Bruce Springsteen, Liam Gallagher, Noah Kahan and now some of the biggest stars in electronic and dance music.

Boucher Playing Fields is preparing to host another major music event in 2024, with around 70,000 fans set to flock to the south Belfast venue for the Emerge dance festival.

The acts include Belfast DJ KAD, who will open one of the stages on Saturday.

She joins over 80 other artists including Peggy Gou and Patrick Topping.

Earlier on Saturday, police reminded Emerge visitors and those collecting the vehicle that passengers are not allowed to get out of their vehicles and walk on the hard shoulder in traffic jams on the M1 motorway.

“The hard shoulder of a motorway is also not a waiting area for those picking up people from the event at Boucher,” the PSNI said, adding that walking along the motorway was an offence.

KAD – or Kerryann Denny – is 28 and became a DJ about three years ago after her boyfriend gave her a set of turntables for Christmas.

“There wasn’t that much female talent, so it was embarrassing at first,” she told BBC News NI. “I thought, what will people think?”

“I’ve always been obsessed with music, always been obsessed with festivals and concerts.

“My mom always used to joke that I would dance to the sound of two spoons banging together. Anywhere there was a noise, I was there.”

Her boyfriend, her sister and her friends are her biggest fans, she said.

And their parents prefer watching videos to going to concerts.

Three years ago, Kerryann attended Emerge as a fan.

She said: “Everyone I saw here and everyone I knew said, ‘That’s going to be you’ and ‘That’s going to be you.'”

And they weren’t wrong.

Last year she was booked for the Emerging Talent Stage.

Now she has the “surreal” experience of playing in front of about 7,000 people in one of the festival’s larger tents, Shine.

There is nothing better than the crowds in Belfast, she added.

As for the set, “everything is a secret,” but a lot of energy is promised.

Her advice to other aspiring DJs: “Don’t worry about what people think, because look where I am now. I’m going to play here on Saturday, so just do it.”

KAD said that in addition to her hard work, she has achieved a lot in her career so far.

“When I dance in the crowd, I always see myself on that stage and that’s where it led.”

As for the future, KAD said she loves playing in tents and hopes to move up a spot next year.

Joe Dougan, organizer of Emerge, said this year’s festival had been planned for “about a year and a half.”

“It’s a big job to create the audio-visual experience, supply screens, CO2, fireworks and all that stuff, and then all the talent as well.”

He added that Belfast is a little different to other markets when it comes to dance music.

“It’s a very good market. There’s a really good local scene here, both in Northern Ireland and across the island of Ireland,” he said.

“Belfast has a big penchant for harder dance music, techno and some of the more commercial stuff works really well too.”

This year the festival promises new and international acts that have never played in the city before, such as Brutilismus3000.

“This is their very first show and they’re playing as Third Down on the main stage, so it’s a big deal,” Mr Dougan explained.

“The audience experience is, in my opinion, much better than last year. We’ve invested a lot of money to make it really dynamic and interesting and world class.

“And I’m really curious to see what people think about it.”

Joe said that he not only wants to plan the festival, but also enjoy it as a fan and is looking forward to the KAD tent, which will be “like a big nightclub”.

The organizer advises visitors to “look at everything” and make a plan, as there will “inevitably be overlaps between the stages.”

All times can be found on the Emerge website.

Boucher Road Fields can be reached by public transport, on foot, by car or by taxi.

On Saturday, the PSNI advised Emerge participants and those dropping them off that passengers must not exit their vehicle and walk along the hard shoulder while queuing on the motorway.

The PSNI also reminded the public that parking on the hard shoulder of the motorways behind Tennent’s Vital is illegal.

“Apart from the obvious danger, the hard shoulder, including the exit ramp, is still part of the motorway and it is an offence for anyone to walk on it and for any driver to stop on the hard shoulder unless it is an emergency.”

The problems arose after concerts took place on Boucher Road and large numbers of people were on their way home from the venue.

According to the PSNI, organisers for Emerge will introduce traffic restrictions.

“The area on and around the M1 at the junction of Stockman’s Lane, Stockman’s Lane and Boucher Road will be extremely busy.”

Please note that there is a minimum age of 16 to participate in the festival and that, according to the festival, ID cards will be checked.