Last Updated: June 2023-

Any list looking at the top Canadian music festivals might garner some controversy because we all have our favourites.

There are major music festivals held every year from coast to coast, though some are more successful than others evidently.

Any examination of the top 5 music festivals in Canada needs to take into consideration the west coast and the east coast, the Prairies, and central Canada, and the many events that are held nationwide throughout the year.

Here is a list of top Canadian music festivals, as we see it.

WayHome – Oro-Medonte, Ontario

There are a lot of Toronto music festivals that are attempting to jockey for top spot in the City.

NXNE continues to grow as a partner to SXSW and the Canadian Music Week Festival literally takes over Toronto across sixty venues in April.

Why WayHome makes the list above these is that it has been able to attract PR-heavy names such as Neil Young, Kendrick Lamar, and St. Vincent – all in its first year – and it continues to expand its audience size with each year that passes.

If there was one festival that has the potential to be Canada’s Coachella, WayHome might take the prize.

Osheaga – Montreal, Quebec

Osheaga has been a fixture of the Montreal music festival scene for over a decade and now attracts more than 130,000 people from all over North America and Europe.

Putting Canada on the map as one of the country’s strongest international-influenced mainstream-esque music festivals, Osheaga always comes with a strong lineup.

Though Montreal in particular has a very competitive music scene with festivals being quite the norm, Osheaga has boasted an international appeal that continues to grow its audience whereby other festivals have struggled.

Pemberton Music Festival – Pemberton, BC

Though music festival culture appears to be stronger in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, there are a number of growing brands in BC that continue to take advantage of that province’s beautiful climate and proximity to California.

The Pemberton Music Festival has garnered huge names in the past, including Kendrick Lamar, the Black Keys, and others, to headline. For those that are deeply embedded into city life, taking the escape to Pemberton to see the views of the BC mountain ranges and to enjoy some of the hottest music on the planet can be a welcome vacation.

Vancouver Jazz Festival – Vancouver, BC

​There are jazz festivals held from sea to sea in Canada year-round but one of the biggest is Vancouver’s, bringing in over 450,000 attendees each year, offering hundreds of performances across the city and further strengthening the jazz traditions in the City.

To anyone who is a fan of jazz and blues music in BC or Alberta, it would serve them well to give this festival a look when it comes around in late June/early July.

Cavendish Beach Music Festival – Cavendish, PEI

Though Calgary boasts strong country music traditions, the multi-day outdoor Cavendish Beach Music Festival on Prince Edward Island continues to carve out a nice niche for itself. Now attracting more than 70,000 visitors every year, the festival has become known for bringing in major country acts such as Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, and Taylor Swift.

Though the Maritimes have struggled to produce the same type of international music festivals common elsewhere in Canada, the Cavendish Beach Music Festival is equal to (or to some, even better) than any Canadian festival in the country music category.

Canada Has Music Festivals Small And Large In Cities All Over The Country

Though Canada has not produced the same infrastructure as the United States, the UK, and other countries have to host and promote music festivals, there are a vast array of different festival brands that seemingly continue to grow with each passing year.

No matter what kind of music you might be into, getting out and checking out local, live music in your city or region helps to support the growing Canadian music scene and it’s this kind of support that is going to help Canadian-based artists translate to more international, mainstream audiences.

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