Pack your playlists and your cheapest most disposable sunglasses – the lineup for the 2016 Pemberton Music Festival (July 14-17) has finally been announced!
Returning for a third year to its majestic setting just north of Whistler, Canada’s largest music and comedy camp-fest is set to be a ‘90s rock and rap spectacular, featuring artists such as Pearl Jam, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Ice Cube, Kaskade, Bassnectar, Mac Miller, Cypress Hill, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Billy Idol, Purity Ring, Die Antwoord, Tyler the Creator, Wolf Parade, Thievery Corporation, Girl Talk, and Method Man & Redman, with a few top of the pops like Halsey, the Chainsmokers and FKA Twigs thrown in for good measure. (Scroll down for full list.)
And on Wednesday, April 6, organizers also announced the addition of alt-rock act the Killers to the top line.
Speaking with Westender by phone the morning of the announcement (April 5), festival chairman A.J. Niland of Huka Entertainment revealed that competition with the European festival circuit played a large part in shaping which artists they could secure this year.
“The biggest battles we have in terms of competing for talent is really with Europe. You know, sort of a timing thing,” said Niland. “July is the biggest month for festivals in Europe and a lot of acts decide well in advance, ‘This year, we’re going to focus on European festivals.’ So that takes people out of the country and out of the region. But with what’s left, we want to make sure that we’ve got the best rock that we can find, and there’s folks with current singles and top 10s and radio play, and singles for pop and hip hop.
“It’s really finding that right balance of genre and timing from people who are hot right now, mixed in with some legends and some classics.”
Niland said that organizers also wrestled with finalizing an unconventional billing layout, which places Pearl Jam by itself on the top line, resulting in a delay of a week leading up to today's announcement. The result, though, is an eclectic lineup that Niland felt would appeal to the festival’s core fans.
“Diversity is always something that we’re big on,” he said. “There’s obviously a lot of rock a lot of hip hop, but there’s acts like Mastadon, there are acts like Billy Idol, you know, that sort of span complete polar opposite sides of the rock spectrum.”
Other notable artists include Cold War Kids, Grace Potter, Steve Angello, Braids, Colemann Hell, the Zolas, and Arkells, as well as Cheech and Chong, Craig Robinson & the Nasty Delicious, Maria Bamford and Pete Davidson in the comedy tent.
With Early Bird tickets sold out, a limited supply of advance General Admission tickets will be available this Friday, April 8 at 10am at PembertonMusicFestival.com.
Tickets for the 2016 festival start at $295, plus a choice of either a camping pass (which accommodates up to four people) at $199 or shuttle pass (for festival patrons staying in nearby Whistler) at $99. For campers who choose to drive, parking passes are available at $29 per car.
Expect the breakdown of who's playing which day to be release mid-June.
The full list of 2016 artists:
• Pearl Jam
• The Killers
• J. Cole
• Snoop Dogg
• Wiz Khalifa
• Kaskade
• Bassnectar
• Ice Cube
• Halsey
• FKA Twigs
• Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
• DJ Snake
• The Chainsmokers
• Billy Idol
• Steve Angello
• Flosstradamus
• Miguel
• Purity Ring
• Die Antwoord
• Tyler, The Creator
• Mac Miller
• Cypress Hill
• Mastodon
• Arkells
• Wolf Parade
• Cold War Kids
• Thievery Corporation
• Girl Talk
• YG
• Baauer
• Tory Lanez
• Big Gigantic
• Grace Potter
• Børns
• Method Man and Redman
• Rae Sremmurd
• Datsik
• Coleman Hell
• Kehlani
• Ra Ra Riot
• Wintersleep
• Savages
• Joey Bada$$
• Keys N Krates
• Robert DeLong
• Sza
• Jon Bellion
• Protoje
• Anderson Paak & The Free Nationals
• Lido
• Hudson Mohawke
• Givers
• Kaleo
• DIIV
• White Denim
• Allen Stone
• Bully
• Hucci
• Mark Farina
• Lunice
• Bas
• Braids
• The Glorious Sons
• Shawn Hook
• Miami Horror
• Stick Figure
• The Funk Hunters
• The Zolas
• The Elwins
• The London Souls
• Hippie Sabotage
• Esta
• Chrome Sparks
• Dizzy Wright
• Jahkoy
• Pell
• Jesse Roper
• Mickey Blue
• Quaker City Night Hawks
Comedy:
• Cheech and Chong
• Craig Robsinon & The Nasty Delicious
• Maria Bamford
• Nick Swardson
• Pete Davidson
• Doug Benson (Standup + Doug Loves Movies + Getting Doug With High)
• Eugene Mirman
• Kylie Kinane
• Jermaine Fowler
• The Lucas Brothers
• Morgan Murphy
• Beth Stelling
• DJ Douggpound
• Jackie Kashian
• John Early + Kate Berlant
• Air Sex
• Chris Trew
• Ian Abramson
