FVDED IN THE PARK returns this year and the lineup is HUGE!

FVDED in the Park makes a huge comeback after taking some time off with a massive lineup which will no doubt get the EDM fans into a frenzy. Swedish House Mafia rarely ventures into the festival circuit so it’s a real treat that they’re coming to FVDED. KX5, which is a union between Deadmau5 and Kaskade, and they give their Vancouver festival debut.

Combine this with the likes of John Summit, who has been on an absolute tear in the last few years, and the likes of Chris Lake, Diplo, Zeds, Dead, Slander and more - I believe FVDED has done this lineup right with a renewed focus on EDM which will hopefully be recognized by the fans once it’s ready to buy tickets.

There are currently no tickets available but you can sign up for presale access here.

Highlights from day one of FVDED In The Park (Review)

By Ryan Hayes

Another year of FVDED In The Park has come and gone. Although we were unfortunately only able to attend day one of this year's event there were still plenty of dance music highlights. The main difference at this year's addition was the massive overhaul to the Northwest stage: with literally double the production & a brand new tent structure. As almost every other major festival in the lower mainland has collapsed over the last few years FVDED continues to expand and at this point very little stands in its way as it strengthens its hold on Vancouver's festival market.

Although day one tended towards the rap side of FVDED's overall lineup attendees were treated a world class stretch of uninterrupted dance music. Four and a half straight hours of fantastic music by true dance music artists—Ookay, Duke Dumont, Kaskade, AC Slater, & Rezz. By the last drop I could safety say that the day's offerings more than justified the ticket price.

Keeping it a step above the rest, here are our day one highlights:

AC Slater

With one of the few sets running for eighty minutes AC Slater kept the people dancing from start to finish. Headlining a packed FVDED Lab—the audience was literally overflowing—with his unique blend of bass laden UK infused house music Slater kept the night's theme of all things house alive and well. In the past every stage at FVDED has drawn a different audience, however, this year was a unique experience. As the day progressed I slowly began to notice the same crowd gravitating from stage to stage following quality music. Everywhere I went the crowd travelled with me: there was the guy with a giant inflatable plastic straw, a girl and her boyfriend who had seen Kaskade six times, the crew with the full sized Night Bass flag, and a handful of others. Spending the time to create a truly immersive experience AC Slater's set started relatively calm and picked up speed and playfulness as the night progressed. It was by far the most cohesive set of day one

Kaskade

Lets start off by saying Kaskade was the real headliner of day one—Future may have been billed higher, but the night's energy reached its fever pitch during Kaskade's absolutely packed main stage set. It wasn't the most tight-knit Kaskade set I had ever seen, but the decision to play it fast and loose and just have fun seemed to be very conscious. Rolling through his melodic hits stitched together with dancing music anthems like Reload while working in a few pop mega hits like The Killer's Mr. Brightside insured that everyone left Kaskade's set with a big smile on their face. There was even a section near the end of his set, which he embarked on by playing his 2008 hit with Deadmau5 I Remember, where he took the tempo down and skirted around some redux vibes. Twenty thousand people singing and jumping in unison; forgetting their problems awash in a sea of euphoric energy. Isn't that what main stage festival dance music is all about? As always Kaskade was the gold standard.

Rezz

Without a shadow of a doubt no audience was more hyped for an act than the thousands of FVDED attendees who crammed themselves in to the Northwest tent to see Rezz. Having seen Rezz play BC Place I was worried this would seem small and anticlimactic by comparison, but each and every person in attendance at FVDED was a die hard Rezz fan. Every twist and every turn elicited a thunderous roar of approval from the audience. Cellphones high, everyone was ravenous to capture even a few seconds of new material. With Contact having taken place just over six months ago there was also the risk that Rezz' set would be too similar to her previous offering—that wasn't the case. With new productions from her upcoming album, Witching Hour & Hex, along with countless ID's Rezz somehow managed to sounds entirely fresh and surprising all over again. I am not sure how she does it but she continues to get better with every live set. Unequivocally Vancouver agreed.

Aside: Where Rap & Dance Meet

It is absolutely worth mentioning that Noodles early DJ set at the FVDED Lab represented the perfect blend of what FVDED In The Park is attempting to achieve as a festival. Rolling through Rap and R&B hits both old and new combined with heavier festival oriented bass heavy beats Noodles managed to meet everyone right in the middle. She drew in both sides of the festivals overall audience, and for that she deserves major credit.

