Kelowna’s Fireside Music Festival has revealed its 2020 lineup chalk full of local and Canadian music acts.
The music festival began seven years ago as a way to bring together all of the local artists that were never able to see each other play due to their conflicting schedules.
The first festival of sorts was held in a Lakeside home where the artists played all day and night by a roaring fireplace (hence the festival’s name) on a Sunday in January.
Since then, the festival has grown tremendously, and is now held at popular venues such as the BNA Brewing Company while hosting bigger names for bigger audiences.
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The three-day festival will be held from Jan. 24 to 26, hosting acoustics in the day time, hip hop artists and DJs at night and concluding with the main event on Sunday which features solo and group acts across genres.
“The people are amazing, the music is amazing, there’s artists, there’s entertainment, there are vendors, there are all sorts of cool stuff to do,” said event coordinator Aaron Desilva. “All the venues have great vibes and it’s a really great way to start the year off by experiencing local music.”
Desilva said this year’s festival will feature more hip hop artists than ever before, showcasing the genre’s local artists on a stand-alone night in the mission to open the festival.
“I am a huge hip-hop fan myself and I know there’s a really cool emerging scene in Kelowna,” said Desilva.
“I want to make sure that the scene is present at the festival and it definitely needs its own night because it doesn’t really overlap with the rest of the festival.”
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Desilva noted that the experimental rock band, Andrew Judah, is a must to check out at the festival.
“He’s a local guy and it’s his first year at Fireside and I know he’s going to bring the most insane show. He and his band are so talented and so engaging.”
Another notable name to play this year’s festival is Sunday’s headliner, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, a Canadian First Nations hip hop duo from Kitimaat Village, B.C.
“They played Kelowna a few years ago and their performance blew my mind,” said Desilva.
To purchase tickets and view the full lineup for the Fireside Festival, visit the Fireside Festival website.