Irena Kaci and Kevin La
Breakaway Music Festival returns to Worcester’s Palladium (261 Main St.) on August 21 and 22 bringing a weekend filled with house, dubstep and everything in between. Launched in 2013, Breakaway is the largest touring music festival in North America, with tour stops from Las Vegas to New York City, and many more throughout the country. Whether you’re totally new to the world of electronic music or a lifelong raver, Breakaway will welcome you in, and this year’s lineup is on track to be the best yet.
Breakaway 101
Breakaway’s mission has always been to make electronic music accessible and live music an immersive experience. The festival is centered around two genres: house music, which is what you’d expect to hear in a club, and dubstep, think heavy sounds and bass. Breakaway will bring a number of international stars to Worcester. Gryffin is well known for his melodic take on dubstep, and has even collaborated with Noah Kahan on “Need Your Love”. Fans always turn out for dubstep artist Excision’s wild laser shows and consider his Lost Lands Festival to be the Disney World of Electronic Festivals. The biggest artist performing is German DJ, Zedd, who will be fresh off his own festival in NYC, Zedd in the Park. Zedd has worked with Ariana Grande on “Break Free” and Selena Gomez.
Breakaway’s three stages will offer nonstop performances throughout the weekend. The main stage will be in the back of the Palladium, and the space will also include sponsors and local vendors selling everything from rave ware to Breakaway merch. The Silent Disco stage is also outside, across from the venue’s entrace while the Launch Pad stage will be indoors. Breakaway will run giveaways throughout the weekend, and past years harm reduction group, EndOverdose, has offered free Narcan with a brief training on how to use it, as part of the festival’s effort to lookout for everyone’s well being.
Breakaway provides headphone while three DJs play various genres at the same time for the Silent Disco. Each DJ has their own color, and the headphones will display the color showing everyone around you who you’re listening to. The Silent Disco is packed with impressive local and national DJs, including local talent Matt Cross AKA Phantasm and Matt Chelon. Phantasm will be with the festival for the third year in a row and has histrocially performed all original music during his Silent Disco set. “Worcester is my hometown. I think getting a major festival in the heart of the city, as well as one of the most historic venues in MA, is amazing. Honored to be a part of it in any way I can. The lineup is amazing, the Silent Disco local talent is stacked and the vibes are always immaculate.”
Worcester is the Pefect Fit
Initially held in Boston for its Massachusetts stop, Breakaway moved to Worcester as its city of choice in 2024. Worcester’s accessibility from all points in New England made it a more attractive choice for travelers and allowed Breakaway to rebrand itself as Breakaway Mass instead of Breakaway Boston. President of Breakaway Jarrod Fucci explains, “Worcester was a natural choice because it’s centrally located and easily accessible for fans traveling from across New England. It’s also home to a vibrant college community, with several universities nearby that help create an energetic atmosphere and make it a great destination for a music festival. Combined with our strong partnership with our host venue, The Palladium, it was the ideal place to bring the Breakaway Music Festival to life.”
Local Artists Shine
Local act Carson “COWSON” Borr, who will be opening the mainstage this year, agrees that Worcester is the right fit. “The Palladium is a great venue for this music festival especially because of its distinct indoor and outdoor spaces. From my personal experience, the city has been welcoming and accommodating for this event. I am very thankful to the city of Worcester and its residents to be willing to host this festival for the past few years.”
Chelon also appreciates the change: “One of the great things about having this in Worcester is it is a shorter drive for many people coming from New York and Connecticut! With two stages, more big-name artists were able to play and the crowd felt much more energetic!”
Past DJs include Pulse Magazine’s 2025 ‘Person To Watch’ Ryan Borbone AKA K1N. Borbone is a former headliner for Silent Disco at Breakaway. “I think the Silent Disco is a wicked addition that Breakaway includes in their event, and not just in Massachusetts. Silent Disco showcases a ton of raw, underground talent in the space – it’s a great place to build your reputation and have people dance to your music. My personal approach to this set was to simply have fun. I’m mainly a Dubstep DJ and music producer, but that night I played drum and bass and a bunch of other genres.” He also shared some advice for any future DJs. “If you want to play your music, do it. If you want to play your favorite remix of a song nobody knows, do it. Surprise people, keep it fresh, and be yourself.”
Opening Mainstage and local act, COWSON has been with Breakaway since 2023, where he DJ’d for the Silent Disco during the festival’s last year in Boston. He followed the festival to Worcester in 2024 playing on the main stage. In 2025, his set was cut out due to weather conditions, and he only participated in the Palladium after party. Because of this, he views this upcoming show as his ‘redemption set’ so he intends to ‘pull out all the stops’. Pulse caught up with Borr to learn a bit about his plan of attack. “I have a lot of new original music that I am really excited to premiere. I really want to treat those that show up to the festival early to support the local artists. I plan to play some high energy music and to get silly with people to loosen things up. My shows typically include a lot of different sub-genres of electronic music – typically leaning dubstep and drum and bass. I like to include elements of internet meme culture and some funny pop culture references in some of the songs that I play, which usually make for some ridiculous moments too.”
Chelon has been a fixture at Breakaway since the start, but this year will be his second year as a performer. To keep things unique, Chelon will focus on K-pop tracks and remixes as a counterpoint to the EDM that dominates the scene. He names Johnny Chay and IZNYRS as some of his inspirations. “I’m super excited to be playing my second year here, and even more excited that Massachusetts has gotten, what I believe to be, the best of all Breakaway lineups, both past and present! The EDM scene in the Greater Boston area is growing rapidly and I’m very happy that I get to be a part of it.”
Worcester Love
With music lovers descending upon Worcester in droves, the local economy is seeing the impact. Breakaway Public Relations Manager Ashlee Wingate shares the ways in which the Festival has an impact on the community. “We use Off the Rails Restaurant for catering to provide meals for all staff, artists, and their teams from Wednesday through Sunday. We reserve approximately 90–100 hotel rooms for staff, vendors, and key personnel at hotels throughout the surrounding area. Our concessionaire employs around 200 local food and beverage staff each day of the event. Through our labor provider, we hire around 60 local laborers to support the event load-in and load-out across multiple days.”
That lineup doesn’t even cover the impact that Breakaway will have on our local restaurants. Deadhorse Hill, Chashu Ramen, and Armsby Abbey are just a few places that will host out of town guests and local music enthusiasts during the festival.
Armsby Abbey (144 Main Street) has been operational for nearly two decades, and is conveniently located located just three minutes away from The Palladium. Famous for its craft beer selection and charcuterie options, Armsby Abbey offers decadence and convenience at the same time. Chashu Ramen + Izakaya (38 Franklin Street) has a comprehensive menu of options from ramen to sushi. Lastly, deadhorse hill (281 Main Street) is The Palladium’s neighbor and one of Worcester’s hidden gems where you are guarenteed a truly special experience. Reservations in advance are recommended for any of the three.
Breakaway Music Fest is a harbinger of Worcester’s climb into the national stage. With each passing year, Breakaway draws more and more music lovers to the scene, elevating the Palladium as well as our local businesses. But perhaps the most important contribution is the incredible boost afforded to our local musicians and DJ’s. As headliner COWSON puts it, “I am really grateful to the Breakaway Music Festival team for giving local artists opportunities like this to play on bigger stages and platforms to grow. Personally, I never thought I’d have opportunities like this when I was first starting to DJ.”
