Breakaway heated up Grand Rapids’ Belknap Park on Friday with sets by more than a dozen electronic music artists on two stages. The recap and photo galleries at Local Spins.
Main Stage Mania: Fiery effects and thunderous music. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
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Amid sticky air and temperatures in the mid-80s as the first performers took the stage on Friday, the 2026 edition of Grand Rapids’ Breakaway Music Festival had all the makings, literally, of “a hot time in the old town tonight.”
Fortunately, the much-celebrated electronic music producers heating up stages on the first day of the 2026 festival at Belknap Park had no trouble matching the city’s meteorological sizzle, giving fans a wildly entertaining eruption of tech-house, melodic house, dubstep, bass music and more to help fuel Friday’s dance inferno.
Grand Rapids’ Blüejay kicked off the night at The L.A.B side stage, while MattB took the Main Stage to deliver an energetic set to get the crowd pumping. By mid-evening, duo TWINSICK had the main audience field packed. Others danced under clouds of CO2 to duo Know Good on the side stage for their debut Breakaway performance, where they played remixes of ’90s and 2000s favorites such as Green Day and Waka Flocka Flame, even diving into a reimagined version of Cage the Elephant’s “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked.”
Directly beforehand, Canadian DJ Samantha Infusini, known as Canabliss, celebrated her return to Grand Rapids, sharing with the audience that her first American performance had taken place in the same city roughly half a decade before.
Festivalgoers roamed, with the brims of hats dangling brightly colored sprouts that accented outfits ranging from flowy, transparent fabric to psychedelic pieces reflecting the artists’ backing visuals. Hands waved in the air along to heavy beats as flow artists soared above the crowd during each vibrant percussive set.
As night set in, lights could be seen throughout the crowd from the top of the hill, as pixel whips, staffs, poi and more illuminated in colored streaks on the outskirts of the audience. It’s Murph delivered a bass-heavy set, with pyrotechnics shooting up above the stage during fan favorite “Down Low,” fireworks wowing crowds halfway through the set.
The night finished off with Australian house and techno producer Fisher, as lasers lit up the hill and more pyrotechnics flew up from the stage. He transitioned from an upbeat house vibe into a bass-heavy set, wonky beats bringing the audience to life deep into the night. Fans singing along to Gotye’s 2011 hit “Somebody That I Used to Know” rang through the darkness as phone flashlights and rainbow-colored flow toys dotted the audience.
‘Something Really Special’: The second stage energized fans, too. (Photo/Sara Bagley)
For Ripley Hall, a Grand Rapids resident who has traveled in the past to enjoy larger festivals such as Lost Lands and Electric Forest, her first time at Breakaway proved to be a unique opportunity to enjoy the scene.
“There’s something really special about having a lineup this well known in your backyard, especially with Grand Rapids being such a small city. I’m grateful for the accessibility this provides to the rave scene,” Hall said.
Breakaway, which brought Grand Rapids into its circuit as the second city in what is now a national touring brand, has since expanded to a record 13 cities, most recently adding New York City (Brooklyn), which made its Breakaway debut in July 2026.
For some, though, Breakaway feels like an entry point for more variety and experimentation to be brought to the large-scale scene.
“I wish we saw more diversity in the local talent we brought in,” said Grand Rapids-based DJ Mellow. “We’re in a renaissance of music … everyone’s playing house, riddim, dubstep, bouncy beats. I wanna see Miami bass, I wanna see techno, I wanna see more everything. I want more music people can dance to. But Breakaway is a good experience for everybody.”
Local Spins’ Looking for the Perfect Beat columnist Todd Ernst provided this assessment of Day 1 highlights:
Let’s not bury the lede: Friday at Belknap Park served up one of the strongest back-to-back-to-back runs this festival has put on a Main Stage in recent memory.
KREAM came out of the block with the intensity of an Olympic sprinter — no slow build, no warming the room up, just straight into it. The Norwegian brothers set a bar early that could have easily made the rest of the night feel like a comedown. It didn’t.
It’s Murph followed in fashion with a soulful, vocal-drenched ride through indie dance and house that showed exactly why his ascent has been so fast. There’s a sneaky amount of musicality in what he does, and Friday’s crowd caught on quickly.
Which leads us to Fisher. Of all the DJs out on tour right now, not many can hold a crowd in the palm of their hand quite like he can — and I say that as someone who has watched a lot of headliners try. It’s the timing, the grin, the complete lack of pretense. Belknap was his for the duration.
The festival continues Saturday starting at 4 p.m., with sets by silent disco winners on both the Main Stage and The L.A.B. stage. Day 2 promises more excitement to come, with award-winning dubstep and riddim artist Subtronics closing out the festival as a headliner. The night will also feature Two Friends for a bass set preceding Subtronics, and a special back-to-back performance from Big Gigantic and NGHTMRE beforehand, bringing together two huge acts for a one-of-a-kind set.
One-day festival tickets start at $125, available online here.
An after party takes place at The Intersection featuring NGHTMRE, Wuki and more. Another after party takes place at Rapid River Stillhouse, with Blüejay, Tarrow and CALV b2b Ether, starting at 11 p.m.
View Local Spins’ festival guide here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Breakaway Music Festival 2026 – Day 1
Photos by Eric Stoike
BREAKAWAY 2026: SATURDAY SCHEDULE
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