Dance music fans have their favourite venues around Europe where the world's top DJs and dance music performers typically appear. These include of course Ibiza during the summer months but also, in the earlier part of the year, several other holiday resorts get their chance to promote dance music events featuring the stars.

Malta is one of those places and on 6th February top DJ Paul Van Dyk from Germany appeared at the Bay Arena venue in Malta's InterContinental hotel as part of his World Tour. Van Dyk preceded his Malta event with appearances in Brazil the week before and a performance in Italy the day before his trip to St Georges Bay, St Julians. Van Dyk then flew back across the Atlantic for gigs in Canada and the USA. The venue call the event part of their Masterclass series and have been lucky enough in the past to welcome performers such as Pete Tong, Armin van Buuren and David Guetta.

Sharm el Sheikh is another winter sun resort that attracts some of the best dance music artists in the early part of the year. In the past this Red Sea resort has welcomed the likes of DJ Tiesto and Robbie Rivera.

Cyprus also has a popular dance music resort on the east coast and in Ayia Napa this year the clubs are sure to put on events showcasing several big stars, but it's fair to say that the resort's mantle as one of the Med's great clubbing resorts may be fading and moving to the up and coming resorts in southern Turkey, where clubs like the outdoor Halikarnas in Bodrum are very impressive. This club usually opens in mid May when its programme for 2010 will be announced.