Victoria was dubbed Festival City more than a decade ago, but that had more to do with the volume of our summer-season programming than our A-list offerings.
The city came full circle a few years ago, and delivered on its promise. Festivals with recognizable touring acts now consume a huge part of the arts and culture calendar on Vancouver Island, especially during the summer months. Some, such as Rifflandia, even make waves nationally.
When will our fondness for festivals reach critical mass? Probably never, thanks to the weather. But a slight recession has started. Rock of the Woods, the Victoria Buskers Festival, and the Victoria Chalk Festival will all go dark in 2017, some only temporarily — but some for good.
Thank goodness festivals in this market are like flowers. When one dies, another rises to replace it.
The producers behind Lake Cowichan’s hugely successful Sunfest Country Music Festival will deliver a new classic rock festival on the same site in May, which could make life difficult for the competition. But if there’s anything to be said of the 100-plus festivals on Vancouver Island, it’s this: There is something for everyone, from the TD Art Gallery Paint-In and Victoria Symphony Splash to the Vancouver Island Blues Bash.
Here are 10 of the best.
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1. VICTORIA SKA AND REGGAE FESTIVAL. June 14-18. Skafest enters its 18th year riding high on the success of its 2016 edition, which battled rain for one of its biggest audiences to date. Ship Point will once again be the hub for this popular rootsy event, which scored a coup by booking soul legend Booker T. Jones as its opening night headliner. (victoriaskafest.ca)
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2. CAR FREE YYJ. June 18. Four stages of music and dozens of vendors along nine blocks of Douglas Street will draw tens of thousands of revelers for this third annual Father’s Day festival. The programming is all free, which helps — but it’s also awesome. A vision of the future, where Victoria street festivals are concerned. (downtownvictoria.ca)
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3. SPIRIT OF 150 VICTORIA. June 21-July 1. Eleven days of free patriotic programming to celebrate our nation’s sesquicentennial. The full schedule is said to be impressive, but it will have to be if it hopes to do battle with what organizers are calling one of the biggest fireworks displays in regional history on July 1. (spirit150victoria.ca)
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4. TD VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FEST. June 23-July 2. Hundreds of international musicians will descend on the city for one of our longest-running festivals, and it rarely disappoints. Mavis Staples, Ziggy Marley, Elvin Bishop, and Scott Bradlee — who performs swing versions of today’s pop hits — are among the headliners this year. (jazzvictoria.ca)
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5. TALL TREE MUSIC FESTIVAL. June 23-26. The roster for this massively popular Port Renfrew festival won’t be announced for weeks, but tickets are already moving. Considering the quality of last year’s line-up (Mother Mother, Current Swell, Shad, Hollerado), tickets for this four-day festival will be long gone before showtime. (talltreemusicfestival.com)
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6. PHILLIPS BACKYARD WEEKENDER. July 7-9. What started as a party-friendly addendum to Rock the Shores and Rifflandia now ranks as a fan favourite. The line-up for this outdoor event will pack 3,000 fans into the Phillips Brewery lot. Quality has never been a concern at the Backyarder. (backyardweekender.com)
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7. VANCOUVER ISLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL. July 14-16. Musicfest will hit its capacity well before the doors open — that much we know. The Courtenay-based festival consistently sports some of the best headliners of any festival in the area; watch for Emmylou Harris, Bruce Cockburn, Rita Coolidge, Colin Linden, and The Legendary Soul Stirrers at this year’s edition. (islandmusicfest.com)
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8. SUNFEST COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL. Aug. 3-6. In 2015, this burgeoning festival booked Keith Urban and Sam Hunt to headline. Last year, Carrie Underwood and Dierks Bentley topped the four-day roster. This year, producers have Little Big Town and Toby Keith to entertain 30,000-plus at the private Lake Cowichan site. The biggest festival, size-wise, on Vancouver Island. (sunfestconcerts.com)
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9. VICTORIA FRINGE FESTIVAL. Aug. 23-Sept. 3. The complete Fringe program won’t be available for several weeks, but dedicated followers already know what to expect: alternative theatre of the highest quality. Longtime producer Intrepid Theatre will imbue the 31st edition of one of the oldest festivals of its kind in sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ with charm once again. (intrepidtheatre.com)
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10. RIFFLANDIA. Sept. 14-17. Arguably the top festival in the city, Rifflandia went supernova in 2016, opening up a chunk of the downtown core to street traffic, making the neighbourhood around Phillips Brewery the place to be during this four-day rock festival. The highlights are too many to mention. (rifflandia.com)