Arboretum rebrands festival, announces lineup for 2018 event
Montreal’s legendary electropunks Wolf Parade, Calgary psychrocker Chad Vangaalen and indiedance darling Jessy Lanza are among the artists who will light up the first Bon-Fire summer event, previously known as the Arboretum festival.
Like last year’s Arboretum fest, the renamed shindig takes place at Rideau Pines Farm near North Gower, with a similar mix of eclectic music, local food and off-thehook dance parties. It happens Aug. 17 and 18.
Creative director and co-founder Rolf Klausener said the name of their seventh annual festival was changed to avoid confusion, although the event-organizing team will continue to operate under the Arboretum banner.
“When we moved out to the farm last year, we realized the name Arboretum didn’t suit the vibe of the farm,” he said. “We noticed for a while we needed to change the name. There was confusion. Some people thought it was at the Arboretum. We wanted to find a name that encapsulates the end of summer, party, food, music, nighttime, revelry.”
He’s thrilled with the lineup assembled to kick off the inaugural edition of Bon-Fire, which also features performances by Kaytranada collaborator Shay Lia, art folkie Jennifer Castle, poetic rockers Casper Skulls, Montreal’s Napster Vertigo and U.S. deportee and dance DJ Chippy Nonstop, to name a few of the out-of-town acts, plus Ottawa rockers Bonnie Doon and Heavy Medicine Band.
“It really feeds into a lot of the main genres we’re really into, like indie and art folk and all of the weirder psych stuff, as well as electronic music, electro dance, hiphop and R&B,” said Klausener. “It’s a nice contrast to the environment. We’re not used to seeing hardcore club music and modern R&B in a bucolic farm setting.”
The music is presented on three stages, including the pine-grove main stage, the Bang Bang barn and a late-night, farm-field stage that will run until the wee hours.
Other plans include a wider selection of food, more parking, an emphasis on art installations and an expanded slate of family-friendly daytime activities.
Early bird weekend passes are $50, plus surcharges, available now at ticketfly.com. Return shuttle bus transportation from the downtown core is included in the cost.
Day passes, a schedule and food program are expected to be announced in June.
For more details, go to www.arboretumfestival.com.