9 questions about the Motion Notion Festival answered

Motion Notion festival has stepped up their game this year with unarguably their most ambitious lineup yet. Set at the beautiful location of Golden B.C. in late August, the combination of the scenery, the music, and the intimacy of the festival will be a special experience for every fan. EDM Canada had a chance to talk to Kevin Harper, the owner and festival director of Motion Notion about the history, the lineup, and what fans can expect from this year's festival.

Give readers a brief history of Motion Notion.

Kevin Harper: We started 18 years ago, I have been working there for the past 10. I was the festival director for many of those years and this year I just purchased the festival from the founder. So it's a new exciting adventure to try to take the festival to new heights this year. But we really started from humble beginnings in Alberta, and outgrew all of our sites to where we eventually landed at the beautiful site at the Bearfoot Lodge in B.C. It's taken on a few remixes, with different art, décor, and location. But we've really come into our own since we moved to the new location about 6 years ago. It's taken off amazingly since then. It started as a psy-trance festival back in the day, and when I came in, we incorporated other styles like drum and bass, electro, house, and breaks. We now have something for everybody.

What makes Motion Notion special?

It is an amazing group of people that come together for Motion Notion. It is a very open, friendly, good sense of humour crowd. Most importantly, they are participators, and not just people wanting to be entertained. We've encouraged renegade stages that are approved by the festival where they can start their own art camp and stage. We are also encouraging artists from all over the world to come. We've got live painters, comedians, magicians, and hypnotists coming. There is a wide gamut of artists that we're seeing come together and create an amazing playground in the mountains.

How many people do you expect to attend the 2017 edition?

We've capped tickets this year at 5,000, by design. People really loving the fact that the festival is a down to earth experience and not super packed. So you can run into people more than once instead of trying to find them all weekend. We wanted a mid sized festival that still has open areas for fans to build stages and art projects. 

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What's your philosophy when it comes to forming your Motion Notion lineups?

The gloves came off this year where I could take the musical direction and increase the size of the acts to showcase what Motion Notion has become. We want all styles of music to shine, by inviting both international and regional talent. We have curated a lineup that really does bring the best of all music to our event. This year, we asked ourselves what our dream lineup is, and we really shot for the stars for this one. Everything just aligned this year and it's probably our best lineup ever. We wanted to make sure we brought all of the types of styles that people have appreciated here are covered.

Which first time Motion Notion artist are you most excited to see?

I'm really really excited about Datsik, it's almost a homecoming for him (he's from Kelowna). It's Canada's 150th birthday this year and we wanted a big Canadian feature. We are so stoked to make that work.

Would you consider 2017 to be Motion Notion's most ambitious lineup to date?

100%.

Why are there so many cool festivals in Western Canada?

I would say it's the mountains over here. Having the mountains as the backdrop to our festivals lends itself more to the bassier sounds and it doesn't feel like you're in the city in any capacity. Nature is lending itself to creating cool art. Artists in Western Canada have been pushing the electronic bass sound for many years, from clubs in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver – to festivals. It's taken a life of its own and has worked itself down to the States and everywhere else as well.

What's your view on the current health of festivals in 2017?

The health of festivals are evolving. The festivals that get it and have connected with their fans are thriving. The ones that are in it for the wrong reasons, or maybe didn't have that soul to them, are disappearing a little bit. That being said, there are some great festivals that have closed down as well, like Squamish. It was an amazing event and it was a shame to see them go. Festivals are a risky thing and are exhausting to put them on sometimes. You're putting your soul on display so that everyone that judge it after that. It sometimes works, and it sometimes doesn't.

Make your best pitch: Why should people go to this year's Motion Notion festival?

Motion Notion is really in essence about freedom, self discovery, friends, hearing the best music and seeing the best performers on the planet in arguably one of the most beautiful locations in North America. It's your chance to discover new music and new stuff you've never heard of before. There is a magic to Motion Notion that's pretty indescribable until you get there. But people will tell you that it's one of their best experiences of their lives.

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Motion Notion takes places from Thursday, August 24th until Monday, August 28th at Golden British Columbia. Tickets are still available - click here for more information.

Squamish Valley Music Festival Has Been Cancelled

The week of bad news continues as one of the biggest festivals in British Columbia has been cancelled. The Squamish Valley Music Festival, which featured Drake, Sam Smith, Kaskade, Porter Robinson, Odesza last year, is not returning in 2016. This is a major blow to the festival industry in Canada as Squamish was always a big named event for western Canadian music lovers to flock to during the waning summer months. You can read the full statement below: 

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Let this serve as a somber lesson for all of us: If you still want to retain a vibrant festival season every summer, then make sure to support them with your dollars this year. 

2015 Squamish Valley Music Festival Recap Video: 

(Source: Squamish Festival Site)