The Pemberton Festival + A Summer of Music Love

With the changing of the seasons and the saving of daylight comes the inevitable look ahead to summer plans. Camping, hiking and of course, music festivals. There have already been a number of big announcements made. But perhaps the biggest of all - in our little neck of the woods - is today's announcement of the inaugural Pemberton Festival, July 25-27, 2008. Anyone who has travelled up to the Mount Currie area knows the setting is sublime. In fact, it may just be too much for those used to 'festivals' on racetracks, parking lots or wind-blown prairie pastures.

It's billed as Canada's first European-style festival put together by the behemoth Live Nation and the lineup is...unusual. Tom Petty, Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails headline. The Hip, Jay-Z and Flaming Lips are also up there. So is Crystal Method, Junkie XL and Sam Roberts. And you have your Black Mountain, Vampire Weekend, Fiery Furnaces, Interpol, and MGMT among others for the indie rock crowd. It's almost like there could be a partition between stages with independent, mini-festivals going on at the same time. Have a look at the lineup yourself. A bit of a catch-all, isn't it?

The early-bird price for the Pemberton Festival is $240 + s/c & taxes. Camping is $60 per person. All told, with transportation, food, and drink you are looking at $500 for three days of music. I know some amazing places to camp for free around there, but, sorry, not gonna tell. Besides, "rouge-camping" will not be tolerated.

So, that's a big one. And a new one at that. We'll see how it pans out and, who knows? Maybe we'll have our own mini-Glastonbury for the coming years. If, like me, the lineup/price is scaring you off, there are plenty more established gatherings to make your 'summer of music love' happen. It's a bit early to go into artist details on some of these, but here's a list of some dates and places to get your vacation time sorted.

New Music West - May 14-18 - Vancouver
- Past years: Modest Mouse, Hot Hot Heat, Puffy Amiyumi, lots of local bands...

Sasquatch Festival - May 24-26 - The Gorge, Washington
- This year they have REM, The Cure, Death Cab for Cutie, etc and interesting bands like White Rabbits, Battles, Cave Singers, Dengue Fever...

Music Waste - June 5-8 - Downtown Eastside Establishments
- THE spot to see many of Vancouver's best bands.

Vancouver International Jazz Fest - June 20-29 - Vancouver, inside & out
- Past years: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Antibalas, Amon Tobin, Fond of Tigers...

Vancouver Folk Music Festival - July 18-20 - Jericho Beach
- Past years: Feist, Toumani Diabete, Tagaq, Jamaica to Toronto...

What the Heck Fest - July 18-20 - Anacortes, Washington
- Past years: Old Time Relijun, The Blow, Microphones, Mt. Eerie, Valet, Calvin Johnson...

Capitol Hill Block Party - July 25-26 - Seattle, Washington
- Past years: Black Angels, Blood Brothers, Viva Voce, Spoon, Girl Talk...

Anything else? I assume Victory Square & Bumbershoot will be back. Ladyfest 2008 in Olympia? Hope so. Let us know if you know...

Photo by Bhlubarber