Ottawa’s Bluesfest released the lineup for this year’s festival March 26.
The lineup contains some big names such as Lady Gaga, The Killers, Blake Shelton, Queens of the Stone Age, and Lady Antebellum.
The lineup will also include 50 local bands.
Director Mark Monahan described some of the challenges and the effort that goes into putting on a festival of such scale year after year.
The process usually begins in the fall, although Monahan said he’s always thinking about it. He said a lot of the process is communication with people in the industry and trying to see who can be fit in and what deals can be made.
After all the planning, the lineup usually comes out with a wide range of acts.
“I think if you’re a music fan, there’s something you’re going to see there, hopefully on multiple days,” he said.
He explained there wasn’t any specific day that he thought would stand out more than others.
“There’s a crowd for most acts, not just the closing acts. And that’s what we’re trying to do with the programming and scheduling things throughout the lineup, not just on Saturdays,” he said. “You’re likely going to see a great band that you’ve probably never heard of . . . I’m very happy with the lineup this year.”
He said the convenience of having such a large festival in an urban setting also contributed to its popularity.
But this year is a little bit different. The festival, which runs from July 3-13, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
With this in mind, the focus of the festival was the diversity of the schedule. Monahan said organizers had taken additional steps to really make the festival interesting for a wide demographic.
Monahan spoke about an advisory board of youth that he referred to as his “tag team” who suggested acts for the festival and had a strong amount of input on lineup decisions.
Two of the members, Clara Chapman and Matt Bennett-Hall, had worked with Bluesfest in the past, but this year they said their opinions had much more sway.
Regarding the anniversary, Monahan said it was a time to reflect on past festivals.
“It’s a marker in time. You kind of step back and reflect on what we’ve been able to achieve and what’s important to the fans,” he said. “We’ve wanted to give people a chance to talk about their experiences and past experiences at Bluesfest.”
He also mentioned a commemorative book was going to be released, and an online page had been set up for people to post their photos.
“The festival is about people’s experiences and what they make of it,” he said.
He said he believes the festival has helped create a better music community in Ottawa.
“Any music is good for everybody,” he said.
For the future, Monahan said he wants to continue to keep the festival relevant and interesting for everyone, especially younger audiences.
