With a new venue and its biggest lineup yet, Secret Dreams 2026 is loaded.
If our lineup breakdown didn’t already clarify, then let us speak plainly: just trust Secret Dreams. Sure, a couple of familiar faces won’t be gracing the stage this year. But if there’s one thing this festival has earned over the years, it’s the benefit of the doubt. Dreams has ALWAYS found a way to deliver, and 2026 will be no different. Before you get lost in a lineup this deep, here are 12 artists we think you absolutely cannot miss.
Come Back to Earth (Mac Miller Live Band Tribute)
There’s a reason this crew keeps getting the call back to Dreams year after year. Billed as the first (and only) Mac Miller tribute band out there, Come Back to Earth resurrects Mac’s eternal catalog. Watching a full-ass live band come together to honor Mac’s discography just isn’t the same as opposed to listening to it at home. They usually play in the daytime, so catch them, soak it in, and let it wreck you a little.
Bread Winner
Bread Winner has quietly become one of the most respected names in what I call left-field bass. If you don’t believe me, the cosigns speak for themselves: when you’ve been tapped on the shoulder to open for Tipper at both Suwannee and Tipsgiving, you’ve officially received the blessing of the Daves. And well, that’s about as high as certification gets in this scene. But if you don’t believe that, listen to the range in his music. On one end, he’ll drop absolute heaters, and his recent Valero Bebop EP proves he can still dominate the uptempo & bangers side of things. On the other, he will flip to the slower and headier beat work he showed us all over last year’s Dubular. In my eyes, there are few producers that move between the bangers and the beats as smoothly as he does, and even fewer make it look this easy.
Humandala
Harrisburg’s finest has been on an absolute tear, and for the second year in a row, Secret Dreams is lucky to have him. A Colony Productions superstar, Humandala earned his spot on our best EPs list last year with the razor-sharp Cloak & Dagger EP. His Red October single with Hoopla, dropped earlier this year, was an outright smash. Numbers and cosigns aside, what you need to know is: he produces some of the most fuck-your-face, dance-your-tail-off uptempo music we’ve ever heard. It’s music that touches on every pocket of the sonic spectrum and blends the dark with the light. Get to his set early – I promise you won’t find yourself standing still.
3420
What makes 3420 so special is that it’s three gifted musicians pouring their individual talents into this one project. Stryker, Josh, and Marty each bring their own sound and instrument, and watching those worlds culminate into one live electronic music act is a treat every time. The signature 3420 sound is the blend of live instrumentation with groovy and nasty bass music. And they are absolutely crushing it right now. They played their first Infrasound earlier this year, and just last weekend Pretty Lights dropped one of Stryker’s tunes out in New York. When the headliners are pulling your music into their sets, you know you’re on the right track.
Chef Boyarbeatz
This one is well… bittersweet. Secret Dreams is one of the final stops for Chef Boyarbeatz before he retires the alias for good. On its own, it makes his set a can’t-miss. But don’t let the goodbye fool you into thinking this is a victory lap. He’s way too talented a producer to let it end quietly there, and if you haven’t caught the Chef live, this is your chance before the kitchen closes. He makes some of the nastiest garage, deep dub, and DnB this very scene has to offer. His live sets are actually mayhem. True to his “big blend business” slogan, he blends seamlessly, doubling & tripling tracks, flipping them into mashups that have zero business going as hard as they do. Catch him on one of his last sets as Chef, you’ll be telling people you were there.
Pretty Lights
Do I even need to explain this one? Pretty Lights is your well-deserving headliner, and this year, the stakes are as high as they’ve ever been. Fresh off announcing a brand new tour and finally, FINALLY dropping new music, the project has the whole scene losing its mind, and we can all finally stop bitching and moaning for “nunu”. Last year, PL delivered what I personally think was the best PL set ever, and somehow 2026 raises that bar yet again. We’re getting two nights of Pretty Lights, count ’em, TWO. The reshaped live band brings Michal Menert on samples and guitar, Alvin Ford Jr. holding down the drums, Derek himself manning the Soundship Space Bus, and Borahm Lee on keys and bass. Ladies & gentlemen, these are the sets you are probably planning your entire weekend around. Here comes Pretty Lights LIVE.
