''Ultra South Africa'' is Africa's largest

electronic music festival The following is an incomplete list of music festivals that feature electronic music, which encapsulates music featuring electronic instruments such as electric guitar and keyboards, as well as recent genres such as electronic dance music (ED ...

and is part of

Ultra Music Festival Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is an annual outdoor electronic music festival that takes place during March in Miami, Florida, United States. The festival was founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes. It was first held on Miami Beach, ...

's worldwide expansion which has now spread to twenty countries. Ultra South Africa is a single day event taking place in two cities (

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

). Having debuted in 2014, Ultra South Africa is one of the longest standing world editions of the festival. Ultra South Africa is a strictly 18 and over event. The eighth edition of Ultra South Africa was meant to be held on 26 & 27 February 2021, unfortunately due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

the organisers announced on 22 January 2021 that the festival will not be taking place in 2021. The eight edition will now take place on 10 & 11 March 2023, with the Cape Town event heading to a new venue, The Kenilworth Racecourse while the Johannesburg leg will return to its home at the Nasrec Expo Center.

History

2014

The debut of Ultra South Africa consisted of three stages in both Johannesburg and Cape Town—the Main Stage, Stage 2, and Stage 3. In Cape Town,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

the festival took place on 14 February 2014 and in Johannesburg, the festival took place on 15 February 2014. Confirmed artists for the inaugural edition of Ultra South Africa included Tiesto,

Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), better known as Afrojack, is a Dutch DJ, music producer and remixer from Spijkenisse, South Holland. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album '' Forget the Worl ...

, Alesso,

Nicky Romero Nick Rotteveel (; born January 6, 1989), professionally known as Nicky Romero or Monocule, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer from Amerongen, Utrecht Province. He has worked with, and received support from DJs, such as Tiësto, Fedde le ...

Krewella Krewella is an American electronic dance music band from the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Illinois, United States, that formed in 2007. Their musical style has been mainly described as EDM, dance-rock, and dance-pop. However, Krewella's style ...

, W&W,

Martin Garrix Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix and also as Ytram and GRX, is a Dutch disc jockey and music producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—201 ...

Blasterjaxx Blasterjaxx is a Dutch DJ and record producer duo composed of Thom Jongkind (born 1990) and Idir Makhlaf (born 1991), originated in The Hague and active since 2010. They are mostly known for producing big room house and electro house music, bein ...

Claude Vonstroke Barclay Macbride Crenshaw (born July 7, 1971), who is known by the stage name Claude VonStroke, is an American house music, house producer based in Los Angeles. He owns Dirtybird Records based in San Francisco. In July 2006 he released his debut ...

Goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have bec ...

, Black Coffee, and many more. The festival welcomed 15,000 people in attendance to Cape Town and an additional 25,000 people to the Johannesburg location.

2015

The second edition of Ultra South Africa was once again held in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa at the same two venues from the year before on 13–14 February 2015. The festival was host to three stages—the Main Stage, the Electric Stage, and the Nicci Beach Stage. Ultra South Africa 2015 included the likes of Protoculture,

Oliver Heldens Olivier J. L. Heldens (born 1 February 1995) is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from Rotterdam. He is regarded as a pioneer of the future house genre, propelling it to international attention and scoring numerous chart successes, includ ...

, DVBBS,

, Armin van Buuren,

Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 ...

Axwell Axel Christofer Hedfors (; born 18 December 1977), better known by his stage name Axwell, is a Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and owner of Axtone Records. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia along with Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello ...

& Ingrosso,

Gorgon City Gorgon City are an English electronic music production duo consisting of two North London producers Kye "Foamo" Gibbon and Matt "RackNRuin" Robson-Scott. Their 2013 debut single " Real" peaked at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart. They are also w ...

, Black Coffee, and many more. This edition of Ultra South Africa saw more than 48,000 dance music fans from across South Africa and beyond.

2016

Following an incredible second edition, the Ultra South Africa organisers announced that the festival will expand to three days in 2016, 26 & 27 February in Johannesburg and 28 February in Cape Town. In response to demand from fans event organisers confirmed that they will be adding an extra date to the Cape Town leg (27 & 28 February 2016) and that they will also be introducing camping for the first time. Attendees who already purchased early bird tickets in Cape Town were rewarded with a double day pass for the same, previously single day, ticket. On 21 October 2015, Ultra South Africa announced its phase one lineup which included

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (russian: Антон Заславский; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a Russian-born German DJ, record producer, and songwriter. Zedd grew up and began his musical journey in Kaiserslautern, G ...

Robin Schulz Robin Alexander Schulz (; born 28 April 1987) is a German musician, DJ and record producer. On 4 February 2014, he released the first single from his debut album, a remix of "Waves" by Dutch hip hop artist Mr. Probz. This remix later received ...

