10.

Manana Cuba

Teatro Heredia, Santiago De Cuba, Cuba

May 4 - May 6

The end of the US embargo of Cuba was an historic event, and Manana festival is taking the opportunity to bring the island's rich music culture into contact with electronic music from across the globe. Running from May 4th to 6th in Santiago De Cuba, Manana will pair local artists with international guests for collaborative performances that'll see unknown Afro-Cuban artists interacting with names like Plaid. Gifted & Blessed is one of those teaming with Cuban musicians, while On-U Sound head Adrian Sherwood will perform with Skip McDonald. A Guy Called Gerald and Nicolas Jaar are two of the biggest acts on the bill, but it's the local artists who'll give Manana its unique flavour.

RA Pick: Ariwo is a Cuban/Iranian trio that sounds like Shackleton stranded on a desert island.

09.

Villette Sonique

Paris, France

May 27 - June 1

When you're in a city as beautiful as Paris, you should make the most of it, and Villette Sonique helps you do just that. During the day, the action goes down in the lush Parc De La Villette, a massive green space in Paris's 19th arrondissement. At night, things move to La Grande Halle, a similarly impressive slaughterhouse-turned-concert space. This year, these lovely locations will host a top-shelf lineup of house DJs, techno experimentalists, rappers and rock groups. The likes of Helena Hauff and Lena Willikens are billed alongside Berlin legends such as Mark Ernestus and Smith N Hack, the beloved project of Soundstream and Errorsmith.

RA Pick: Helena Hauff is a mixing master with great taste, which makes her a must-see.

08.

The Star Festival

Nantan, Japan

May 21 - May 22

Judging from the photos, there's plenty to do besides party at Star Festival. Held in the lush, mountainous surrounds of Nantan, a city in Japan's Kyoto Prefecture, the three-day camping festival offers yoga sessions, children's activities and even allows you to bring your dog. But for all its family-friendly appeal, it's also a serious dance music event, with the likes of Move D, Avalon Emerson, Pinch, DJ Nobu, Mumdance and Fumiya Tanaka all playing in 2016.

RA Pick: If you're travelling from abroad, this is your chance to catch DJ Nobu on home soil.

07.

Together Festival

Boston, US

May 15 - May 22

There aren't too many party options this weekend in Boston. And the same is true of next weekend. Simply put, the city, like many of its equivalents in the US, has a very small but dedicated scene. So you can imagine the explosion of excitement each year when this happens. In his glowing recent reviews of the festival, Andrew Ryce kept coming back to the sheer joy the annual Together festival creates among its local crowd. But whether you're from Boston or not, it's an incredibly rare treat to see globally-renowned names performing at venues like the 120-capacity Middlesex Lounge, which this year hosts Ben UFO, Bicep, Optimo, Henrik Schwarz and many others. Boston might not have a world-beating scene 51 weeks of the year, but for one weekend in May it's overflowing with two things we crave most from parties: energy and intimacy.

RA pick: RA is returning to Together with Jon Hopkins and KiNK in tow at The Middle East on the Friday.

06.

Further Future

Moapa River Indian Reservation, Las Vegas, US

April 29 - May 1

Las Vegas isn't a place you'd usually associate with underground electronic sounds. In the past few years, the desert city has become a hub for big-budget dance music, where gigantic DJ fees and EDM superstars reign supreme. Further Future, now in its second year, is helmed by one of the organisers of Robot Heart, a collective best known for their arena at the nearby Burning Man festival. In late April, a few thousand people will descend on the sprawling Moapa River Indian Reservation, a short drive from Las Vegas, to catch sets from the likes of Nicolas Jaar, Four Tet and Caribou, along with the more niche sounds of Andy Stott, Oneohtrix Point Never and Donato Dozzy. Further Future's combination of smart sounds in an impressive location won't disappoint.

RA Pick: Get transcendent under the desert sky with Donato Dozzy’s ethereal techno.

05.

