Canadian alternative folk rock band Cowboy Junkies is among the foreign bands to perform during the upcoming Love Music Festival. Photos Provided to China Daily

For Zhang Youdai, the nation's most famous DJ, one of the joys of attending an outdoor music festival is discovering something new.

But after attending numerous music festivals at home and abroad in the past decade, the 40-year-old finds this missing in the country's booming outdoor music festival scene.

"Most of the festivals focus on rock, which attracts a number of young people. You can feel the energy and restlessness. But for my generation, going to a music festival is not simply about venting your emotions, but enjoying oneself and discovering the charm of music," he adds.

And it was with this goal in mind that he set about organizing the two-day event, Love Music Festival, to be held on June 5 and 6 at the south corner of the National Olympic Sports Center.

Eight international artists, including popular Japanese jazz singer Lisa Ono, Canadian alternative folk rock band Cowboy Junkies and French musical collective Nouvelle Vague, will share two stages, dubbed the Love Stage and the Hope Stage, with nearly 20 artists from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland. They include folk singer Lao Lang, Hong Kong singer-songwriter Anthony Wong Yiu-Ming and music producer Zhang Yadong.

"Audiences will not only see renowned artists performing but also unfamiliar acts," Zhang says.

Plans for the festival began at the end of last year, when Zhang invited the mainland's golden producer Zhang Yadong.

"He is a low-profile person who has poured his heart into his music and his record company, devoted to discovering new voices in China," Zhang says.

He says he attended a small concert of all the new singers from Zhang Yadong's company two years ago and came away impressed.

"His music always offers surprises," he says. "The same magic can be found in the music of Cowboy Junkies, the first foreign band I've invited. They challenge themselves all the time."

Talking of the two stages, Zhang explains that he did not want to categorize the music by genre as rock, folk and electronica but rather by the kind of experience they bring to audiences - impersonal or intimate.

As the first DJ to popularize new genres of music among Chinese music lovers, Zhang has been invited to the US Grammys, Hague Jazz festival, Zurich Festival, and the Denmark Roskilded Festival to broadcast the event to Chinese audiences.

The event organizer, music producer and club owner always signs off his shows with, "Music can change the world".

"In my radio shows, I don't really talk too much and give more time to the music," he says.

"I hope people will enjoy the music festival as much as my programs."

China Daily