, Tiesto,

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead si ...

Dash Berlin Dash Berlin is a Dutch electronic music duo started in 2007 in The Hague by Eelke Kalberg and Sebastiaan Molijn. Dash Berlin were voted the seventh most popular DJs in the world according to ''DJ Mag'' in 2012; Kalberg and Molijn were record pro ...

Galantis Galantis is a Swedish electronic dance music production, songwriting and DJ duo consisting of Christian Karlsson and Linus Eklöw. Karlsson is also known as Bloodshy as part of two other musical groups, a duo (Bloodshy & Avant) and a trio (Mi ...

Seth Troxler Seth Troxler is an American DJ and record producer from Lake Orion, Michigan. His DJ work focuses on house and techno, while he has produced on the Wolf + Lamb, Crosstown Rebels and Circus Company labels, collaborating with artists Art Departmen ...

The Martinez Brothers The Martinez Brothers are a duo of disc jockeys, music producers, and remixers from The Bronx, New York known for their long-term residencies at clubs in Ibiza. In 2014 they were named as DJs of the year by ''Mixmag'', who wrote that "no other DJ ...

and Black Coffee. on 24 November, organisers dropped the final line up with

, Carnage,

, Mr Carmack, Claptone, W&W and Fedde Le Grand. 2016's 2-day format entertained more than 26, 000 party goers per day at the NASREC in Johannesburg, and 14, 000 per day at the Ostrich Farm in Cape Town.

2017

It was announced on 27 July 2016 that for Ultra South Africa's fourth edition, the festival would take place on the 24–25 February 2017. In Johannesburg, the festival was held on 25 February 2017 at the Nasrec Expo Centre, once again. In Cape Town, the festival announced a new venue— Cape Town Stadium. The festival in Cape Town took place on 24 February 2017. Early bird tickets went on sale on 2 August 2016 and sold out on 4 August 2016. Tier one tickets were released to the public on 30 August 2016. On 30 August 2016,

and

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

were announced as the first headliners for the 2017 edition of the festival. The phase two lineup was announced on 30 November 2016 and included

KSHMR Niles Hollowell-Dhar (born October 6, 1988), known professionally as Kshmr (pronounced "Kashmir" and stylized in all caps), is an American songwriter, DJ, music producer, and musician. He was ranked 23rd on ''DJ Mag''s 2015 Top 100 DJs poll and ...

DJ Snake William Sami Étienne Grigahcine (born 13 June 1986), known by his stage name DJ Snake, is an Algerian French music producer and DJ, first achieving international recognition in 2013 by releasing an instrumentation-oriented single called "Turn Do ...

, Black Coffee,

Felix Jaehn Felix Kurt Jähn (born 28 August 1994), known professionally as Felix Jaehn (), is a German DJ and music producer specializing in tropical house. He achieved international success with his remix of Omi's song "Cheerleader", which topped the char ...

Djsky Ghareeb Kaawar, known professionally as Djsky, is a Lebanese electronic music DJ, music programmer, remixer and event organiser based in Ghana, United States and Lebanon. In an interview with Watsup TV, Djsky revealed he was the first to intr ...

, Head Hunters, Nic Fanciulli and many other regional artists.

2018

Ultra South Africa has announced that its fifth anniversary will return to the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa on 9 February 2018 and the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on 10 February 2018. On September 19, 2017, Phase 1 of the lineup was released and the headliners were revealed to be Armin van Buuren and Hardwell. Phase 2 of the lineup was released on October 24, 2017 and included Afrojack, Axwell Λ Ingrosso, Dubfire, Malaa, Black Coffee and Carnage along with many regional artists. On Friday, February 9, the Cape Town Stadium saw 15,000 fans stream through the gates while the Johannesburg show at the Expo Centre at Nasrec welcomed a record-breaking 32,000 Ultranauts through the gates on Saturday, February 10, for what was the biggest and most successful ULTRA South Africa in Joburg to date.

2019

On 16 August 2018, Ultra South Africa announced the dates for its 6th edition. After two years at the Cape Town stadium, Organisers have decided to return the

edition to the Ostrich Ranch with the

edition continuing its long standing tradition at its historic home at The Nasrec Expo Centre. On 6 November 2018, Ultra South Africa announced for the first time ever that The Chainsmokers will headline the 6th edition of Ultra South Africa. The phase 2 lineup was announced on 3 December 2018, which included Above and Beyond,

, Black Coffee,

Vini Vici Vini Vici is an Israeli psytrance DJ duo from Afula. The group was originally formed in 2001 under the name of Sesto Sento by the producers Matan Kadosh, Aviram Saharai, and Itai Spector; Spector left in 2011. In 2013, Kadosh and Saharai contin ...

and

Infected Mushroom Infected Mushroom is an Israeli musical duo formed in Haifa in 1996 by producers Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani. They produce and perform psytrance, electronica, dream trance and psychedelic music. They are one of the best-selling groups in I ...

