Boston has made big strides in recognition on the festival circuit over the past few years. The introduction of the biannual Boston Calling brought the city immediate national cred, thumb corralling a critically lauded lineup of top tier artists for two incredible weekends per year. However, sale for fans of electronic, search underground and alternative hip-hop music, the city’s brightest cultural spark in May comes two weeks earlier with a smaller festival called Together.

Together Boston is an eight-day showcase focusing on the interaction between (predominantly electronic) music, art and technology. Over the course of the week, fans are welcomed to attend a variety of shows from national, international and local artists across a variety of venues throughout the city, including The Sinclair, Middlesex Lounge and The Middle East. Of course, that’s only half of the picture- the nighttime shows are balanced out by daytime activities aimed at both educating and engaging the audience. Together’s goal? To grasp attendees intellectually and get them dancing, too.

Now in its sixth year, Together has provided a worthy central summit for an electronic scene that has historically seldom received national recognition.

“Back in late-2009 a group of like-minded promoters and DJs decided that Boston wasn’t represented properly within the electronic music sphere globally and wanted to put an end to that,” Director of Operations Gareth Middlebrook relates. “They came together (sorry about the pun!) to plan a week of the established parties in Boston, booking the big names and giving a big kick of adrenaline into the city. It was all about uniting groups of people that can sometimes be competitive, sometimes not like each other, but ultimately are going for the same goal of bringing good music to Boston and the surrounding area and letting people know that we care and that we’re capable.”

They have certainly achieved that goal. Since its inception, Together has courted sets from world class artists such as, just to name a few, Flying Lotus, Four Tet, SBTRKT and Chet Faker. Impressive names aside, though, the beauty of the festival has always been its avoidance of stunt bookings. Together’s lineup curates artists that represent divergent sounds and subgenres rather than simply draw a crowd.

“We stick to the same methods that we use to promote underground music that isn’t represented properly, and also try to shine a light on talent that exists in the Boston area,” says Middlebrook. “Give them a platform to show themselves and what they’ve got, and that they’re as worthy of the scene as anyone else in any city is.”

This year’s lineup reflects this approach. With international bookings like Justin Martin, Bob Moses, Mano Le Tough, Scuba and Sango, Together is giving headlining slots to artists aggressively pushing their sound forward. They are also shining a light on some of the most exciting talent coming out of Boston, including Skinny Bones and JSTJR, as well as a performance from groovy Beantown mainstays Soul Clap. With a healthy representation of techno, house, hip hop and indietronica, Together eschews genre pandering for a far-reaching variety, offering something great for anyone coming in with an open mind. That said, organizers are making the effort not to have too much genre overlap.

“We’re focusing more on not trying to book similar genres at the same time,” noted Middlebrook. “We want to make sure people can see what they want, so we won’t have two of the top techno producers playing at the same time at different nightclubs! That’s more the focus this year- to appease the attendees and make sure they can do everything they want to do.”

Of course, the festival’s activities go way beyond shows. As part of their mission to get the audience involved in the scene, the Together team has integrated a series of daytime educational elements. Presented in cooperation with their sister company, Cambridge production and DJ school Mmmmaven, they are offering a variety of options, most of which are free and open to the public.  These include everything from a Q&A with acclaimed Dutch producer Martyn, an Ableton tutorial with Mmmmaven instructor Moduloktopus and a so-called “synthesizer petting zoo” where attendees can check out some of the latest production technology. Beyond this, the Together also offers a record fair and VJ (video DJ) competition to round things out.

“Given the nature of the city and how it’s so informed and educated and academic, we saw it as a great opportunity to get everyone involved on a different level,” said Middlebrook. “It’s not just about going out at night and dancing in the club There are a lot of aspects to electronic music and the art and technology that goes with it.”

Beyond everything on offer, though, Middlebrook insists that the best thing Together has going for it is the community that drives the Boston music scene year round.

“I’ve lived all around the world and had my fair share of experiences, and I’d say the community here is just really dedicated and tight knit,” he says. “In New York, you might have fifteen different awesome things to do in one night, but that’s fifteen different places where everyone is focusing on something different. Here we have such a dedicated crew that’s been with us since the beginning plus a plethora of students that graduate every year trying to do something new and get involved in cool things, so that keeps the fuel coming in for us. Everyone that does it is really passionate about it and I can’t stress how proud and fulfilling it is to come back every year and make our ideas and our dreams come true!”

Sporting yet another killer lineup, a host of fascinating programs and a wry suggestion from Middlebrook that they’ll top Mayor Walsh’s dropping of the ceremonial first beat this year, Together looks set to do Boston proud a sixth time.

Together kicks off this Sunday, May 10 and runs through May 18. A pass to get into the full concert series is available here for $150 here, but tickets are also available for individual shows. A full interactive listing of shows and other events (including daytime talks, workshops, ect. which are generally free with RSVP) can be found here.