Editor's note: This piece is a developing story, and will be updated when the student DJ winner is announced.
The Slope Day Programming Board has announced The Chainsmokers as the headliner for Slope Day 2026 and Daya as the supporting performer, at Thursday night’s student DJ competition in the Willard Straight Hall Browsing Library. The winning student DJ will be announced on the Slope Day Instagram.
Five Cornell student DJs — DJ Kav, SIDEPROJECT, ACID, Arsch x Danik and Sam Chitgopekar — competed live for the spot in the Slope Day lineup in a boiler room-style event, performing sets across house, techno, hip-hop and other genres. The winning student DJ will open Slope Day as gates open at 11:30 a.m.
The Chainsmokers are a Grammy-winning pop and electronic dance music duo made up of Drew Taggart and Alex Pall best known for their hit songs “Something Just Like This,” “Closer” and “Don’t Let Me Down.”
Pop singer-songwriter Daya will be the supporting act. She is best known for her songs “Hide Away,” “Sit Still, Look Pretty” and her feature on “Don’t Let Me Down” by The Chainsmokers.
The Chainsmokers’ performance at Cornell’s Slope Day is the duo’s seventh stop in part one of a college tour, titled “Higher Education,” announced on The Chainsmokers’ Instagram on Tuesday. The tour will start on April 14 at the University of Florida.
Students attending Thursday's DJ competition broke out into cheers after a video announcement of the Slope Day performers was played.
“I was really excited when I heard that The Chainsmokers and Daya were going to perform because the energy of both of the artists are really fun, I think it will be a great artist for Slope Day," Ishani Khanna '29 told The Sun after the event.
Slope Day, an annual outdoor concert held on the University’s Libe Slope, is an end-of-year celebration for the Cornell community that began in 1901. Previous headliners include Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Flo Rida and Gunna.
Slope Day 2026 is scheduled for May 6 and is open to the Cornell student body, faculty and staff. New this year, a limited number of outside guest tickets are available for purchase by current undergraduate seniors. This marks the first time non-Cornell affiliated guests have been able to attend the annual springtime tradition. Guest tickets are priced at $150 on a first come, first served basis. Both seniors and their guests must be 21 or older.
Undergraduate student wristbands are free and can be reserved on Campus Groups. Wristband pickup will run May 3-6 with multiple locations around campus.
Update, April 10, 1:34 a.m.: This article was updated to clarify that the student DJ was not announced Thursday evening. The specific time of announcement is currently unknown. This article was also updated to include a student reaction and photos of the DJ competition.
Sofia Soldatovich is a member of the Class of 2029. She is a Sun Contributor.
