Every year the list of summer music festivals in BC gets stronger, as promoters discover that live music in gorgeous locations is pretty much a can’t-lose equation. From the woods of Vancouver Island to the sun-drenched interior to Vancouver’s sparkling beaches, it’s no longer a matter of wishing for your favourite artist to tour BC, it’s a matter of waiting just a few more weeks to see them. Of the dozens of impressive 2014 lineups, we’ve handpicked 15 of the highlights:
Keloha
A “waterfront escape into music and art”, Keloha is expected to draw 15,000 people to the shores of Okanagan Lake this year. More than 30 of the best names on the indie and alternative scene – think The Naked and Famous, Local Natives, and St. Lucia – will be tearing apart two stages by day, and 40 more will be keeping Kelowna awake with the After Party Series every night. Enter to win tickets HERE.
Year founded: 2012
What it’s like: Running through a sprinkler in Hawaiian clothes.
When & Where: July 11-13; Kelowna
Tickets: Three-day passes start at $99, after party wristbands $39.
Don’t miss: Synth-pop singer-songwriter and model Sky Ferreira in her only North American tour date this summer.
Vancouver Island MusicFest
One of the most popular summer events on Vancouver Island, tickets for the 10,000-capacity event are already gone, baby, gone – making this the third consecutive sell-out for the up-island festival. This year, the lineup will feature more than 50 blues and roots artists, such as Bonnie Raitt, The Mavericks, and Angelique Kidjo, on the treed 40-acre Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds.
Year founded: 1997
What it’s like: Eating a Nanaimo bar with your ears.
When & Where: July 11-13; Courtenay
Tickets: $81-$159
Don’t miss: The Blind Boys of Alabama, a group that has harmonized throughout the turbulent 20th century – from Jim Crow through Civil Rights – and into the Obama era.
Khatsahlano Music + Art Festival
Vancouver’s biggest free music and arts festival returns with its trademark eclecticism. Catch ‘70s folk-pop legend Susan Jacks (“Which Way You Goin’ Billy”) performing alongside members of Destroyer, Black Mountain and the New Pornographers, and punk rock provocateur Jim Cummins backed by a band of cartoon monsters. Last year saw over 118,000 people swarm West 4th to experience the one-day-only music, shopping, food and art event that spans the 10 city blocks between Burrard and MacDonald.
Year founded: 2011
What it’s like: The city’s coolest garage sale.
When & Where: July 12; Vancouver
Tickets: Free
Don’t miss: Planet X: The Underground World of Jim Cummins and I, Braineater anchoring the arts programming between Trafalagar and Stephens.
Pemberton Music Festival
As bills go, this is the biggest. It’s also the iffiest, having taken a five-year hiatus to sort out nightmarish site logistics. The resurrection features more than 100 acts, including Nine Inch Nails, Outkast, Soundgarden, Deadmau5 and Blondie, and a supporting cast worth camping out for in almost any conditions. Enter to win tickets HERE.
Year founded: 2008
What it’s like: Threading 30,000+ music fans through the needle of the unknown.
When & Where: July 16-20; Pemberton
Tickets: $299-$1699
Don’t miss: The hip hop trifecta of Outkast, Kendrick Lamar, and Snoop Dogg.
Vancouver Folk Music Fest
The first Vancouver folk festival took place in Stanley Park in the rain. Inspired by the Winnipeg folk scene of the mid ‘70s, volunteers from Winnipeg actually drove to Vancouver to help organizers with the inaugural event, and headliners included Mary McCaslin and Jim Ringer. Thirty-six years later, from its encampment at Jericho Beach, the folk festival is still carrying the torch of togetherness and the best of the genre (this year Joan Baez, Great Lake Swimmers, Andrew Bird) are drawn to it like moths.
Year founded: 1978
What it’s like: Hearing the strains of a song you remember from childhood through a window as you walk by.
When & Where: July 18-20; Vancouver
Tickets: $45-$170
Don’t miss: The six-course meal that is Vancouver jazz-pop sextet Brasstronaut.
Mission Folk Music Festival
In its 27-year history The Mission Folk Festival has presented over 2,500 musicians, singers and dancers from nearly 100 countries on the festival stage in the Fraser River Heritage Park, creating a small village of world cultures, languages, foods and creations under the banner of music. Expect the best of the rare and unfamiliar, from Dulsori of Korea to Alpha Yaya Diallo from West Africa to VOU of Fiji, (and the “best toilet facilities of any outdoor festival”) to amaze.
Year founded: 1988
What it’s like: The United Nations of music.
When & Where: July 25-27; Mission
Tickets: $45-$110
Don’t miss: One of Ireland’s all-time favourite musical groups, Dervish, who will be heading to Mission after performing at Glastonbury in England.
Monster Energy Center of Gravity
Billed as Canada’s Hottest Beach Festival, Monster Energy Center of Gravity is the largest bro safari event of its kind in Western Canada. EDM stars like Calvin Harris, main stagers such as J. Cole and Tegan and Sara, and some of the world’s top professional extreme athletes will compete for the attention of Kelownafornia’s young and restless.
Year founded: 2007 (formerly known as Volleyfest)
What it’s like: Hot.
