The Osheaga Music and Arts Festival () is a multi-day music festival in Montreal, Quebec, that is held every summer at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Sainte-Hélène. The festival takes place on six stages with various audience capacities. Translated from their French equivalents, they are called "River Stage", "Mountain Stage", "Green Stage", "Trees Stage", "Valley Stage", and "Zone Piknic Electronik". Each performance area is paired with a sponsor. Band set times fluctuate based on the status of the performer within the festival. Emerging artists play 30-minute sets, and headliners conclude each day with 90-minute plus sets. h t tp://info.osheaga.com/customer/portal/articles/1021436-general-faqs The 2006 festival attracted a crowd of around 50,000 people. The 2012 festival reached its 80,000 attendance capacity each day.Dunn, Bryen (2012). "Review: Osheaga sells out to capacity". Digital Journal. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
In the past 2 editions, the festival has introduced "Osheaga Play", an interactive play area and social media integrated photo system. The "play zone" features carnival games where festival goers can play games and accumulate points to cash in for prizes. Osheaga Play also features roaming photographers who can scan participants' RFID bracelets so the photos will be directly uploaded to their social media.
These latter explanations are favoured by the Mohawk people at Kahnawake, as in the Mohawk language the phrase "people of the hands" can be expressed as "O she ha ga" or "Oshahaka". They cannot, however, be easily confirmed or refuted, as the few known surviving remnants of the extinct Laurentian language that was spoken by the Iroquoian people at Hochelaga are only moderately similar to the distantly related Mohawk language, which was not spoken anywhere even remotely close to Hochelaga at the time of Cartier's contact.
Osheaga's sophomore year began to take stride with the Smashing Pumpkins, M.I.A, Feist, and the Arctic Monkeys. Accordingly, organizers hoped to imitate the previous year's success by hosting an assortment of indie performers. "The fest offers an array of quality, mid-level alternative bands. But put them together—here's the key to Osheaga's success—and you have a headliner by committee."Dunlevy, T (2007). "Osheaga; Sophomore jump last year's festival was a blast; now, the stakes are raised even higher". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2013. In keeping with the festival's name, Osheaga organizers also incorporated several Montreal-based bands including the Sam Roberts Band, Stars, Dumas, Sixtoo, Pawa Up First, Pony Up, the Royal Mountain Band, Sunday Sinners, and Pas Chic Chic.
Moving to the first weekend in August, the third Osheaga festival broadened its indie appeal by incorporating The Killers, a rock group, and Jack Johnson. Crowds initially complained that Johnson would muddle the festival's persona, but Farkas asserted, "...in (his) philosophy—everything fits".Dunlevy, T (2008). "Osheaga 3.0; By adding big names like Jack Johnson and the Killers to an eclectic roster, the Osheaga fest is aiming to broaden its appeal". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2013. At this point in Osheaga's lifespan, the event was not a financial success. However, the inclusion of more recognizable headliners was intended to draw more expansive crowds. Secondary acts consisted of Metric, The Black Keys, Cat Power, and The Kills. Osheaga 2008 occurred August 2–3 at Jean Drapeau Park, Montreal.
The fourth installation of the festival originally slotted Coldplay and the Beastie Boys as the two-day event's leading performances. However, the Beastie Boys were forced to withdraw after Adam Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his salivary gland.Dunlevy, T (2009). "One act down, but almost 50 to go; The Osheaga Festival's organizers were thrown for a loop last week when Beastie Boys pulled out. One of the hottest live bands around saved the day, as did the overall strength of the two-day lineup." Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2013. Event organizers filled the opening with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a then up and coming rock group from Brooklyn. 450 refunds were granted to attendees that requested them. Otherwise, reactions to the set change were positive. Despite these setbacks, the fourth Osheaga festival was the first edition to make a profit. Fifty acts performed on 4 stages from August 1–2, 2009, including Girl Talk, Lykke Li, Jason Mraz, the Decemberists, Arctic Monkeys, and Vampire Weekend.
