John Summit's Experts Only Festival Draws 60,000 to Randall's Island

More than 60,000 fans attended the second edition of John Summit's Experts Only Festival on Randall's Island last weekend, cementing the event's role as New York's largest dance music gathering. The two-day festival featured a lineup that stretched well beyond house, with performances from Subtronics, GRiZ, Levity, OMRI., Taiki Nulight, and LYNY. Summit himself played two solo sets and closed Sunday night back-to-back with Subtronics as Subjohnics.

From Electric Zoo's collapse to a 60,000-person weekend

Randall's Island hosted Electric Zoo nearly every Labor Day Weekend from 2009 until its chaotic 2023 edition, which canceled its opening day at the last minute and ended with fans storming the gates. The festival hasn't returned since, and Avant Gardner, the Brooklyn Mirage parent company that bought the festival in 2022, later went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

When Summit brought Experts Only to the same grounds in 2025, the debut carried tremendous weight for the city's electronic music scene. Tickets sold out, and the event drew 50,000 people. This year's edition raised the stakes with more than 60,000 attendees across the weekend. In a city where local regulations, permits, transit, and noise ordinances make large outdoor events notoriously difficult to stage, that kind of scale is rare.

Subjohnics, GRiZ, and dubstep throwbacks

The festival's curation spanned the electronic spectrum. Levity was revealed as a surprise dubstep headliner a month before the festival and packed out the Mirror Field stage Saturday night, closing with Skrillex's 2011 anthem "Bangarang." GRiZ played his first New York performance since Electric Zoo 2023, delivering a funk-heavy set that peaked with a saxophone mashup of his track "Infinite" and RÜFÜS DU SOL's "Innerbloom." Summit and Subtronics closed Sunday night as Subjohnics, moving from the build-up of Summit's "Shiver" into Subtronics' glitchy "Scream Saver" and then into Summit's 2019 tech house favorite "Trip." GRiZ joined them late in the set for a bass-heavy remix of "Where You Are," accompanied by fireworks.

Production upgrades and smoother operations

The production was a significant upgrade from last year. The main stage featured massive screens, lasers, pyrotechnics, and a sprawling LED-lined double diamond. Mirror Field, tucked away in a grassy area, had sharp lasers, thick fog, and giant mirrors enveloping the dancefloor. Pwemium Wounge showcased local New York house talent with a minimal setup and underground feel.

The weekend ran smoothly. Outside of peak hours, festival entry was seamless, and lines for restrooms, water, and drinks were reasonable. The MTA's X80 bus, an express shuttle that runs between Manhattan and Randall's Island only during large-scale special events, made getting out a breeze, though those who opted to walk the bridge faced unavoidable narrow walkways.