When & Where: July 25-27; Kelowna
Tickets: $99-$399
Don’t miss: Montreal-based electro-funk duo Chromeo at their only Western Canadian stop this summer.
Wanderlust
An international yoga festival celebrating the mind, body, and soul wouldn’t be complete without some seriously spiritual tunes. Ringing out through Whistler’s crisp mountain air this year will be soul music sensation Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires, beatmaker RJD2 and more. Oh, and there’s yoga. Well known on the West Coast, make time for the teachings of Eoin Finn and Ryan Leier.
Year founded: 2009 in California.
What it’s like: Ommmmmmmm
When & Where: July 31-Aug. 4; Whistler
Tickets: $95-$900
Don’t miss: The unstoppable force that is Charles Bradley.
• Whistler.WanderlustFestival.com
Boonstock
Booted out of Alberta after a few too many complaints about mayhem, Boonstock has found a new home in sunny Penticton just in time for its 10th anniversary. Disgruntled regulars from the other side of the Rockies can take solace in the fact that the new grounds are just a four-minute walk from Skaha Lake and the festival’s private beach. The wildly diverse lineup – boasting Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Wolfmother, Armin van Buuren, City and Colour and more – is sure to get the crowd buzzed (as long as the festival’s liquor license pulls through).
Year founded: 2005
What it’s like: Giving 14,000 gatecrashers your home address.
When & Where: Aug. 1-3; Penticton
Tickets: $250-$400
Don’t miss: Langley punks Gob.
Shambhala Music Festival
Fueled by what festival goers call “Shambhalove”, a 10,000-person-strong art, EDM, and organic food family is drawn each year to dance and be free on a tract of farmland in interior BC. Led by the likes of Z-Trip, Moby, and Beardyman, and eschewing any corporate sponsorship, this enchanted party is the longest-running of its kind in BC and attracts delegates from all the woodland clans.
Year founded: 1998
What it’s like: The X-Files meets The Warriors.
When & Where: Aug. 8-10, Salmo
Tickets: $330
Don’t miss: Locally roasted coffee from Night Owl, Farm Phresh smoothies, and Blaze Burgers (produced from happy cows raised on the Salmo River Ranch grounds)
Squamish Valley Music Festival
Years of steady growth has lead to the upstart Squamish festival now being able to fight in Pemberton’s weight class. Stepping into the Live Nation corner is Bruno Mars, Eminem, and Arcade Fire, backed by seconds like alt ingénue Lykke Li, the stadium-ready Arctic Monkeys and hip hop luminaries Nas and The Roots. The bout will be refereed by the Chief and an anticipated 35,000 attendees. Year founded: 2010
What it’s like: Partying between a rock and a perfect place.
When & Where: Aug. 8-10; Squamish
Tickets: $149-$325
Don’t miss: Any of it? But if we had to pick…CHVRCHES. Or tUnE-yArDs.
Burnaby Blues & Roots Festival
More like a really diverse concert than a full-length festival, this nine-hour showcase of world-class music in the picturesque Deer Lake Park is a family-friendly afternoon of blues and roots. This year features Canadian reggae-rock band Big Sugar, New Brunswick guitar powerhouse Matt Andersen and the Mellotones, and stirring American soul singer Bettye LaVette.
Year founded: 2000
What it’s like: A festival EP.
When & Where: Aug. 9; Burnaby
Tickets: $50-$65
Don’t miss: Finding out which is the Harpoonist and which is the Axe Murderer.
Otalith Festival
Named after the inner ear of a fish and almost as small, Otalith might be the most intimate music festival experience in BC. Showcasing 30 new indie/bluegrass/folk acts at venues between Ucluelet and Tofino, the festival tops out at 1,500 attendees, which works out to about 10,000 cubic feet of serenity per person.
Year founded: 2013
What it’s like: Wandering around the set of a Sigur Ros video.
When & Where: Aug. 22 & 23, Ucluelet
Tickets: $100
Headliners: Bright Light Social Hour, The Allah-las, Wake Owl
Don’t miss: Vancouver electro-dance act and large festival pros Bear Mountain.
Rifflandia Festival
The first wave of artists have been announced for Rifflandia (a festival that comes with its own beer) and they include Grammy-winning Seattle rockers Death Cab for Cutie, Toronto dubstep duo Zeds Dead, LA indie rockers the Airborne Toxic Event, and Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore. The full roster will feature more than 150 artists spread across 15 stages throughout the city, including Royal Athletic Park – a far cry from the festival’s first year in a tent outside McPherson Playhouse.
Year founded: 2008
What it’s like: If you’re trying to see it all, you might need a spreadsheet to manage logistics.
When & Where: Sept. 11-14; Victoria
Tickets: $125-$295 for a park pass; $65 for a night pass
Don’t miss: Australian hip hop kings Hilltop Hoods.
New kid on the block:
Desert Live just wrapped an exciting first year with five days of free music on the beaches of Osoyoos Lake.
And, with about 1,000 people coming through each day, the grass around the historic Gyro Bandshell was a sea of teens and tourists dancing, kids playing, couples sitting and drinkers drinking while acts from around BC played their guts out.
Located in Canada’s only desert, surrounded by organic farms and award-winning wineries and home to "Canada's warmest welcome", it might be time to start planning the next July-long.
See photo gallery.
