Nightlife + Dining
Julianne Beffa
Here’s What You Missed at LA’s Skyline Festival 2026
- By: Ani Gutierrez | Photos: Brandon Densley & Scott Hutchinson for Skyline
Skyline returned to LA with over 60 global house and techno artists, turning the weekend into a full-throttle showcase of the city’s underground scene.
For two days, Skyline Festival returned to downtown LA, taking over Ace*Mission Studios for its fifth anniversary with over 60 house and techno artists, and a crowd ready to dance until sunrise (or beyond). The weekend doubled down on the city’s warehouse-rave DNA with a stacked lineup and sets that made “just one more song” a dangerous promise.
Presented by Factory 93, the house and techno side of Insomniac, Skyline has always prioritized the music over the spectacle. You won’t find flashy festival gimmicks here, just a lineup packed with global DJs who know how to carry a room from start to finish. The move to Ace*Mission Studios only amplified that energy, with a space that felt pulled straight from LA’s rave playbook: industrial, a little gritty (in the best way), and exactly where this kind of music belongs.
Across four stages, the lineup touched nearly every corner of the house-techno spectrum. Earlier in the day, groovy sets from Chris Stussy and Beltran eased the crowd in with rolling basslines and groove-heavy house, rewarding anyone willing to stay a while.
By nightfall, the tempo shifted. High-voltage techno from Eli Brown and I Hate Models pushed the vibe into peak-time territory with sets that made leaving the dance floor, even for a moment, feel like a bad decision.
Over on Skyline’s West Side stage, the warehouse energy really came alive. The relentless duo, 999999999, came in hot with industrial techno that felt tailor-made for the atmosphere, while a back-to-back from DJ Tennis and DJ Boring added a more playful twist that triggered night-long dancing.
Sets from artists like Ben UFO and Avalon Emerson leaned into the more adventurous side of the lineup, and when techno pioneer Richie Hawtin stepped up with a hypnotic, precision-built set, he reminded everyone why he’s still such a force in the genre.
Pairings like The Blessed Madonna B2B HAAi brought a dynamic mix of house, techno and rave nostalgia, while the unlikely, yet wildly entertaining, link-up between Jyoty and Zack Fox kept the vibe refreshingly unpredictable.
More than anything, the weekend pretty much served as a reminder of why LA’s underground dance scene still holds its own globally. Skyline feels rooted in that same after-hours energy the city has always thrived on: the dark rooms, insane sound systems, and crowds that are clearly there for the music.
Five years in, and Skyline seems to have figured out the formula. Give the right DJs the right warehouse, turn the speakers up, and let LA do the rest.
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Exclusives
Julianne Beffa
Nightlife + Dining
Ani Gutierrez
