News

Mark your calendars folks, the official Osheaga 2010 dates are here! The 5th edition of the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival will kick off with Osheaga in the City from July 28th to July 30th and move to the beautiful Parc Jean-Drapeau for the July 31st-August 1st weekend!

Expect to hear more from us in the coming months as we unveil this year’s lineup and more exciting details about our fifth anniversary edition!

It’s time to break out your hippest retro snowsuit and join Osheaga on January 16th in celebrating a staple of Montreal winter fun: Igloofest!

Osheaga teams up this year with Igloofest to present their January 16th instalment at the Jacques-Cartier Pier in Montreal’s Old Port.

The January 16th event is stacked with talent as Renaissance Man (FI), LA Riots (US), Noisia (NL), and Living~Stone (CA) will provide the soundtrack to what promises to be a legendary night of great music, lights, and plenty of snowsuits that would make any 1980s skier jealous!

And what’s more? Tickets are only $10!!! (+ tax & service charges)

Notch this one down in your 2010 calendar, ‘cause it is gonna get hot January 16th!!!

For more info & tickets click on our Igloofest poster at www.Osheaga.com or visit Igloofest online at www.igloofest.ca. 

Congratulations to Chinatown for winning the $3000 Galaxie Rising Stars Award! Chinatown was voted as the winner by Osheaga fans who voted for their favourite Tree Stage artist at the Galaxie booth during the festival. Full details on the prize and Galaxie can be viewed here:

Galaxie, Your Musical Universe

Osheaga tickets will be available at the Parc Jean-Drapeau box office on both Saturday, August 1^st and Sunday, August 2^nd .  The box office is located right next to the Jean-Drapeau metro station at the entrance to the Osheaga Festival site.  Information on day of show tickets can be found on our Osheaga tickets page here.

Osheaga merch returns! Make sure to drop by the merch tent at Osheaga to get your official Osheaga 2009 t-shirt! Be on the lookout for the Osheaga landmark series tees making their official debut this year!

Get a sneak peek of arts at Osheaga from the official arts blog here!

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has partnered with Osheaga to bring you free public transportation for the duration of Osheaga weekend 2009 upon the presentation of an Osheaga ticket! Festival goers will be able to take advantage of this offer on August 1^st   and 2^nd   as part of the STM’s initiative to promote public transportation as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  The STM operates Montreal’s subway (metro) system as well as an extensive bus network on the island of Montreal. For more info about the STM, please click on the link below.

In response to an overwhelming demand from fans, we have an exciting addition to the Osheaga line-up: For the first time in Montreal since the worldwide acclaimed release of their debut album, Vampire Weekend, the “success story” of 2008, will perform on Sunday, August 2nd. The New York based group’s sound is influenced by popular African beats and western classics that they describe as “Upper West Side Soweto”. According to Rolling Stone Magazine their track “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” is ranked in the 100 best songs of the year and the album was among the Top 10 of the year. Come get the first scoop of tracks for their highly anticipated sophomore album!

Osheaga is happy to announce that Yeah Yeah Yeahs will conclude the 4^th edition of the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival on August 2^nd.

In light of the unfortunate Beastie Boys cancellation, organizers were left to make a prompt decision with little over a week preceding the event. As all options were being evaluated, the choice to have the Yeah Yeah Yeahs headline quickly emerged as the best route for obvious reasons:  charisma, buzz and a highly anticipated album by music lovers.

From the initial planning stages of Osheaga 2009, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were atop the list of artists in consideration for a headliner slot. Acclaimed by critics and fans alike, the band was one of the most requested artists by bloggers and fans online. The trio led by Karen O, a dynamic front-woman with an original unedited vocal style are coming back to Montreal after a 4 year absence when they sold out the Metropolis well in advance of their show date. Notably, the group have also replaced the Beastie Boys headlining slot at Chicago’s Lollapalooza.

We regretfully announce that the Beastie Boys will not perform on Sunday August 2nd at the 4th edition of Osheaga.

The Beastie Boys announced on their website earlier today that due to  illness, the band must cancel all upcoming concert appearances including their scheduled appearance at Osheaga.

We are exploring all options and we will advise fans as soon as possible.

Please hold on to your tickets until further notice. We will make further announcement very shortly.


We sincerely apologize for all inconveniences and wish Adam “MCA” Yauch a prompt and full recovery.

Osheaga wants you to get to know Montreal, so we enlisted the help of some Osheaga artists who call Montreal home to bring you Osheaga’s Montreal Sights & Sounds contest!  How do you win tickets? It’s simple, visit www.osheaga.com/tv watch and enjoy the video and follow the contest instructions for your chance to win tickets, CDs, and more!

OsheagaTV is here! This new section on Osheaga.com features exclusive video of Osheaga artists – including recent video that was shot for the Montreal Sights & Sounds contest. Stay tuned, there’s plenty more great video to come! Please make sure to visit OsheagaTV by using the navigation bar above!

That’s right, the highly anticipated Osheaga 2009 schedule will be unveiled next week so you can start planning your way around the festival! 

