The main five
- MUTEK — Montreal, since 2000
- Roughly 100 artists per edition, electronic music crossed with digital creative work. The Montreal flagship (late August) is now accompanied by editions in Mexico City, Tokyo, Barcelona, Dubai, Buenos Aires, and Santiago. Nonotak, Alva Noto, Ryoji Ikeda, and Robert Henke show up regularly.
- Sónar+D — Barcelona; Sónar itself since 1994
- The Creative Tech conference / installation / AV programming sitting alongside Sónar's music festival, held every June. Sónar by Day at CCCB, Sónar by Night at Fira Gran Via. Scale is exceptional — one of the biggest annual stages for VJ and AV artists.
- Mapping Festival — Geneva, since 2005
- Run by Swiss NPO PPING (now Projections Mapping). Projection, AV, and VJ programs across Geneva venues (typically May). A European anchor for projection-mapping culture.
- Scopitone — Nantes, since 2002
- Annual September festival in western France, run by the Songo association (now Stereolux). The name comes from 1960s French video jukeboxes. Focus on AV art, experimental music, and electronica.
- Transmediale / CTM — Berlin
- Transmediale is a 30+ year old digital culture festival. The adjacent CTM Festival (formerly Club Transmediale, until 2005) handles the electronic music and AV-performance side. Late January / February, deep Berlin winter. Academic discourse and forward-club performance in the same week.
Practical notes for a first trip
From Asia, MUTEK Tokyo (December, Ebisu / Daikanyama) and MUTEK Barcelona (March) are the realistic first doors. For the richer experience, MUTEK Montreal (late August) or Sónar+D (June, Barcelona) carry the highest information density of any single trip.
One more if you want the "once in a lifetime" density: Ars Electronica Festival (Linz, Austria, September). Not strictly a VJ festival, but the highest-ceiling AV and media-art showcase in the world, with the Prix Ars Electronica winner exhibitions.