Why is a German techno institution launching in Boyle Heights?

Time Warp built its reputation over three decades on cutting-edge stage design and marathon DJ sets: founded in 1994 by Steffen Charles, the festival started out near Stuttgart before relocating to Mannheim in 1995, where its flagship edition still fills the 40,000-capacity Maimarkthalle every year on the strength of its production, not just its headliners. That reputation is now being exported piece by piece. Time Warp already runs an annual New York edition it first staged in 2014, and on November 27 and 28, 2026, it adds Los Angeles for the first time, taking over Ace Mission Studios in Boyle Heights.

The venue is new ground even for Ace Mission Studios itself: organizers are activating roughly 400,000 square feet of the property's Ace Warehouses, former beverage-distribution buildings, for the first time as an event space, spread across three stages. Programming runs 2pm to 2am on both days, close to 24 hours of music across the weekend. Tickets go on presale August 14 at 12pm PT, with general sale following at 1pm PT the same day, split into General Admission and Stage Access. The lineup has not been announced.

What's actually in the deal with Insomniac?

Time Warp LA isn't a one-off booking, it's the latest stop on a plan that started in October 2024, when Cosmopop, the German company behind Time Warp, signed an international expansion partnership with Insomniac, the promoter behind EDC and one of the biggest names in North American dance music. At the time, Cosmopop co-founder Steffen Charles was blunt about why a festival with Time Warp's reputation needed outside money: "Time Warp isn't an event where you can simply break even in a new city, it requires significant investment and a commitment to maintaining our uncompromising standards of quality." The 2024 deal named Brazil, Spain and New York as priority markets, with Miami and Mexico City floated as possibilities; Los Angeles wasn't on that initial list, and it now arrives presented jointly with Insomniac and its house and techno label Factory 93, launched in 2016 as warehouse parties before becoming a record label in 2021.

"Time Warp isn't an event where you can simply break even in a new city, it requires significant investment and a commitment to maintaining our uncompromising standards of quality.", Steffen Charles, Cosmopop co-founder