Hard Rock Tuesdays: Festival Musique et Arts Osheaga

Montrealers, its that time of year again, that’s right the first weekend of August, is just a couple of weeks away and marks the annual Osheaga festival taking place August 1, 2 and 3rd and you can be sure that being Osheaga’s 9th edition it’s going to be an unforgettable one especially with the line up the festival has in store for you this time around!

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For those of you who haven’t heard of the Osheaga festival (mind you, if you haven’t it is quite possible you have been living under a rock these past 9 years especially if you are from Montreal), founder Nick Farkas created Osheaga back in 2006 with a goal in mind to establish a line up for underground artists. He wanted the underground lineup he was trying to launch, not to appeal just to Montrealers but to people all over the world. Since its start, Osheaga has grown enormously; what once was a local festival now has people coming from all over the world to experience. In It’s first year it attracted an audience of about 25,000 people and by 2012, Osheaga festival surpassed its 40,000-attendance-capacity, and with the continued growth of the festival, Parc Jean-Drapeau was expanded to 42,500 capacity last year.

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Osheaga’s mission from day one was always pretty straightforward: to discover local and international talent and offer them the opportunity to play next to some of the biggest international artists in the music world such as artists like Coldplay, The Killers, Sonic Youth, Arcade Fire, Cypress Hill and Eminem. During the three-day event, approximately 100 bands will take over the five stages at Parc Jean-Drapeau. As for the talent this year, the headlining performers are all outstanding musicians featuring artists like Foster the People, Outkast, Skrillex, Chromeo, Modest Mouse, Jack White, Arctic Monkeys and Lorde. Other bands that will be performing are names such as J. Cole, (Montreal’s own) Sam Roberts Band, Against Me, plus some great Indie artists to see like Jimmy Hunt, White Denim, July Talk, Odesza and many more!

This three-day event is held every year at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Ile Sainte-Helene. Each emerging artist plays a 30-minute set while headliners at the end of each day plays about a 90-minute set.

Besides experiencing the awesome atmosphere and incredible bands playing at Osheaga Celebrity chef, and Montrealer Chuck Hughes will also be at the festival feeding the musicians and some very lucky fans in V.I.P his delicious food. Last year, Hughes and his cooking crew offered some tantalizing cuisine on the menu at Osheaga such as lobster legs, kebabs, poutine just to mention a few delicious items.

Ticket prices range anywhere from $95 to $950; it all depends on the package you want to purchase for your Osheaga experience. You can either pick a single-day ticket which is $95 or a three-day pass that starts at $250 and up.