Riverside Music Festival 2026 returns to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau from September 11 to 13 for its 13th edition, with Marshmello, Steve Aoki and Excision headlining across the three nights. This year’s lineup also gives several artists from Ottawa and the surrounding region a place alongside those international names, while the new free daytime CaféBeats initiative expands what is happening across the weekend. From artists beginning to play further outside the local circuit to a three-DJ B3B appearing for the first time in Riverside history, there are several names worth knowing before the festival begins.

Ottawa Talent Gets A Bigger Place At Riverside

Callan Farrell comes into Riverside after extending his bookings beyond Ottawa, with previous support slots for The Chainsmokers, Lost Frequencies and BlasterJaxx. His shows have also taken him to Montreal and Miami, including a recent debut at Factory Town, giving the tech house DJ and producer a growing list of appearances outside his home city. His personal USB recommendation is “Lipstick” by Alaia & Gallo, while his advice for the dancefloor is straightforward: fewer phones and more attention on the music and the people around you.

Also appearing on Saturday are Setou & Senyo, twin producers whose early musical influences range from R&B and hip-hop to disco, jazz and dance music. That background eventually led them into production, with deep house, pop and Afro house now appearing throughout their work. “In 2 U” is one of the tracks to hear before their set, while their approach to playing live centres on participation and mutual respect instead of simply how many people are standing in front of them.

The local side of the lineup becomes even more personal with Enko B2B Seb B B2B Danford, bringing three Ottawa DJs together for a format not previously seen at Riverside. Enko will be playing alongside people she once backpacked through Europe with and now works with on events back home, giving the set a friendship that already exists away from the festival. Her track pick is “Pump Up the Jam” by Technotronic, and she shares Callan Farrell’s preference for keeping phones away unless someone needs Shazam.

Seb B found electronic music at 17 through his father’s trance CDs and has now been DJing for four years. He is also behind Frequency Shift, an Ottawa house collective that has become another part of his connection to the city’s electronic music community. His selection is “Satisfaction” by David Guetta and Benny Benassi, while his own advice comes back to one point: people should be on the dancefloor because they genuinely care about the music.

Completing the B3B is Danford, who became involved with the rave scene in 2022 before developing a strong interest in tech house. He tends to favour tracks with dirty basslines and bass stabs, while his advice focuses on dancing and spending the night with close friends. Taken together, the three backgrounds make the set interesting for reasons beyond the B3B itself, especially within an edition that is giving more attention to artists already active around Ottawa and Gatineau.

Three Headliners With Very Different Histories

For anyone who followed EDM through the mid-2010s, Marshmello will likely bring back the most memories on Friday. Tracks including “Keep It Mello,” “Alone” and “Moving On” became closely associated with his early rise, before collaborations such as “Silence,” “Wolves” and “Happier” introduced his music to an even wider audience. Nearly a decade on from that period, many of those songs are now tied to people’s first festivals, early EDM playlists and the years when the masked producer became one of the genre’s most recognisable names.

His track pick here is “Love U,” released in 2017 and closely connected to that earlier period of his catalogue. There is an obvious nostalgia to hearing music from those years again in 2026, especially for attendees who were already following electronic music when Marshmello first began appearing across major festival lineups.

Saturday gives Steve Aoki another chapter in his history with Riverside, having previously played the festival in 2019. He has already returned to Gatineau once this year through Igloofest, but coming back to Riverside seven years after his previous appearance gives this booking a direct connection to the festival itself. The cakes will inevitably be part of what some attendees wait for, but behind those moments is a catalogue stretching across more than two decades of releases and collaborations.

“Promises” is the track highlighted ahead of Saturday, while Steve Aoki’s long career means his set can pull from several different periods of electronic music. That makes his return very different from the nostalgia surrounding Marshmello the night before and the much heavier closing set still to come on Sunday.

That final night belongs to Excision, one of the most established names in modern dubstep and the clear choice for anyone heading to Riverside for bass music. Hard-hitting drops and large-scale visual production have remained central to his live shows for years, giving the final night a much heavier focus than Friday or Saturday. “Feel Something” with ILLENIUM and I Prevail is the track to revisit beforehand, bringing together three artists from noticeably different musical backgrounds within one release.

The strength of Riverside Music Festival 2026 is not only in having Marshmello, Steve Aoki and Excision across three nights, but in what surrounds them. Artists including Callan Farrell, Setou & Senyo, Enko, Seb B and Danford give the weekend a stronger connection to the electronic music community around Ottawa and Gatineau, while each headliner comes with a completely different history within electronic music. With the festival now only days away, the full lineup gives attendees plenty to consider beyond the three names printed largest on the poster.