Stanley Park to be home to three-day music, art and food festival next year

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Vancouver is being promised a three-day music, art and food festival, right in the heart of Stanley Park.

The organizers of the failed Squamish Valley Music Festival who are behind this new, three-day event called “SKOOKUM” hope to capture the same kind of audience as other successful city-based festivals such as Austin City Limits or Kaboo in San Diego.

Festival Director Paul Runnals admits bigger, more expensive camping-based events like the former Squamish Fest and Pemberton have become tough to pull off in Canada.

“Of the three largest contemporary music festivals that were running in Canada two years ago, there are now none of them left.”

“The model just wasn’t working anymore,” he tells us.

But he says smaller, city-based events can thrive. “There’s a more curated range of experiences — culinary experiences, arts, VIP experiences, things like that — that sort of broaden the fan base that you would attract to this.”

SKOOKUM is set for next September on 17 acres in Stanley Park with multiple stages, art installations and a “sophisticated food and beverage program.”

Organizers, who hope for crowds of 20,000 per day, also promise a series of late-night events in the downtown core.

The festival line-up will be announce next spring.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today