VELD Music Festival (commonly referred to as VELD) is the largest annual electronic dance music festival in Canada, held at Downsview Park in Toronto, Ontario. The festival offers 3 stages, with a mix of Hip Hop artists in the lineup. Since its inception in 2012, the festival attracts crowds numbering in the tens of thousands and notable acts including Martin Garrix, Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Steve Aoki, Zedd, Illenium, Tiesto, etc. The Toronto-native Deadmau5 used to be a first-day headliner for multiple years of the festival. He will be making a return in August, 2023 with a B2B set with Rezz in the alias; Rezzmau5, for the first time ever! Deadmau5 was a headliner of the first ever VELD, and quickly released a song named after the festival; The Veldt, after this groundbreaking moment in VELD’s history, the festival was truly born! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 editions of the event were cancelled. History 2012 In April 2012, a two-day electronic dance music (EDM) festival to be held at Downsview Park in the Toronto area on August 4–5 was announced. The initial line-up included notable EDM acts such as deadmau5, Avicii, Bassnectar, Steve Aoki, Steve Angello, Knife Party, and Nicky Romero. The festival, organized by Charles Khabouth's INK Entertainment, features two neighboring stages and performances by about thirty or so different artists. The event is named after "The Veldt", a song by deadmau5 and a veld, "an Afrikaans word for an open grassland... not unlike the vast field in Downsview Park." On Saturday, August 5, deadmau5 headlined at the first day of the event. The festival was attended by a crowd numbering around 20,000 concertgoers. Despite rain in the early part of his performance, deadmau5 performed to what the Rolling Stone described as an "enraptured" audience in a mood akin to "a glowing Woodstock". As the rain eventually stopped, the DJ would perform a 90-minute set which included songs such as the festival's namesake "The Veldt", "Aural Psynapse" and "Strobe". Besides deadmau5 and the other artists announced earlier, the festival included a performance by Avicii, who performed as the final-day headliner. 2013 Deadmau5 would also headline at the second annual festival held on August 3–4, 2013. The year saw the return of Steve Aoki and Steve Angello along with performances by Dada Life, Kaskade, Above & Beyond, and Madeon. Other local Canadian artists included Adventure Club,