CRSSD Festival returns to San Diego's Waterfront Park at the end of September, bringing another sprawling lineup across its waterfront stages. With so much on offer over the weekend, narrowing down a schedule is no small task. Here are five sets worth building your CRSSD around.
There's a particular kind of joy that comes with an outdoor festival by the water, and CRSSD has built its reputation on exactly that. Waterfront Park does the heavy lifting: palm trees, a sea breeze, San Diego sunshine, and skyline views that make even a bar queue feel like part of the experience. Add a lineup that stretches from headline house to hardware-only techno, and it's easy to see why CRSSD has become a fixture on the festival calendar rather than just another stop on the circuit.
Taking place on the weekend of 26th and 27th September, this year's edition is as broad as ever, which is exactly the problem. You never get to see everyone you want to see. The options are too numerous, so you have to be choosy. If you are not sure what to attend, these five suggestions should act as a guide, and you can go from there.
For anyone new to CRSSD, the festival runs across three stages, each with its own character. Ocean View lives up to its name, an open-air stage looking straight out over the water, usually reserved for the biggest names on the bill. City Steps takes its cue from an amphitheatre, tiered seating built into the landscape, and tends to host the heavier, more club-focused sets. Palms is the smallest and most intimate of the three, tucked among, unsurprisingly, palm trees, and is where you'll often find the more leftfield or underground bookings.
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Mochakk
Few DJs have had a rise as steep as Mochakk's. Born Pedro Maia in Sorocaba, São Paulo, he started producing hip-hop beats at 13 and was DJing locally by 15, drawing on a childhood soundtrack of jazz, funk, disco and Brazilian bass. That range still defines him. His sets weave classic house, hip-hop, techno, and Latin rhythms into something hard to pin down yet easy to love.
His 2022 breakout year, propelled by viral clips of him dancing behind the decks and tracks like "Sombrero Sam", turned him into a fixture of Ibiza's Circoloco residency. Since then he's released the acclaimed "Locomotiva Ibiza 2099" EPs, opened his own club, OBLIQO, in his hometown, and climbed into DJ Mag's Top 100. He headlines CRSSD's Ocean View stage this year, and it's a fitting stage for an artist who has become one of house music's most magnetic live presences.
Catch Mochakk at Ocean View on Sat 26th.
horsegiirL
There is no artist on this list quite like horsegiirL. Performing behind a chestnut horse head mask and going by the alter ego Stella Stallion, the Berlin-based DJ and producer has built a devoted following on a diet of happy hardcore, Eurodance and hyperpop mashups, delivered with a wink and total commitment to the bit.
Her rise began with a HÖR Berlin set in 2022, only her second public performance, followed by a Boiler Room appearance that turned her into a genuine phenomenon. Viral tracks like "My Barn, My Rules" and "Pegasus" racked up millions of streams, and she's since signed to Live From Earth and RCA. Beneath the absurdist theatre is a serious selec