John Summit Is Bringing EDM Festival Scene Back to New York With Experts Only Fest

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On Monday, renowned DJ John Summit will debut the inaugural “Experts Only Festival NYC,” an innovative electronic music event coming to the Big Apple.

On September 20-21, the event known as Experts Only, under Summit’s record label of the same name, will take place at Randall’s Island. Summit will headline both nights, with a diverse supporting cast including Kaskade, Cassian, Green Velvet, Layton Giordani, LP Giobbi, Kasablanca, Ayybo, and Roddy Lima, among others. For the complete lineup, see below.

From September 20-21, an event called Experts Only, part of Summit’s record label with the same name, will be happening on Randall’s Island. Summit will perform both nights, accompanied by a variety of artists such as Kaskade, Cassian, Green Velvet, Layton Giordani, LP Giobbi, Kasablanca, Ayybo, and Roddy Lima, among others. The complete lineup can be found below.

According to Summit, he’s seeking only professionals to bridge the void in the country’s largest market. Since New York hasn’t hosted a major EDM festival since Electric Zoo closed down in 2023, there’s been a demand that Summit aims to satisfy on his own.

Summit mentions that his dream has been to organize a festival, which is why he’s been nurturing the Experts Only brand for such a long time. He discusses potential locations, considering Chicago since it’s where he’s from, or Miami due to its popularity, but finds that these cities already host numerous festivals. Instead, he expresses his fondness for New York, not only as one of his favorite markets, but also as a major global market, and points out that there is currently no electronic festival in the city. He sees this as an opportunity, stating that it’s an obvious choice for them to host a festival in New York due to this gap in the market.

According to Summit’s manager Holt Harmon, “It’s been noticeable that there isn’t a major New York festival dedicated to electronic music right now. We’ve really missed it, and it’s time for such an event to take place.

Tickets for the event will be available from this coming Friday. General Admission (GA) tickets are priced at $119.99, VIP tickets cost $299.99, and Platinum tickets go for $799.99. For every ticket sold, a dollar will be donated to the non-profit organization Femme House. The Summit, in collaboration with Medium Rare, Relentless Beats, and EMW, is organizing this event, which is expected to attract around 50,000 people over two days.

For nearly two years, Summit and his team had casually explored ideas for a festival. However, following Summit’s sold-out show at Madison Square Garden last year (which took less than two hours to sell out), the planning for this event became more substantial. Historically known as a festival venue, Randall’s Island was always an option due to its past hosting of Electric Zoo. After investigating various potential locations, they unexpectedly rediscovered the possibility of this venue, as Harmon puts it.

Harmon stated, “Securing keys in New York is incredibly challenging. There was indeed curiosity from the city about a return of something in the digital realm following E-zoo. However, they want assurance that this isn’t just a one-time event but a long-term project. Once we found suitable collaborators who were well-versed in the politics and permitting of this market and venue, it felt like the right move for us.

At a difficult period for music festivals, when events like Pitchfork Festival in Chicago and Desert Daze in Southern California have shut down due to rising production costs, Summit is undeterred and looking forward. He’s already discussing plans and objectives for the future, even hinting at potential expansion into new markets.

Summit expresses his ambition to leave a distinctive mark and establish a global presence as an international artist. He’s not limiting himself to New York City, but for now, it’s the primary focus. In the short term, he hopes for a successful first year, with room for improvement in subsequent years, aiming to make this an annual event.

Experts Only aims to distinguish itself through unique music selections, with the belief that repetition can make lineups feel monotonous when they’re repeatedly used year after year. To set the stage for its inaugural year, Experts Only is meticulously crafting a lineup reflecting the musical tastes of its creator, spanning genres such as dubstep, drum and bass, house, and techno. This lineup will feature veterans like Kaskade and Green Velvet, along with budding talents and artists associated with his Experts Only Label.

Some festivals have a knack for nurturing emerging talent, and it would be fantastic if Experts Only could be one of them. After all, festivals played a significant role in my own success. Consider the countless careers that Ultra or Coachella launched – I aspire to replicate that for Experts Only.

Initially, Experts Only is identical in meaning to John Summit’s radio show, but its ultimate aim is to evolve beyond being solely associated with the DJ. The vision is for it to grow into a diverse, tailor-made event that better integrates with the broader electronic music community rather than being centered around him.

John Summit shares that the aspect related to his project is thriving, describing it as a deeply personal endeavor. His ultimate aim is for him not to have to lead or even perform at the event in the future. He doesn’t want it to be perceived simply as a John Summit-led festival, no matter where it takes place.

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2025-07-08 19:24