Love Saves The Day

Eastville Park, Bristol, UK

May 28 - May 29

If you've not been to Love Saves The Day, think of it as a Bristol version of London's Lovebox or Parklife in Manchester, i.e. a dance festival with an open-minded booking policy and a celebratory atmosphere. For this year's fifth edition, the team returns to Eastville Park for another two days of house, techno, grime, UK garage, drum & bass, pop, R&B, trap and more. Saturday's lineup is heavy on club DJs (Ben Klock, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Roman Flügel, Young Marco), while the likes of Stormzy, Dizzee Rascal, Hudson Mohawke and Awesome Tapes From Africa help make Sunday more eclectic.

RA Pick: Whether or not the sun is shining, Goldie's 20 years of Timeless set should go down a treat.

04.

Lente Kabinet

Het Twiske, Amsterdam, Netherlands

May 28

With each passing year Dekmantel seems to grow exponentially. In 2016 the Dutch collective is heading on their first DJing world tour—South America, Australia, Asia, Europe and the US are all on the itinerary—and they're also launching a new Croatian festival, Selectors, in September. But Lente Kabinet, a daylong event in Amsterdam, is a little different. It's small, and you get the feeling that's the way the organisers want it to stay. In fact, you could argue they've even downsized a bit—in 2016 there's no headline booking like Nicolas Jaar, who topped the bill last year. Both the lineup and the dance floor are dominated by locals, which helps create an easy-going, communal feel that stands in contrast to the charged atmosphere you get at bigger festivals.

RA Pick: Don't miss the chance to catch a live show from Gesloten Cirkel, one of electronic music's more reclusive figures.

03.

Moogfest

Durham, US

May 19 - May 22

When Bob Moog moved his company from New York to North Carolina in 1978 he said, "One doesn't hear much talk of synthesizers here… it's easy to get a good perspective on the electronic musical instrument scene." This same desire to get away from the big smoke for a better view of developments in electronic music underpins Moogfest. This year's edition takes place in the unlikely location of Durham (a town once known for its tobacco manufacturing), which for four days will be made over by everyone from Veronica Vasicka and DJ Harvey to Laurie Anderson and Sunn O))). Expect to see Buchla pioneer Suzanne Ciani, grime don Skepta, Wu-Tang alumni GZA and Gary Newman's synth pop alongside Juliana Huxtable, Kyle Hall, Paula Temple and The Orb.

RA Pick: Jlin's loose-limbed live sets keep getting better.

02.

Nuits Sonores

Lyon, France

May 4 - May 8

Lyon's Nuits Sonores is reaching the end of an era in 2016. This year's event will be the last to take place in the Confluence neighbourhood, with Ancien Marché De Gros—a former wholesale market that is perfect for hosting a festival—being redeveloped into offices. Organisers will continue with the curator concept they started in 2015, with Motor City Drum Ensemble, Seth Troxler and Laurent Garnier all taking over one day's programming each. All three have opted for some curveball selections, with the likes of Tony Allen, Mathew Jonson, Sadar Bahar and French pianist Chassol among the artists joining them.

RA Pick: Out-of-town guests should make the most of the Thursday night programme that takes place across Lyon—it's a great way to explore the city.

01.

Movement

Hart Plaza, Detroit, US

May 28 - May 30

Going to a techno festival in Detroit is like going to a chili festival in New Mexico, or a blues festival in Memphis—what you're seeing is a local community proudly serving up one of its main cultural exports. More than just a well-curated event, Movement is a celebration of techno and the city where it came from. The sense of history in the air is palpable, from the generations of local luminaries on the Made In Detroit stage to the towers of General Motors HQ looming overhead. But Movement is by no means only about Detroit techno—it's the contrasts of old and new, hard and groovy, party-rocking and experimental, that make the festival pop. On the one hand you've got Nina Kraviz, The Black Madonna and Caribou, on the other, Juan Atkins and Moritz Von Oswald. There are European favorites like Zip, Scuba and Tale Of Us, and a whole crop of under-appreciated Detroit artists, from Jared Wilson to FIT Siegel to Ectomorph. And, in what might be the festival's biggest coup yet, Movement have booked the act who popularised the idea of electronic music as an art form: Kraftwerk. What better way to mark their tenth anniversary?

RA Pick: We'd really be kidding if we said anything other than Kraftwerk in 3D.

See our full festival listings for May right here.