Electric Love Festival
The Electric Love Festival is a large-scale open-air electronic music festival in Austria, held at the Salzburgring racetrack near Salzburg. Since 2013, it has taken place every year on the second weekend of July and has grown into one of Austria’s largest festivals and a major EDM event in Europe, attracting tens of thousands of visitors daily.
Key Facts
Location: Salzburgring, Plainfeld, Salzburg, Austria
First edition: 2013
Date: Usually the second weekend of July, 3-day festival
Main genres: EDM, hardstyle, techno, bass music and related styles
Estimated attendance: up to ~180,000 visitors across the entire event
Location and Atmosphere
The festival takes place at the Salzburgring racetrack, surrounded by mountains and forests, near the scenic Salzkammergut lake region. Nearby meadows are converted into camping areas, creating a unique mix of a nature-based festival atmosphere and a large, spectacular mainstage event.
At night, the festival becomes especially iconic thanks to its large stage designs, LED walls, and fireworks shows, giving Electric Love a strong visual identity.
Music and Stages
The core focus is electronic dance music (EDM), but the festival also strongly features hardstyle, techno, bass, drum & bass, and related genres.
Over the years, headline artists have included major names such as
Armin van Buuren,
Hardwell,
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike,
David Guetta,
Martin Garrix, and
Tiësto.
Several stages run in parallel, including:
Mainstage – the central large-scale show stage
Club Circus – focused on bass, house and techno
Hard Dance Factory / Harder Styles – dedicated to hardstyle and hard dance
Additional club stages featuring hip-hop, techno, and uptempo styles
Special Features and Opening Ceremony
One of Electric Love’s trademarks is its spectacular Opening Ceremony. The festival begins on Thursday evening with a show that combines live orchestra, choir, dancers, and DJs.
The performance typically lasts 15–20 minutes and introduces a new creative concept every year, setting the tone for the entire weekend.
Electric Love is widely regarded as Austria’s leading electronic music festival and is frequently nominated for European festival awards.
Current Status
The festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and returned in 2021 with a smaller “boutique” edition. Since then, it has resumed full-scale operations.
In 2026, Electric Love will take place July 9–11, featuring more than 200 artists across seven stages near Salzburg.
