Case in point: From July 3 to 7, the annual Desert Hearts Festival will bring thousands of electronic dance music fans to Playa Ponderosa, an open-air event space in the Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff.
Promoters tout the festival, co-produced by Phoenix company Walter Productions and California-based EDM collective Desert Hearts, as a weekend of “house, techno and love.”
Desert Hearts Festival began in 2012 as an off-the-radar party outside San Diego that was thrown by DJs Mikey Lion, Lee Reynolds and Porky. About 200 people showed up. By 2015, more than 1,000 people were turning out.
“At the time, there wasn’t that much to do or too many venues in San Diego that were playing house and techno,” Lion told Phoenix New Times in 2024. “We were just young kids, who synced up, programmed this weekend with one stage continuously playing music and just learned by doing. And the message and the ethos that we went into the festival with was just to spread as much love and positive energy as possible. And through that message, it just attracted all the right people at the right time.”
In 2023, Desert Hearts began partnering with Walter Productions to bring a spin-off of Desert Hearts to Arizona, taking place at Playa Ponderosa outside of Flagstaff.
“(Playa Ponderosa) is so unbelievable,” Lion told New Times in 2024. “The first time we went out there, it was like ‘Oh my God, this is exactly what we've been looking for, I can envision exactly where everything's going to go.’"
Like its mothership event, the Desert Hearts Festival in Arizona showcases a mix of touring and local artists. Such is the case with the 2025 Desert Hearts Festival lineup, which dropped earlier this month.
Notable touring DJs include house icon Mark Farina, Dirtybird artist Justin Martin, tech-house producer Destructo, bass-fueled freak OMNOM and German-born techno queen Beth Lydi. Lion and Reynolds will also perform.
An enormous array of local DJs crowd the Desert Hearts lineup, including Sean Watson, Techno Snobs co-founder Disco Zombie, Casti and Frank Terry.
Here's the complete list of DJs, producers and EDM artists set to perform at this year's event.
Desert Hearts Festival 2025 lineup
The following artists are scheduled to perform at the festival:- Andreas Henneberg
- Atish
- Beth Lydi
- Destructo
- Chocolate Sushi
- Mark Farina
- Justin Martin
- Mikey Lion
- Disco Zombie
- DJ Minx B2B Kevin Knapp
- Drew Dapps
- MA
- Malcolm Brown Mares
- Mary Droppinz
- Mntra
- N2N
- Nala
- Nat Turner
- Cher
- Omnom
- Omri
- Evan Casey
- Kaliddic
- Kellen James
- Kirby K
- Kyle Walker
- Ladell Ransom B2B Frank Terry
- Lee Reynolds
- Lindsey Herbert
- Peter Blick
- Porky
- Ranger Trucco
- Sean Watson
- Soundslurp
- Sprout
- Tara Brooks
- The Sponges
- Wes Light
- Zacky
Desert Hearts Festival 2025 tickets
You can buy tickets for the 2025 Desert Hearts Festival at desertheartsfestival.us. Four-day Tickets are $319 per person. An add-on that allows early entry into Playa Pondersorsa on July 2 is an extra $89. Vehicle passes are $59 per vehicle.
