Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Sea to Sky Festival Guide

When it comes to regional music festivals, Pique knows best
66645_l

It's been three years and people are still wondering, albeit with less hope, if the Pemberton Music Festival will return. There are grumblings for both sides of "maybe" and in the mean time, everyone's missing out on all the great conversations that they should be having about festivals that actually are coming.

Each year, Sea to Sky is graced with a series of temporary stages, jerk chicken stands and pitched tents, both metaphorical and figurative.

Anyway, this is Pique 's guide to what's coming, where and when.

 

Brackendale Bluegrass Festival - Friday, May 6 & Saturday, May 7: Come hither for two nights of old time traditional bluegrass at the 9 th Annual Brackendale Bluegrass Festival. It's been very popular with Squamish locals and attracts people from Whistler and Vancouver. It's for anyone who enjoys music for the craft and not for its disposable superficiality. Ke$ha fans need not come.

There will also be a slow-pitch jam on Saturday at noon for anybody and everybody who wants to jam. It will be totally open, so bring your banjo.

Where: Brackendale Art Gallery

Cost: $20 per night or $35 for two nights. $10 for kids 12 and under.

Artists: Friday: Tantalus Pass and Backspin; Saturday: Scattered Coals, Half Fast Stringband and Viper Central

 

Whistler Week of the Blues - Monday, May 16 - Sunday, May 22 : It's a whole week of the blues! That's a long time to be blue, but never fear, Patient Music Fan, the week will not be ruled by men pining away for the women they've done so wrong. No, there's enough versatility in this year's line up to keep the blues fans happy and the casual fans just a little more interested. There will be ticketed and free shows happening at venues all over the village. For a full schedule visit www.whistlerblues.com , and look for more in-depth coverage in next week's Pique .

The week will also include blues workshops for musicians of all levels wanting to learn the techniques for bleeding one's soul through the guitar/harmonica/what-have-you. Each of this year's artists will teach a class, so if you're planning to learn the blues, you might as well learn from the best/bluest/bluesiest.

Where: Various venues

Cost: Tickets for shows are varied and range from between $30 and $75. Members of the Mountain Culture Collective Radio Society receive discounts on all shows. Membership costs $20.

Artists: Gary Kendall, Paul Pigat, Todd Butler, Tim Williams, Bill Hicks, Keith Bennett, Ellen McIlwaine, Rachelle Van Zanten, Bill Johnson, Doug Cox, Dave Harris, David Vest

 

 

SERF Music Festival - June 25: It's an all-day party at the beach, with some of the best West Coast independent acts hitting the stage for the fifth Squamish Equinox Rock festival. It started as a way to celebrate the changing of the season and what better way than to sway half naked under the beating summer sun with a pop in one hand and a hot dog in the other. The festival also prides itself as a launch pad for talent, so maybe you'll catch the Next Big Thing on his/her/their steady climb upward.

Where: At the very end of Galbraith Ave, Squamish

Cost: early bird $25; $35 at the gate

Artists: Jon and Roy, Kuba Oms & the Velvet Revolution, C.R. Avery, Los Furios, Blackberry Wood, Jack Fruit, Redeye Empire, Kostaman, and more to be announced.

 

Kokanee Crankworx - Friday, July 15 - Sunday, July 24 : The annual and much ballyhooed mountain bike festival might have a music component but the specifics are still being ironed out. Michelle Leroux, who handles communications for the festival, does not know if Deraylor will return but said that this year's sponsor, Redbull, will likely throw parties that will roll from club to club. Artists have yet to be announced.

 

Bass Coast Project - Friday, July 29 - Monday, August 1: It's a little bit of Shambala for those of us unable to make it out to the Kootenays or unwilling make the 10-hour trek back home all brain-fried and sun burnt. As always, the festival is billed as a celebration of the Pacific electronic scene and will feature local heroes like Daega and Mat the Alien with some artists from across North America and Europe. There will be two stages, a Hookah Lounge, trippy lighting, a whole lot of mindless swaying and grooving and whatever else comes part and parcel with a four-day rave. Must be 19+ to attend.

Where: Squamish Valley Campground, north of Squamish.

Cost: $160 + HST; $170 + HST at the gate. Tickets include camping.

Artists : Mat the Alien, An-Ten-Nae, Vinyl Richie, Neighbour, Marty Party. Ali B, Fort Knox Five, Lynk & Janover and too many more to list.

 

Two Acre Shaker - Saturday, August 13 : What was arguably - nah was absolutely - the best party of 2010 is returning to Pemberton for Round Four. This is a totally grassroots, word-of-mouth festival that has grown little by little every year. What began as a pre-Pemby Fest celebration is now a, "I was there, dude!" event, where love was found and burgers were eaten. Organizers are moving this year's party to a bigger location outside Pemberton, which is a slight bummer since part of last year's awesomeness was elevated in large part by the farm it was held on, but then again, at four in the morning, a grassy field is the same as any other.

Where : To be confirmed.

Cost: To be confirmed.

Artists : Not yet available but organizers promise the line-up will be "epic."

 

 

LIVE at Squamish - Saturday, August 20 & Sunday, August 21 : Helping to fill the void left by a certain massive music festival three years ago, LIVE at Squamish's second run is bigger and better than last year's. The lineup is heavy on indie and hipster-favoured producers and will undoubtedly draw in large crowds from Vancouver and across the Sea to Sky. The 2010 festival was a relative success for both organizers and local businesses and given this year's line-up, the 2011 event should do even better.

Where : In a field located north-west of Finch Dr. and Loggers Lane in Squamish, running parallel to Highway 99.

Cost: Early bird (until May 15): $119 for weekend pass, $79 for day pass. VIP passes are $199. Regular prices: $179 for weekend pass, $99 for day pass. All prices do not include service charges.

Artists : Saturday: Metric, Girl Talk, John Butler Trio, Shad, Stars, Kyprios, Sweet Thing, Tommie Sunshine, Andy Clockwork, She Stole My Beer; Sunday: Weezer, Major Lazer, Black Mountain, Doc Martin, The Dudes, The Zolas, Bend Sinister, Brasstronaut, Dubtribe Sound System, Luke McKeehan, Guilty About Girls and more to be announced.

Jazz on the Mountain at Whistler - Friday, September 2 - Sunday, September 4 : Whistler's premier jazz festival will feature a score of free and ticketed events, both in venues and outside in the village. It'll be like the Olympics for jazz lovers, with a steady stream of shows, and with the variety of acts - not centered solely on hard-core jazz - it may just win a few new listeners as well.

Where: Various venues

Cost: $140 for family a day pass, which provides access to all ticketed events; $55 for single day passes. Solo guitar series tickets are $40.

Artists: Kevin Eubanks, Gary Burton, Oliver Jones, Stanley Jordan, Spyro Gyra, the Rippingtons, Ali Milner and more.