Throwback Thursday - Festivals of 2015
West Coast Live and Potentially Famous Productions (the company behind WCL) hit five festivals this year -- some small some big, some local indie, some country, some free, some not so free, but all held their own special moments. On this Thursday Throwback we’d like to reflect on the festivals we captured on video
#1 Song and Surf
This hidden gem of a festival is the little sister to the summer’s Tall Tree Music Festival. Set in Port Renfrew in February was soaking wet and marvelous. The people who make the pilgrimage to Port Renfrew for this one are all a mixture of wool sweaters, gumboots, knit toques, dirty jeans; the true-west-coast-kids who won’t let anything a minor as a full blown winter storm stop their party. Port Renfrew is one of my favourite places in the world (the little bit of the world that I’ve seen) and I think it is loveliest in the winter storm season. So if you want to see some local talent and don’t mind getting a little wet you need to make the trek out to Song and Surf.
#2 Tall Tree
From February to June we didn’t hit another festival until Tall Tree. Also in Port Renfrew and run by the same group of loveable scamps that throw Song and Surf, Tall Tree is a main event. This one is up on side of Browns Mountain where festival goers are treating to stunning sunsets and (for those who still haven’t gone to bed) sun rises. Tall Tree is it’s own vortex of music, people and parties.
#3 Khatsalhano
This one is a freebie in Vancouver. The video is a quick one because we didn’t really have a plan and were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people. Stages and beer gardens galore! The highlight for me was seeing Yukon Blonde for free, but that moment didn’t make the video because by then we had stopped shooting.
#4 Sunfest
Country music anyone? This festival is way bigger than you think it is going to be. Over 40,000 people attend this thing over the weekend and it draws the biggest country stars. Headliners of 2015 were Thomas Rhett, Sam Hunt, Lee Brice, and Keith Urban.
This video is only available on the Sunfest facebook page here.
#5 Rifflandia and Breakout West
Rifflandia has been growing each year with a South By Southwest feel, but this year it combined with Breakout West into a musical explosion, a western Canadian music free for all, a Victoria party paradise. With over 200 artists performing in 20 locations it was impossible to see everything, but there was always something good to see. Logistically this one must have been a nightmare for the organizers, but for people with passes it was incredible.