Electric Island may not be on the island, but it's better than ever with Richie Hawtin, Maceo Plex & more

As if the July 1st edition of Electric Island couldn't get any better, the secret headliner was revealed last week to be Richie Hawtin, probably the only possible addition that could live up to the expectations. When you start with Maceo Plex, Recondite, Roman Fluegel, Chaim, and Atish, the bar is set pretty high. Unfortunately for the Toronto islands, the water level is pretty high this year too, and we will be seeing another Electric "Mainland" or whatever you want to call it. The good news is, we can all safely say the team behind EI – CODA and the Footwork Family, Embrace, and Platform – are plenty capable of finding a suitable home, this time at 51 Commissioners St. in the Portlands area at Cherry St.

May Long Weekend's season opener took place at Woodbine Park, and for the first time we saw the second stage in action, adding an amazing dynamic to the festival. A more relaxed vibe carried over the course of the day at the side stage with favourites Rebolledo and Red Axes even going b2b to close out when Leon Vynehall couldn't make it. And over at main stage, the party was every bit as good as you would expect when Ben Klock, Joris Voorn, Eats Everything, and Bedouin are on the same bill.

Photos by Ded Agency

The one thing that Toronto has going for it is talented opening DJs, and we would be remiss if we didn't mention the stellar opening sets from Andrew Choe and Night Vision on the main stage, and Gera and Alberto Jossue who went b2b for 3 hours on the side stage – a blissful start to an amazing day at the park. This time around we have Aleksandar Kojic and Borzoo in the Garden Grove and Chris Larsen and Talal & Zoi on the mainstage. Looking forward to the second instalment of Electric Island this year! Get to know some of the artists below.