Largest edition of GEM Fest music festival to feature top electronic artists

Georgia’s Black Sea resort of Anaklia will host some of the most sought-after musical artists including Martin Garrix, Cassegrain and Paul Kalkbrenner for the largest edition of the GEM Fest electronic music festival starting this July.

The festival, which attracted over 30,000 visitors last year, will run for a month and feature 500 foreign and local performers at the popular seaside resort.

The 2017 GEM Fest will include 1,300 overall events for party-goers, with organisers announcing they expect "tens of thousands” of visitors to flock to the event.

Celebrating the biggest festival edition so far, the hosts of GEM Fest announced their line-up of headlining artists on Thursday.

The list includes 2016 DJ Mag Number 1 ranked artist Martin Garrix, Grammy Award-nominated producer Steve Aoki and Beatport Best Deep House DJ-winning underground DJ Solomun.

The roster of artists and the scope of the festival was also highlighted by some of the most prestigious music review websites.

Blazing a new trail within sight of the Black Sea, some of the world's biggest house, techno and trance DJs make this a stand-out summer party”, said a preview of the event by Resident Advisor.

Artists and music fans will celebrate the festival on Georgia’s Black Sea coast. Photo: Vladimir Medvedew/GEM Fest.

Along with critically acclaimed foreign performers the festival will lend its stage to local musical talent including Gio Shengelia and Bacho.

Launched in 2015, the festival was selected to run at the Anaklia resort near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating Georgia from its north-western breakaway region of Abkhazia.

The seaside resort is known for the longest pedestrian bridge in Europe, connecting it with the village of Ganmukhuri with a 550 metre-long walkway across the Enguri river.

Organisers have announced about 1,300 overall events to entertain festival-goers. Photo: GEM Fest.

The 2017 edition of GEM Fest will be held within Check in Georgia, a governmental initiative bringing together dozens of festivals, concerts and sports events across the country throughout the year.

The festival will run in Anaklia from July 14-August 14.