Organizers of Canada’s summer music festivals say that even as pandemic restrictions are lifted and live concerts return to some semblance of normality, backstage is anything but normal.
As concertgoers descend on outdoor events, the people who run the country’s biggest music gatherings face a long list of worries — from travel delays to COVID-19 illnesses — that have made organizing a festival even more difficult. turbulent, expensive and unpredictable.
Todd Jennero, executive vice president of Republic Live, said it’s impossible to narrow down his concerns ahead of the Boots & Hearts country music festival in Oro-Medonte, Ont., on Aug. 4. He’s confident the weekend will go smoothly, but getting to showtime won’t be easy.
“Things are as troubling from an industry perspective as they were during [height of the] pandemic, it’s just different,” he said.
“It’s not like a normal year. Our struggles have been things we’ve never dealt with before.”
“Hurry to find solutions”
In recent weeks, festival leaders have come together via text messages and phone calls to share the obstacles to putting on a successful event in 2022. They talked about rising costs linked to inflation, problems with supplies of stage equipment and a shortage of skilled workers.
Every music festival has its own unique mix of problems to overcome, but the common one among them is the fear that something will prevent the most famous acts from making it to the stage.
That’s what happened to the Bass Coast electronic music festival in Merritt, British Columbia earlier this month, when flight delays left about half of their Sunday lineup stranded.
Although there was a contingency plan that called for musicians to arrive a day early, about seven acts were stuck at airports before the show, festival co-founder Andrea Graham said.
“The flights were completely canceled or postponed to another day, which really doesn’t work if you’re playing tonight,” she said.
“We had to scramble to find solutions, like taking them to other cities (with drivers).”
The Bass Coast Electronic Music Festival in Merritt, British Columbia, which took place July 8-11. (Joey Rootman Photography/Bass Coast Festival)
The emergency backup plan worked. Only one of the acts did not arrive on time, she said. Still, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee other music festivals on the calendar.
A roll with the punches kind of world.
Talal Farisi, who helps organize Toronto’s Veld music festival, recently called a private jet company, putting them on alert for the weekend of his event.
“I thought, ‘Listen, I have a really good piece of advice for you. Try to have multiple planes on standby … there’s Lollapalooza, Osheaga and Veld on the same weekend, in the same vicinity,” he said.
“I’ve been thinking about that with Air Canada … we’re aware of the delays and it’s a very big problem.”
The Veld Music Festival will take place in Toronto from July 29 to 31. (Weld Music Festival/Facebook)
Everywhere else, musicians help in the most difficult situations.
At Calgary’s Sled Island Festival in June, a case of COVID-19 left the bassist of Los Angeles rock trio La Luz unable to perform, so Jenny Roberts, a member of the Edmonton band Faith Healer, stepped in as a stand-in.
Other events have not been so fortunate with COVID. The Regina Folk Festival announced earlier this month that Buffy Sainte-Marie is canceling her Aug. 6 headliner gig after contracting the virus.
“We’re in a world that’s much more ‘rolling with the punches,'” said Nick Farkas, co-founder of Montreal’s Osheaga Music and Arts Festival, which kicks off later this month.
“Everyone is MacGyvering solutions to make sure everything happens.”
Lethbridge, Alta., post-punk band Body Lens performs during the Sled Island Music and Arts Festival in Calgary on June 23. (Oseremen Irete/CBC)
Shortage of workers
Some of the hurdles are easier to overcome than others, said the executive director of concert organizer Evenko, which also runs the Montreal Jazz Festival.
For example, a shortage of workers can throw everything out of balance. A few years ago, a festival might hire 50 people to move equipment, but now only 40 will be available.
“That means those 40 people have to work harder, later and longer – and will they be back the next morning?” he said.
“I’m hearing it all over North America, that’s the reality right now. The unemployment rate is super low and it’s harder to attract and engage people.”
The Montreal Jazz Festival often sees crowds of over 100,000 gathered peacefully downtown. (Radio-Canada)
Think of any music festival as a duck swimming across a lake, suggested Farkas, who recently heard the comparison from a colleague. On the surface, the duck appears calm, cool and collected, but underwater the animal “kicks like hell” to move forward.
“That’s what’s going on in our production and creative teams right now,” Farkas said.
“Our people are very used to trying to find solutions … and unfortunately this year there are more problems than ever.”
Inflationary pressure
However, not everything can be contained below the surface. Several festivals say inflationary pressures, combined with high demand for trailers and make-up tents, have caused costs to soar.
Debbie Salmonsen, artistic director of the Vancouver Folk Festival, said that in British Columbia, several industries — music festivals, film production companies and the developers of the Trans Mountain pipeline — are vying for the same equipment.
“We’re talking fences, stages, gear, backs (also known as concert gear), pots. You know, all the things you need to have a safe event,” she said of organizing the festival in mid-July.
“Nothing has stagnated – some things are up 75 percent, some things are up 10 percent.
Debbie Salmonsen, artistic director of the July 15-17 Vancouver Folk Festival, says competition from various industries for equipment to make the venue safe has driven up equipment prices. (Alison Dempster/CBC)
How festivals deal with these higher costs varies. Some have increased ticket prices, while others say the spike in inflation came after they went on sale, making it nearly impossible to adjust their packages.
“You have two choices: either deliver a really good festival or cut a lot of costs and the customer will feel it,” said Farisi, who runs Veld as CEO of event promoter Ink Entertainment.
Festivals that focus on the bottom line at the expense of the experience will “pay for it” once word of mouth and ticket sales begin to decline in a few years, Farisi said.
So this year, organizers added an extra day to the line-up, allowing more tickets to be sold and costs to be spread over a longer period.
That strategy has paid off, Farisi said, as young people who were 17 at the start of the pandemic are turning 19 and ready to have fun.
“We saw our best year,” he said.
“There is pent-up demand; there is a need for people to come together again. You can’t deny the human instinct to come together and that’s really what festivals are all about.”
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