. This edition marked the biggest Ultra South Africa to date with over 50 000 fans between Cape Town and Johannesburg.

2020

Five months after the wrapping up its biggest Ultra to date, the festival announced the dates for its 7th edition with organisers also promising an expanded production for 2020. In October 2019, Ultra South Africa announced its phase one headliners, which included,

, Black Coffee,

as well as Jamie Jones who will be making his South Africa debut and Steve Aoki who will be making his Ultra South Africa debut. Two weeks later, Ultra South Africa announced

Camelphat CamelPhat are an English DJ and production duo, consisting of Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala, formed in Liverpool in 2004. They are best known for the 2017 single "Cola", which peaked at number 3 in the UK Dance Chart, and at number 18 in the UK ...

, Luciano and

Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano is a Dutch DJ and record production duo from Amsterdam, composed of Sunnery Gorré (Sunnery James) and Ryan de Lange (Ryan Marciano). Both DJs are of Surinamese descent. Accustomed to renowned labels, they released ...

as support. This edition also marked the biggest Ultra South Africa to date with Ultra SA founders, Shaun Duvet and Tony Feldman commenting “''Ultra South Africa 2020 was, as they always are, the best one we have produced to date". "These shows are such massive projects to pull together and each year when we see it all come together with the incredible teams that join us each year in making this happen, we feel very proud. We cannot wait for 2021 and all the years to come as the shows get bigger and wilder“.''

2021

During the Johannesburg leg of if its 7th edition, organisers confirmed that Ultra South Africa will return to

and

for its 8th edition on 26 & 27 February 2021. Unfortunately due to the

the organisers announced on 22 January 2021 that the festival will not be taking place in 2021.

2022

On 21 September 2022, ULTRA South Africa announced its return after a two year hiatus due to the

. ULTRA South Africa will host a two-day affair on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11, 2023, taking place in Cape Town and Johannesburg, respectively. The ULTRA South Africa announcement reaffirms Ultra Worldwide’s celebrated distinction as the most international music festival brand, boasting active events on all 6 inhabited continents. On Friday, March 10, 2023, ULTRA South Africa will welcome attendees into its new Cape Town venue, the Kenilworth Racecourse. The conveniently located and beautifully designed Kenilworth Racecourse is home to some of Cape Town’s most iconic events, and ULTRA South Africa’s organizers will transform this space into a fantastic festival fantasy-land. From the jaw-dropping main stage set-up, to the magnetic RESISTANCE experience, Kenilworth Racecourse venue is the perfect setting for an expansive outdoor festival like ULTRA South Africa. Then, on Saturday, March 11, 2023, ULTRA South Africa will make its way over to Johannesburg and the iconic Expo Centre at Nasrec, which will host the festival for the eighth time. Organisers tease that the 2023 event will be bigger than it was in past years. Ultra South Africa co-founder and director Shaun Duwe says building up to this festival after the Covid lockdown has been challenging and that conversations between production and technical teams about adding extra elements have been ongoing. “As a team we are over the moon. The response has been unprecedented. There’s been a lot to digest building up to this festival coming out of Covid. So many puzzle pieces to put together. Duwe says attendees should get ready to dance the night away and meet up with friends from across the country while experiencing louder music, bigger artists and over-the-top fireworks. We are back to celebrating life and having a good time,” says Duwe. On 13 December, Organisers announced the phase 1 lineup which includes

Adam Beyer Adam Beyer (born 15 May 1976 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish techno producer and DJ. He is the founder of Drumcode Records, and is one of several Swedish techno artists to emerge in the mid-1990s, along with Cari Lekebusch and Jesper Dah ...

, Alesso,

Black Coffee (DJ) Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo (born 11 March 1976), better known by his stage name Black Coffee, is a South African DJ, record producer and songwriter. Coffee established his own record label Soulistic Music, and released his debut self-titl ...

Chris Lake Chris Lake (born 8 August 1982) is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He rose to fame in 2006 with his hit single, "Changes", featuring Laura V. Musical career Lake first became recognized for his bootleg remixes of the Prodigy's "Cli ...

Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

and

Timmy Trumpet Timothy Jude Smith (born 9 June 1982), known by his stage name Timmy Trumpet, is an Australian musician, DJ, songwriter and record producer. He has become known internationally for playing the trumpet live and making use of jazz elements in dan ...

Attendance

References

{{Greater Johannesburg, culture Electronic music festivals in South Africa Summer events in South Africa Festivals in Cape Town Festivals in Johannesburg

History

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Attendance

See also

References