What started as a party at Academy LA in 2018 has now become one of Insomniac’s strongest festival brands, and this year’s Day Trip Festival in Long Beach is the clearest sign yet of how far the brand has scaled.
Returning to the Queen Mary Waterfront on June 27 and 28, Day Trip Festival 2026 is back with another weekend of house, techno, ocean views, and probably way too many Hellbent jerseys. But this year isn’t just about another strong lineup. It feels like a real expansion moment for the brand.
The biggest change is the addition of the new Long Beach Amphitheater as a third stage, giving Day Trip its largest footprint yet. For a festival already built around one of the best settings in Southern California, that matters. High Tide and Deep End have already helped define the Day Trip experience at Queen Mary Waterfront, but adding the Amphitheater gives the festival more room to program bigger house and techno moments without cramming everything into two stages.
It also makes the festival feel more complete. Day Trip has always had the sunny, oceanfront house music identity down. The Queen Mary setting, the palm trees, the crowd, the fits, the fishbowls. But the Amphitheater gives the weekend more weight, especially with names like Adam Beyer, HI-LO, and Lilly Palmer helping push the festival’s techno side further.
That expansion also goes beyond the festival in Long Beach. Day Trip has grown into a full house music ecosystem, now stretching across multiple festival markets with Day Trip Seattle, Night Trip Arizona, and the upcoming two-day Day Trip Festival NorCal. The brand also keeps running through the summer with Day Trip In The Park in LA, Day Trip On The Rooftop events in San Francisco and Denver, and Block Party series in Denver and Seattle.
That kind of growth says a lot about where house music is at right now. For years, house music has been a major part of North American festival culture, but Day Trip has been able to turn it into its own full world. It’s not just a stage at a larger festival, or a one-off branded party. It’s a culture. Long Beach is still the flagship, but Day Trip is now a brand fans can follow city to city.
This year’s major lineup matches the expansion.
Day Trip is known for its strong curation, bringing bookings that make sense for both the LA house crowd and the wider festival audience. Odd Mob playing High Tide on Day 1 feels like one of the easiest wins of the weekend. He has cemented himself as one of the kings of the bass house and tech house lane, with a catalog full of heaters, sets that always hit, and a fanbase that always shows up in LA. Loco Dice is another great catch, bringing OG house credibility, Ibiza legend status, and timeless groove that works on any major stage.
Green Velvet B2B Josh Baker might be one of the most interesting pairings on the lineup. Green Velvet is a true Chicago house and techno pioneer, with roots in the city’s queer club history and classics like “La La Land,” while Josh Baker is one of the hottest newer names in the scene. It’s your classic legend-meets-current-wave pairing, and exactly the type of booking that makes a lineup feel less predictable.
The new Amphitheater stage also helps Day Trip better support its techno side. Adam Beyer’s sunset set on Day 2 is a serious booking, with the Drumcode label boss bringing one of the most stamped names in the industry to the festival’s new stage. HI-LO, Oliver Heldens’ techno alias, is another strong grab, especially for fans who know tracks like “Kronos” and want to hear the darker side of his sound. Lilly Palmer adds another international techno name to the weekend, giving the lineup more range beyond the usual sunny house programming.
Day Trip also has plenty for the crowd that wants the newer-school house names. Kolter’s sunset set at Deep End on Day 1 will be killer, while Obskür brings another rising name to the Waterfront. Josh Baker’s solo set at Deep End gives fans another chance to catch the popular act dig deeper into his own sound outside of the Green Velvet B2B. L.P. Rhythm B2B Locky should be a proper undercard party set, and SCRIPT is another heater upcoming artist on the lineup who fits the current wave Day Trip has been tapping into.
Then there are the names that just make sense for Day Trip’s current crowd. ChaseWest is everywhere right now, especially in the Insomniac LA world, and love him or hate him, he knows how to party. Cloonee is basically the king of house music in LA right now, with Hellbent merch all over California festivals, the streets of LA, and even World Cup-style jerseys popping up like scene uniforms. SIDEPIECE B2B Westend is one of the safest party picks of the weekend, while Gordo brings the mainstream crossover lane, especially for anyone who knows his production work with Drake. Riordan’s sunset set is perfect for fans tapped into the newer UK house and tech house wave.
The on-site afterparties also make the weekend feel bigger. Day Trip is hosting official afters aboard the Queen Mary, with three stages running from 11 PM to 4 AM. Day 1 includes Odd Mob, Green Velvet B2B Josh Baker, Kolter, D.O.D, and more, while Day 2 brings Loco Dice, Adam Beyer, SIDEPIECE, Layla Benitez, and more. Having the afters directly on the Queen Mary is the kind of detail that turns Day Trip from a festival into a full weekend experience.
Bonus: Green Velvet is also playing the official pre-party at Academy LA, bringing Day Trip back to where the brand started.
For anyone heading to Long Beach, planning ahead matters. Day Trip runs from 1 PM to midnight each day, and there is no parking directly at the Queen Mary. Attendees are encouraged to park downtown and take the free shuttle from Rainbow Lagoon Park, or use the pedestrian bridge to access the festival. Queen Mary hotel rooms are also available for anyone trying to stay directly in the action, with guests able to come and go between their room and the festival all weekend, plus access to ship amenities and afterparty tickets for both Saturday and Sunday.
Day Trip Festival 2026 feels like a statement year. The Queen Mary Waterfront already gives the festival one of the best settings in Southern California, but the new Amphitheater stage, expanded footprint, stacked afterparties, sold-out demand, and growing national event network make it clear that Day Trip is becoming much more than a Long Beach weekend.
House Music All Day Long is no longer just the slogan.
It’s the whole brand.