Whitefish DJ performs at largest dance music festival in North America

Whitefish High School alum Nick Ferrington recently performed at Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), the largest electronic dance music festival in North America.  

Spanning three days, this music festival draws nearly 500,000 attendees. Ferrington says that he has always dreamt of performing at this concert and when he found out that he would be performing, he was ecstatic.  

It was “kind of a dream,” Ferrington said. 

Ferrington has spent the last few years working for the popular Electronic Dance Music (EDM) company Insomniac who puts on the EDC festival every year along with thousands of other popular events.  

Ferrington was fortunate to perform on the stage in the dead center of the venue at sunset.  

“As the sun goes down, you can see the whole place come to life,” Ferrington said. “[I] had to take a few minutes to stop and look around.” 

Ever since he played on turntables for the first time in the seventh grade, Ferrington has been drawn to music, he said.  

He started out renting out halls to perform for his friends in middle school and high school.  

He now currently splits time between Las Vegas, working for Insomniac, and Whitefish mainly as a private event DJ.  

He says that he really appreciates the music industry scene in Vegas because it is a city filled with young, aspiring DJs. He says that the environment feels very collaborative. 

“We’re all in this together,” he said.  

The industry requires artists to consider what they bring to the table, he said. 

He also appreciates the community aspect of performing in the Flathead Valley.  

“I love coming out to Montana and playing for the scene and the community that’s helped build me so far,” he said.  

This coming weekend, the Area 406 Music and Arts Festival will take place at the Flathead County Fairgrounds in Kalispell for the sixth year.  

Cofounded by Ferrington and partners Seth and Lisa Mcallister in 2021, the festival drew 500 attendees in its inaugural year. Last year there was nearly 1,200 people.  

Ferrington and the Mcallisters are excited to add more life to the festival this year.  

They want the entire festival to be “full of things to do, look at, and experience,” Ferrington said. 

Ferrington said that their goal is for it to not just be a concert, but to be an experience. 

One of his favorite parts of the festival is the opportunity that it gives him to leave a good impression of small town performing on the headliners who come to town not necessarily knowing what to expect.  

He is also excited to announce that there will be more local artists performing at the festival this year.  

Ferrington hopes to release more original music and play at more festivals in the future.  

He is excited to continue unraveling his new chapter in Vegas with his fiancé who he proposed to immediately after his performance at EDC, and to keep meeting great people.  

“I try to take it one day at a time,” he said. “I just love DJing.” 

For more information about the 406 Music and Arts Festival taking place June 26-28 see www.area406festival.com 

    Whitefish DJ Nick Ferrington in 2024. The Area 406 Music and Arts Festival is this weekend. (Kimberly Feist / Feist photography)