8 of the best photos from EMERGE Belfast's exhilarating first edition

Belfast knows how to have a good time, and EMERGE Festival gave locals the perfect excuse to let loose and immerse themselves in some incredible music. Marking the end of festival season in the Northern Irish city, the multi-stage event welcomed more than 40,000 to dance.

Over 50 acts appeared across three stages, over two days during the Bank Holiday weekend. The line-up was full of some of the biggest and best names in dance music, including international superstars Eric Prydz, Patrick Topping, Disclosure, and Peggy Gou.

With crowds flocking to sets from Mall Grab, KETTAMA, Cici, Nikki O, and Special Request.

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Talk of the double-dayer was the custom sound and lighting/AV installations that featured on all stages, as crowds flocked to sets from Mall Grab, KETTAMA, Cici, Nikki O and Special Request, — mixing the raw talent and charisma of world-class international electronic artists and the plethora of brilliant new talent continually emerging out of the expanding Irish scene.

Shine’s Alan Simms, Festival Director, commented: “It was an incredible weekend. We invested heavily in raising the standard for sound, lighting and visuals, and both the acts & attendees loved it.

“I’ve been promoting electronic music in Belfast for almost 30 years, this feels like the culmination of that work - we have produced something genuinely different from what’s been done before in Ireland. We’re looking forward to growing this in 2023 and beyond.”

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Check out some snaps from EMERGE Belfast 2022. Sign-ups for EMERGE’s 2023 event in Belfast are open now — for more info, head to emergebelfast.com.