The Accelerate Festival – presented by the super-hot Second Speed – is the high-energy dance music event that’s set to take over Gateshead Stadium this September.

Oh, man! This one’s gonna go off like a boxful of Catherine wheels. Building on the success of the mega knees-up from last year, this year’s Accelerate Festival is destined to be one of the north-east’s biggest electronic music events of 2025. There will be a strong emphasis on techno, trance and hardcore/hardstyle sounds, and, needless to say, the DJ line-up is straight out of the top drawer. I’m talking about names such as blk. (pictured) who is a real force to be reckoned with. Since joining the Irish based reboot agency at the end of 2021, this young aspiring artist has plenty of groundbreaking achievements to his name such as selling out Belfast’s iconic telegraph building in record time, and also selling out a long list of shows across Ireland, Scotland, the UK and further afield. Another DJ with his finger on the pulse is Fantasm. Renowned for his industrial techno sound, characterised by powerful kicks and dark atmospheres, Fantasm has garnered a devoted following within the techno community. Some tracks of his that have slayed dancefloors over the last few years include ‘FXCKING BREAKBEAT’ (2023), ‘Venom’ (2023), ‘Die In Your Dreams’ (2023) and ‘Devil Jam’ (2023). Dominique first burst on the scene two or three years back and she’s now in huge demand after lighting up events such as Sub Club, SWG3, Berkeley Suite, Cab Vol, La Cheetah and Room2. Her unique style of blending fast paced house and techno seamlessly together has earned her near legendary status within the Scottish underground scene and she also has plenty of big festival appearances under her belt at the likes of Barcelona, Malta and TRNSMT. Another pair of DJs tearing things up north of the border are PRTY founders and resident DJs Jezza & Jod. They have a serious buzz about them just now in Glasgow having made a meteoric rise to the top of the Scottish techno scene. Having blown the roof off nearly every club in the city, the deadly duo – who never fail to captivate the crowd with a wide selection of high-energy, hard-hitting tracks – have also smashed their debut international gigs in Ibiza and Magaluf. Other DJs of note playing include the likes of AZYR, Basswell, camrinwatsin, Charlie Sparks and Jason Cluff. It’s all set to take place at the Gateshead Stadium and all music stages will be under cover. Put your foot down and start counting the days… GM

Accelerate Festival, Saturday 27 September, Gateshead Stadium, 1pm-11pm (last entry 7pm), £60, acceleratefestne.co.uk