In its fifth year, Osheaga welcomed Arcade Fire and a host of eclectic sets to its venues. The MEG stage was replaced by the Green stage—a wind and solar powered platform. In keeping with this environmental consciousness, free bike parking and public transit to Jean Drapeau Park was also offered.Dunlevy, T (2010). "A cohesive music fest that runs on solar power". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2013. After the sale of Gillett Entertainment Group, Osheaga fell under the promotion of Evenko.25 March 2010. "Montreal-based Gillett Entertainment Group changes name to Evenko". The Canadian Press. Retrieved 11 August 2013. However, Nick Farkas, the company's Vice President of Concerts and Events, continued to head the festival. Roughly 30% of ticket sales in 2010 came from Montreal, 20% from Ontario, and 12% from the United States.Dunlevy, T (2010). "A cohesive music fest that runs on solar power". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
The sixth annual Osheaga festival sold more than 153?000 tickets—more than any previous year.Hickman, A (2011). "Oh-shay-ga? Oh-she-aga? Either way's music to our ears; Montreal fest 'already sold more tickets than ever". National Post. Retrieved 12 August 2013. It was also the first three-day incarnation of the event. Eminem closed out the Friday performances, signifying a turning point in the festival's development.Dunlevy, T (2011). "Eminem sets attendance record; Superstar rapper overshadows other acts with fast-paced set that sparks fan frenzy". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2013. 76,000 attendees, the largest single-crowd seen since Osheaga's inauguration, stretched the venue's 75,000 capacity.Dunlevy, T (2012). "Osheaga sells out; Despite the absence of an Eminem-level megastar this year, the festival crushed its attendance record set in 2011". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2013. Despite the absence of a similarly high-profile performer, the seventh edition of Osheaga in 2012 sold out at 240,000 total attendees over the three-day weekend from August 3–5, 2012. Farkas credited the surge to 2011s big-name lineup and the festival's recognition outside Montreal. Eminem’s performance inflated the festival's presence among American and European markets, making it a destination on an international scale. Headliners in 2012 included The Black Keys, Snoop Dogg, Justice, M83, MGMT, Feist, Sigur Ros, and the Jesus and Mary Chain. However, the once intimate festival layout made for reportedly frustrating navigation among such massive crowds.
In 2013, the festival continued to out-do previous sales, selling out in record time with a total of 270,000 audience members. In fact, 70% of tickets were purchased from outside the Province of Quebec.Dunlevy, T (2013). "A field trip for the masses; After years of building its brand, the three-day blowout has become a destination event for music lovers". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 12 August 2013. To accommodate these growing numbers, the site at Jean Drapeau Park was expanded to a 85,000-person capacity. The lineup slated Mumford & Sons, The Cure, and Beck as the main attractions, followed by Phoenix, Imagine Dragons, Vampire Weekend, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, New Order, The Lumineers, Tegan and Sara, and Kendrick Lamar. Physical organization of the venue continued to present issues in light of foot traffic-prone crowds. "Adequate flow patterns are something we never thought of before," said Farkas. "We were always focusing on the lineup, and making it better than the last year."
Ranked by Pollster as the #1 festival in Canada and the #11 festival in the world, Osheaga has grown significantly since its inauguration. Some have criticized the pronounced commercial presence at 2013's festival; however, those same reviewers admit that the lineup quality has been well maintained since 2006.Bendahan, A (2013). "Osheaga through the eyes of a Montreal man about town". Retrieved 10 August 2013. http://o.canada.com/2013/08/06/review-osheaga-through-the-eyes-of-a-montreal-man-about-town/ In total, the festival has presented more than 600 performances.
In 2014, the festival added a sixth stage, the Valley Stage. The lineup featured headliners such as OutKast, Jack White, Arctic Monkeys, Skrillex, Lorde and The Replacements.
The 2012 edition of the festival sold 120 000 tickets in total.
History
Editions
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020 (cancelled due to COVID-19)
2021 (cancelled again due to COVID-19)
2021 - Osheaga Get Together
2022
2023
2024
2025
See also
External links
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