the Stockyards Event Center brings a larger event space, photogenic art installations, and reimagined stage designs to the festival this July. This new space also allows for a much later show, wich will close the curtain at 1:00am this year.

Just a few blocks from Mission Ballroom, ​​the Stockyards Event Center Grounds is a relatively new space for concerts and festivals. But the events the space has hosted, including Chris Lake and Fisher’s (who’s also on the Global Dance Festival 2024 lineup) Under Construction show in 2022, have been spectacular.

To give you an idea of the size, the Stockyards Event Center Grounds is 48,000 square feet, and offers two arenas. 

READ: Global Dance Festival Announces New Chapter with Stacked Lineup

2. KAYTRANADA and The Chainsmokers are Coming to Global Dance Festival 2024

Global Dance Festival has always been known for booking the hottest acts in EDM music — but the 2024 lineup embraces more contemporary dance music than in years past, including the most exciting addition to the lineup, KAYTRANADA.

KAYTRANADA doesn’t fit the traditional mold of “EDM.” He’s not exactly house, and he’s definitely not dubstep or techno. His music is more like alternative dance music, and his new album, TIMELESS, which was released on June 7th and features Childish Gambino, Anderson .Paak, Channel Tres, and more, has made him one of the hottest artists of the year.

Of course, we can’t forget about the dance-pop icons, The Chanismokers, who will also play the mainstage and (hopefully) drop their latest hit with Zerb, “Addicted” and timeless classics like “Closer” and “Something Just Like Us.”

3. Several Denver Artists Will Perform

If there’s one type of music Denver is known for, it’s dubstep.

That’s why it’s not surprising to see so many local dubstep DJs and producers on the Global Dance 2024 lineup —including Smoakland (who will play a Liquid Smoak drum and bass set), Mport, and Brondo.

On the more melodic side of bass music, Said The Sky (who’s also based in Denver and is a Colorado native) will bring his euphoric, emotional soundscapes to Global Dance Festival this year.

4. Global Dance Festival Will Feel Brand New

With a more eclectic lineup and new event space, Global Dance Festival 2024 is shaping up to be a refreshing festival experience. But, it’s staying true to it’s mission: to merge EDM’s most revered artists and DJs with Denver’s local scene with an authentic and expressive flair.

There’s no telling how Global Dance Festival will utilize this new space, or what the newly imagined stage designs and production will entail. But one thing is certain:

Global Dance Festival 2024 will feel brand new.

Purchase tickets — HERE

For more info, please visit globaldancefestival.com.

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