Osheaga is extremely happy to welcome the following bands to the festival August 1 & 2:

August 1:

• The Stills
• Woodhands
• Jesca Hoop

August 2

• Amazing Baby
• Hollerado
  

We are happy to announce the addition of two extra days to Osheaga in the City, which will now take place over four days!  As a result, incredible bands and DJs will perform in various concert halls in Montreal July 28^th through the 31^st. The Osheaga in the City series is presented by our proud partner Sirius Satellite Radio.

Here is the line-up for the first edition of Osheaga in the City:

The Veils and Foreign Born, with guest Faces on Film,

Sala Rossa, July 28  (*in collaboration with Pop Montréal)

Omnikrom, with guest Misteur Valaire

L’Olympia de Montréal, July 30 (* in collaboration with MEG)

And more to follow in the next few days….

In an effort to make the experience even more enjoyable, the Festival will offer the Osheaga in the City shows at an affordable price around $15 per ticket. Tickets will be available at the various outlets and at www.osheaga.com as of noon on Friday, June 19^th.

In light of the exciting announcements surrounding the festival this week, we have decided to extend our application deadline for media accreditation to July 1st at 11:59PM EST. Please submit your application before then if you'd like to be considered for OSHEAGA 2009!

It’s been a while since our last artist update, and what an update we have for you! Please see below for the latest additions to the Osheaga roster:

Saturday, August 1^st

• GENTLEMAN REG
• THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE
• CHINATOWN
• FLASH LIGHTNIN’

Sunday, August 2nd

• YEAH YEAH YEAHS
• THE BEATNUTS
• HEARTLESS BASTARDS
• HEY ROSETTA!
• LADIES OF THE CANYON
• ARKELLS
• LANAN
• LI’L ANDY

Osheaga is excited to announce a great deal available for fans looking to travel to the festival from Ontario. Travel to Osheaga with BreakawayTours.com and leave the work to them - you just jump aboard Breakaway’s chartered bus with a group of Osheaga-bound music fans, and Breakaway takes care of all the rest to make sure you have an incredible weekend in Montreal!

The Osheaga travel package includes 2 nights accommodation, a weekend pass for the festival, after parties and more! Early bird pricing is on now for a limited time.

Click here for more info!

Osheaga is happy to announce the addition of some awesome new artists!

• NFL3 (Saturday, August 1^st)
• Donavon Frankenreiter (Saturday, August 1^st)
• Miike Snow (Sunday, August 2^nd)
• Naïve New Beaters (Sunday, August 2^nd)

Ch-check it out! Visit the Beastie Boys artist page and experience the Beastie Boys player. The player features tunes & videos from Check Your Head as well as a few live performances including a live take of So What’cha Want from the Arsenio Hall show that is off the hook!!! Watch for a couple of very special guest appearances towards the end! The player is complete with embed code so you can get sharing and spread the wealth with your friends. So what’cha waiting for?  Check out the Beastie’s player here: http://www.osheaga.com/2009/bands/102

Osheaga has great news for electronic music fans! Tickets for Osheaga August 1^st and 2^nd will grant fans access to Piknic Électronik which is taking place right next to the Osheaga site at Parc Jean-Drapeau on those dates.  Piknic Electronik has been at the centre of Montreal’s electronic music scene since 2003 and sees world class DJs and electronic artists spinning their tunes at Parc Jean-Drapeau under the sun for an afternoon of great music and dancing. Interested? Check out the Piknic at http://www.piknicelectronik.com.

For the first time ever, Osheaga will be offering a limited number of VIP passes for Osheaga in the Parc August 1 & 2 at Parc Jean-Drapeau. The new VIP passes will include access to: VIP entrance (Priority access) - VIP grandstands - VIP food kiosks & vendors - Private washrooms

Visit our tickets page for more info!

This year’s initial lineup includes:

Coldplay

Beastie Boys

The Roots

Jason Mraz

Rufus Wainwright

Arctic Monkeys

Girl Talk

The Decemberists

Crystal Castles

Lykke Li

The Ting Tings

Beast

Josh Ritter

Elbow

The Honey Brothers

Le Volume Était Au Maximum

Kitty Daisy and Lewis

Winter Gloves

Parlovr

Mothers Fathers

* Many more artists to be announced

Osheaga Music and Arts Festival is proud to announce that Coldplay (August 1^st) and Beastie Boys (August 2^nd) will headline Osheaga 2009!

Coldplay (August 1^st) – 2008 Grammy Award winners Coldplay continue to take the world by storm. Touring on the wings of their high-soaring album 'Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends', Coldplay are making Osheaga one of only two North-American festival appearances this year. We are extremely happy to welcome them to the Osheaga festival grounds August 1^st!

Beastie Boys (August 2^nd) – Hip Hop pioneers Beastie Boys bring their one of a kind lyrical and musical wizardry to headline Osheaga’s second day on the island Sunday, August 2^nd.  Montreal fans got their last dose of the Beasties’ funk at a packed Bell Centre September 20th 2007. Those lucky enough to get their hands on tickets were treated to a mind-blowing all-instrumental performance at the Metropolis the night before. Don’t miss these musical trailblazers rock the Osheaga stage and tear through over 25 years of hits from “No Sleep” to “Ch-Check it Out” from thumping hip-hop beats to their epic instrumental jams!