Of The Trees
Of The Trees is returning to Secret Dreams after throwing down last year at Legend Valley, and he’s arriving on a heater of a run. He’s playing this set just a weekend after hosting his own festival, Camp Alderwild, up in Telluride. Our beloved tree boy also performed at some of the largest festivals in the country: from Bonnaroo, to Electric Forest, and earlier this year he took his “Park Service” tour across the country, bringing all-stars like Jade Cicada, Chmura, and Snuffy along with him in support of his acclaimed album Moonglade Park. Simply put: Of The Trees is crushing it right now, and his cinematic, nature-based sets are a journey every single time. Do not miss his return to Ohio.
Mickman
The Peoria, Illinois native has been stacking up one of the most impressive discographies in the scene, and with a plethora of new music in the works and being released, there’s never been a better time to watch him. It’s really cool seeing Mickman take his signature sound and turn festival stages, like the Elements water stage, into a dance party. He’s played Dreams the past few years too, which makes him a bit of a veteran around these parts. This time, we’re getting two sets: a pre-party set Thursday to kick the whole weekend off, and a 4:20 set (yeah, I’m betting on a 4:20 pm start) to keep the party rolling. We are beyond stoked. His Resonate performance had us screaming and shaking our feathers, and we expect nothing less this time around. Long may the (Mick)man reign, and may his beautiful soul (and music) continue to shine.
Detox Unit
Another one getting two sets, and another one you cannot afford to sleep on. Detox Unit crushed the pre-party last year, but it was the year before that he truly stole our hearts, as he threw down a sunrise set where he famously used an OG telephone as his headphones to mix his tunes. Now he’s driving into Dreams (probably in a souped-up Jeep) fresh off his new EP Schematic, his first original body of work in three years. He’s one of the very best producers this realm has to offer, and when you hear the crowd roar, you’ll find that to be true. Whether it’s his unreleased Simon Says remix or his Whole Lotta Money flip, when Detox is behind the decks, it’s going to get ratchet. Bring your energy!
Daily Bread
They said let this bread breathe, and Dreams gave him two whole sets to do it. The Atlanta producer bakes his sound low and slow into one big ol’ loaf. The lineup lists ‘Philos takeover,’ which, my guess, is that the whole bakery is rolling through. One of the most talented crews in this very scene is going to be showing up and showing out. The man sells out merch within minutes and has vinyl reselling for hundreds of dollars. Getting not one, but two servings is an absolute feast. He continues to cruise with flying colors as he blesses us with soulful melodies, nasty hip hop hooks, and bass flare that kneads into the Daily Bread sound we all know and love. We’re excited to bake and break bread with the family. Taking care of yourself at the festival also means not skipping the two most important meals of the weekend.
Emancipator
This is a booking that makes you stop and say “damn”, especially because it’s a sunrise set. Tough to imagine a more perfect pairing of artist and time slot. Portland-based Emancipator has spent two decades crafting some of the most gorgeous downtempo out there. By weaving classical strings, deep-cut samples, and live instrumentation, Emancipator‘s music feels tailor-made for watching the sun smile at us upon the horizon like the Teletubbies or something. Classically trained on the violin since he was a kid, he brings a sense of musicality to the electronic space very few can match. Catching an artist like this as the sky goes from dark to light is a moment that you will wish you relived for years. Do whatever you can to stay up for this one: coffee, tea, Yerba, (my personal favorite) Celsius, mid-day nap. It’s going to be absolutely transcendent.
Wonky Llama
To quote the wondrous Anderson.Paak, “you might never, ever come down…” Here comes the one everybody is whispering about. The Wonky Llama debut. This is a collaborative project that makes its first-ever appearance on a stage, right here at Dreams. If we told you who was behind it, you’d understand why the scene is losing its mind about it. Let’s just say it’s two absolute titans of experimental bass, two names that have shaped the sound design of this entire realm. And they’re joining forces after teasing and releasing new music together about a decade ago. They’ve never performed as Wonky Llama until now, and Ohio will get the world premiere. This is going to be an absolute fuckening that shakes the planes and rumbles the earth. DO NOT, under any circumstances, miss this set.
FOLLOW SECRET DREAMS FESTIVAL:
Website | Instagram | Facebook
With a new venue and its biggest lineup yet, Secret Dreams 2026 is loaded.
