Hardwell,consistently ranked as one of the top DJs in the world, and Russian-German DJ Zedd are the first acts announced to headline this year's ZoukOut. It will the second ZoukOut for both of them.

The 16th edition of the annual dusk-to-dawn beach rave on Sentosa will be held on Dec 9 and 10. More acts will be announced in the lead up to the festival, which is considered one of the biggest in the region.

The Dutch progressive house DJ Hardwell, whose real name is Robbert van de Corput, first played at Zoukout in 2012. Zedd, who is behind smash hits such as Clarity and I Want You To Know featuring pop princess Selena Gomez, made his ZoukOut debut in 2013.

Limited early-bird two-day passes are going at $178 each for Citi credit card holders and Singtel customers. Tickets are available via www.zoukout.com or www.sistic.com. Advance and door ticket prices are yet to be announced.

Last year's edition of ZoukOut, headlined by the likes of Dutch trance superstars Armin Van Buuren and Tiesto, attracted 45,000 people over two nights.