In Los Angeles, dance music has always lived in two places at once: under the sun in open-air gatherings and deep inside industrial warehouses where basslines echo long past midnight.
For its fifth anniversary, Skyline Festival is leaning into both.
Produced by Insomniac’s Factory 93, Skyline returns Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 28-March 1, with a new downtown home at Ace*Mission Studios, an industrial campus tucked beneath the Sixth Street Bridge in the Arts District. The move is something of an homage to Insomniac’s early days.
“Insomniac began doing events in Los Angeles in 1993, often in illegal warehouses at a time when gatherings that centered this music and subsequent culture weren’t always welcome,” an Insomniac spokesperson said. “Being able to return to this area decades later and hold an event that’s fully backed by our home city is a full-circle moment, honoring the history while showing how far the culture has come.”
The site selection was intentional. Skyline has evolved through several downtown venues over the years, but Ace*Mission offers the ability to move fluidly between open-air programming and raw warehouse interiors, a duality that mirrors how dance culture has historically existed in Los Angeles.
By day, the energy stretches outward with groove-driven house and techno unfolding in sunlit spaces. As night settles in, the focus tightens indoors, where darker, longer-form sets and immersive sound systems take over. The newly added Downtown Stage, curated in partnership with Resident Advisor, will lean into that deeper club ethos, featuring artists like Richie Hawtin, Avalon Emerson, SPFDJ and Ben UFO in an audio setup designed for full-floor immersion.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of Factory 93, the Insomniac brand rooted in warehouse culture and named for the year the company was founded.
Among those regional voices is Los Angeles DJ Juliet Mendoza, who will perform on the Arts District stage. For Mendoza, the move to Ace*Mission feels deeply personal. “Spaces like Ace*Mission are sacred in LA’s underground history, so being able to step into that space now feels really special,” she said. “It’s not just about honoring what came before us, it’s about being part of a new beginning.”
Mendoza has been part of Los Angeles’ house scene since her teens, growing up immersed in warehouse parties, backyard functions and DIY spaces. “Music wasn’t just about performance, it was about community, survival, and self-expression,” Mendoza said.
That DIY spirit still shapes her approach. She later founded Jill’s House — also known as Jackin Jills — to create more space for women in DJ booths and leadership roles. “Building that community taught me that my role isn’t just to play music — it’s to open doors,” Mendoza said.
Now, as Skyline prepares to be one of the first major events inside Ace*Mission Studios, she sees the moment as symbolic.
“We’re coming together as the first group to play at Ace*Mission Studios, and that carries a lot of meaning,” she said. “It feels powerful to be part of the artists bringing fresh L.A. energy into the space and helping shape what this next chapter looks like.”
Skyline’s 2026 edition will feature more than 60 artists across four stages — East Side, West Side, Arts District and the new Downtown stage — running more than 10 hours each day. Official afterparties inside the warehouse space will extend the experience beyond the main programming.
“What you see now is a lineup that looks a lot like Los Angeles itself: legacy artists alongside newer international names, with a strong local current running through all of it,” the spokesperson said. “Skyline hasn’t tried to define that evolution as much as create a setting where those different threads can meet and be experienced collectively.”
For Mendoza, that collective spirit is the point.
“It feels like a full-circle moment and the start of something beautiful.”
Insomniac Events: Skyline Festival
When: 1 p.m.-midnight, Saturday, Feb. 28 and Sunday, March 1
Where: Ace * Mission Studios, 516 S Mission Rd, Los Angeles
Tickets: Two-day general passes are sold out; two-day stage access passes start at $695 at skylinefest.com.
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