If our lineup breakdown didn’t already clarify, then let us speak plainly: just trust Secret Dreams. Sure, a couple of familiar faces won’t be gracing the stage this year. But if there’s one thing this festival has earned over the years, it’s the benefit of the doubt. Dreams has ALWAYS found a way to deliver, and 2026 will be no different. Before you get lost in a lineup this deep, here are 12 artists we think you absolutely cannot miss.
Come Back to Earth (Mac Miller Live Band Tribute)
There’s a reason this crew keeps getting the call back to Dreams year after year. Billed as the first (and only) Mac Miller tribute band out there, Come Back to Earth resurrects Mac’s eternal catalog. Watching a full-ass live band come together to honor Mac’s discography just isn’t the same as opposed to listening to it at home. They usually play in the daytime, so catch them, soak it in, and let it wreck you a little.
Bread Winner
Bread Winner has quietly become one of the most respected names in what I call left-field bass. If you don’t believe me, the cosigns speak for themselves: when you’ve been tapped on the shoulder to open for Tipper at both Suwannee and Tipsgiving, you’ve officially received the blessing of the Daves. And well, that’s about as high as certification gets in this scene. But if you don’t believe that, listen to the range in his music. On one end, he’ll drop absolute heaters, and his recent Valero Bebop EP proves he can still dominate the uptempo & bangers side of things. On the other, he will flip to the slower and headier beat work he showed us all over last year’s Dubular. In my eyes, there are few producers that move between the bangers and the beats as smoothly as he does, and even fewer make it look this easy.
Humandala
Harrisburg’s finest has been on an absolute tear, and for the second year in a row, Secret Dreams is lucky to have him. A Colony Productions superstar, Humandala earned his spot on our best EPs list last year with the razor-sharp Cloak & Dagger EP. His Red October single with Hoopla, dropped earlier this year, was an outright smash. Numbers and cosigns aside, what you need to know is: he produces some of the most fuck-your-face, dance-your-tail-off uptempo music we’ve ever heard. It’s music that touches on every pocket of the sonic spectrum and blends the dark with the light. Get to his set early – I promise you won’t find yourself standing still.
3420
What makes 3420 so special is that it’s three gifted musicians pouring their individual talents into this one project. Stryker, Josh, and Marty each bring their own sound and instrument, and watching those worlds culminate into one live electronic music act is a treat every time. The signature 3420 sound is the blend of live instrumentation with groovy and nasty bass music. And they are absolutely crushing it right now. They played their first Infrasound earlier this year, and just last weekend Pretty Lights dropped one of Stryker’s tunes out in New York. When the headliners are pulling your music into their sets, you know you’re on the right track.
Chef Boyarbeatz
This one is well… bittersweet. Secret Dreams is one of the final stops for Chef Boyarbeatz before he retires the alias for good. On its own, it makes his set a can’t-miss. But don’t let the goodbye fool you into thinking this is a victory lap. He’s way too talented a producer to let it end quietly there, and if you haven’t caught the Chef live, this is your chance before the kitchen closes. He makes some of the nastiest garage, deep dub, and DnB this very scene has to offer. His live sets are actually mayhem. True to his “big blend business” slogan, he blends seamlessly, doubling & tripling tracks, flipping them into mashups that have zero business going as hard as they do. Catch him on one of his last sets as Chef, you’ll be telling people you were there.
Pretty Lights
Do I even need to explain this one? Pretty Lights is your well-deserving headliner, and this year, the stakes are as high as they’ve ever been. Fresh off announcing a brand new tour and finally, FINALLY dropping new music, the project has the whole scene losing its mind, and we can all finally stop bitching and moaning for “nunu”. Last year, PL delivered what I personally think was the best PL set ever, and somehow 2026 raises that bar yet again. We’re getting two nights of Pretty Lights, count ’em, TWO. The reshaped live band brings Michal Menert on samples and guitar, Alvin Ford Jr. holding down the drums, Derek himself manning the Soundship Space Bus, and Borahm Lee on keys and bass. Ladies & gentlemen, these are the sets you are probably planning your entire weekend around. Here comes Pretty Lights LIVE.
