Both Veld & FVDED Mark Change For Canada's Dance Music Festival Circuit
/By Ryan Hayes
With the recent release of the Veld's 2020 lineup an official shift has begun within the Canadian festival landscape. This year Veld will be helmed by four powerhouse dance music artists; Armin Van Buuren, Illenium, Marshmello, & Martin Garrix. This slate of headliners marks the first time that Veld has not had a major rap act gracing the top of their roster since 2015 when the festival was still, for all intents and purposes, a dedicated EDM festival; the 2015 lineup did present patrons with two rap acts, A$AP Rocky and I Love Makonnen.
In the four years that followed (2016-2019) Veld became a full on hybrid festival riding the wave of rap and hip-hops integration in to the world of dance music, in an attempt to feel fresh and relevant. During this time period festival headliners included; Travis Scott, Future, Migos, and most recently Cardi B.
However, it takes more than a few big names to make a festival a true hybrid. 2020 marks Veld's lowest percentage of rap/hip-hop acts since 2016; over a 10% drop in non-EDM performers when compared to the 2019 iteration. Currently under 20% of the festivals scheduled talent is drawn from outside of the realm of EDM.
Outside of Veld, in the Canadian festival circuit as a whole, there has been a reshuffling of dance music talent. House music leaning acts continue to increase their presence while EDM artists who focus more heavily on integrating rap in to their sets have begun to wane. This shift can be seen on top of the diminishing power of rap and hip-hop artists, both as a result, and a contributing factor, to the continued evolution of the festival landscape.
The major question now is, will the 2020 festival season be more successful than 2019—and if it is, does that mark the end of the major push for hybrid festivals?
Coupled with the evolution away from rap integration is the deconstruction of the headliners reign of power. This year lineups are bigger than ever—Veld's 2020 lineup is, by far, it's largest offering to date in terms of pure numbers. Within the festival circuit there is a trend away from spending all your money on headliners, and through these means focusing on a really flushed out middle tier of talented dance music artists.
Nowhere is the shift away from rap and towards an EDM heavy mid tier more apparent than BC's FVDED in the Park. This year FVDED's heavy hitters (outside of their three headliners) include; Alison Wonderland, Alesso, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Dave, and Gorgon City. Four of the aforementioned acts are EDM artists, and that is a major shift compared to 2019 when three out of five of the festivals largest second tier artists were rappers, and one of two EDM artists had strong hip-hop underpinnings; Tory Lanez, French Montana, Louis The Child, RL Grime, 6lack.
FVDED also supports Veld's move away from a hybrid focused event. Although FVDED has roughly the same amount of rap/hip-hop acts as it always has, the 2020 iteration marks the events most EDM artists since 2017; and the first time the festival has had a dance music headliner on each night since Jack U and Zedd headlined in 2016.
Both Veld and FVDED stand as strong evidence that 2020 marks a turning point. As EDM continues to drift out of the pop-culture ethos the fans who have stuck with the genre are evolving, and finding their own particular niche soundscape. Where this road will ultimately lead is unclear—however—this year seems to be proving pivotal in the shift towards more dance music centric events. Escapade, the dance music diehard, sold out in days, Veld dropped it's rap headliners, and FVDED refocused it's budget on dance music.