Of The Trees
Of The Trees is returning to Secret Dreams after throwing down last year at Legend Valley, and he’s arriving on a heater of a run. He’s playing this set just a weekend after hosting his own festival, Camp Alderwild, up in Telluride. Our beloved tree boy also performed at some of the largest festivals in the country: from Bonnaroo, to Electric Forest, and earlier this year he took his “Park Service” tour across the country, bringing all-stars like Jade Cicada, Chmura, and Snuffy along with him in support of his acclaimed album Moonglade Park. Simply put: Of The Trees is crushing it right now, and his cinematic, nature-based sets are a journey every single time. Do not miss his return to Ohio.
Mickman
The Peoria, Illinois native has been stacking up one of the most impressive discographies in the scene, and with a plethora of new music in the works and being released, there’s never been a better time to watch him. It’s really cool seeing Mickman take his signature sound and turn festival stages, like the Elements water stage, into a dance party. He’s played Dreams the past few years too, which makes him a bit of a veteran around these parts. This time, we’re getting two sets: a pre-party set Thursday to kick the whole weekend off, and a 4:20 set (yeah, I’m betting on a 4:20 pm start) to keep the party rolling. We are beyond stoked. His Resonate performance had us screaming and shaking our feathers, and we expect nothing less this time around. Long may the (Mick)man reign, and may his beautiful soul (and music) continue to shine.
Detox Unit
Another one getting two sets, and another one you cannot afford to sleep on. Detox Unit crushed the pre-party last year, but it was the year before that he truly stole our hearts, as he threw down a sunrise set where he famously used an OG telephone as his headphones to mix his tunes. Now he’s driving into Dreams (probably in a souped-up Jeep) fresh off his new EP Schematic, his first original body of work in three years. He’s one of the very best producers this realm has to offer, and when you hear the crowd roar, you’ll find that to be true. Whether it’s his unreleased Simon Says remix or his Whole Lotta Money flip, when Detox is behind the decks, it’s going to get ratchet. Bring your energy!
Daily Bread
They said let this bread breathe, and Dreams gave him two whole sets to do it. The Atlanta producer bakes his sound low and slow into one big ol’ loaf. The lineup lists ‘Philos takeover,’ which, my guess, is that the whole bakery is rolling through. One of the most talented crews in this very scene is going to be showing up and showing out. The man sells out merch within minutes and has vinyl reselling for hundreds of dollars. Getting not one, but two servings is an absolute feast. He continues to cruise with flying colors as he blesses us with soulful melodies, nasty hip hop hooks, and bass flare that kneads into the Daily Bread sound we all know and love. We’re excited to bake and break bread with the family. Taking care of yourself at the festival also means not skipping the two most important meals of the weekend.
Emancipator
This is a booking that makes you stop and say “damn”, especially because it’s a sunrise set. Tough to imagine a more perfect pairing of artist and time slot. Portland-based Emancipator has spent two decades crafting some of the most gorgeous downtempo out there. By weaving classical strings, deep-cut samples, and live instrumentation, Emancipator‘s music feels tailor-made for watching the sun smile at us upon the horizon like the Teletubbies or something. Classically trained on the violin since he was a kid, he brings a sense of musicality to the electronic space very few can match. Catching an artist like this as the sky goes from dark to light is a moment that you will wish you relived for years. Do whatever you can to stay up for this one: coffee, tea, Yerba, (my personal favorite) Celsius, mid-day nap. It’s going to be absolutely transcendent.
Wonky Llama
To quote the wondrous Anderson.Paak, “you might never, ever come down…” Here comes the one everybody is whispering about. The Wonky Llama debut. This is a collaborative project that makes its first-ever appearance on a stage, right here at Dreams. If we told you who was behind it, you’d understand why the scene is losing its mind about it. Let’s just say it’s two absolute titans of experimental bass, two names that have shaped the sound design of this entire realm. And they’re joining forces after teasing and releasing new music together about a decade ago. They’ve never performed as Wonky Llama until now, and Ohio will get the world premiere. This is going to be an absolute fuckening that shakes the planes and rumbles the earth. DO NOT, under any circumstances, miss this set.
FOLLOW SECRET DREAMS FESTIVAL:
Website | Instagram | Facebook
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