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The first ever听 was, by all accounts, an overwhelming success. More importantly, the city of 麻豆传媒映画can lay claim to having another music fest of our very own.
We caught up with Westward creator Matt Gibbons shortly after last week's four-night event to hear his thoughts on the , as well as shed some light on the announcement that came over the wire on Sunday.
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So there will be a Westward Music Festival II, next September?
One hundred per cent yes. The dates are picked [Sept. 13-16] two weeks after Labour Day.
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Now that you have had a (brief) moment to decompress, what is your impression on first fest?
The Westward Music Festival went well; it was well supported once people figured out what it was. For a festival that took place after Labour Day, combined with Westward being in its first year, there was potential for some challenges. Some people went to one or two evenings, but many people went to all four nights of programming, which is fantastic. Going to all four nights allows people to get into a headspace of arts and culture, which is a nice feeling to be around.
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With venues scattered around the city, the Westward Music Festival became an even bigger 鈥楥hoose Your Own Adventure鈥� than a standard festival that uses stages within a confined area. How did that affect attendance?
We hit all of our goals for the first year of the festival, which made me happy. You are right, it is a Choose Your Own Adventure, even within鈥� our team there were no two people that had the same festival experience. You can't have it all, and that's life. You have to pick and choose. You may run into different people at different shows and say "I am going to go catch the Art D'Ecco set," or "I am going to see Vince [Staples]." They may say "I want to go see Youngblood and follow it up with PUP.鈥�
Depending on where you want to go, it allows you to be part of that experience. As far as getting around, I think that as the festival grows our goal is to make those decisions [on which artists to attend] harder on everybody. Some of the best stuff that you are likely to see at a festival was never on your list, but you were exposed to the artist in transit, or on your way to catching someone else.
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Sweet little Saturday at : and at . -
鈥� 102.7 THE PEAK (@THEPEAK)
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Thank you for the warm welcome home ! killed鉂わ笍So happy to be a part of
鈥� Seaborne (@seabornemusic)
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That happened to me with Youngblood, a local band that, due to the genre, had yet to pop up on my radar. I enjoyed the exposure to a band that I would not have had come across under other circumstances.
That is the experience that we want to replicate across the board for everyone. The art world just got a little bit bigger to [you] so that, in itself, is a win. I don't care if it is Beach Season, Vince Staples or Pretty Filthy Hearts, if the art world just gets a fraction bigger to everybody it is pretty cool.
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Having (predominantly) stayed downtown for the event (The Vogue/ Venue) I am curious as to how well attended The Westward Music Festival was for venues like The Imperial, The Biltmore, and The Fox Cabaret?
We actually surpassed all of our goals for attendance, which is obviously great. I think all of the venues felt fantastic about their respective turnouts. A couple of them had sellouts by show time. The attendance is a credit to 麻豆传媒映画for coming out; I understand that people in and around 麻豆传媒映画have been burnt by previous festivals. We saw people dust themselves off and realize in the weeks leading up to Westward that the festival was, in fact, going to go ahead and therefor they chose to jump aboard. That kind of support from 麻豆传媒映画and surrounding areas is the main reason we wanted to announce the upcoming year on the last night of the festival.
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Will you add venues next year?
We would look to add a Rio Theatre[-type venue]. It is imperative for us to use the venues that 鈥渇ight the good fight鈥� all year long. We do not want to take shows away from concert halls because The Rio Theatre, The Imperial, The Fox Cabaret and The Biltmore are all places that fight ... to keep the arts alive here in Vancouver.
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MRG took the initiative to put the Westward Music Festival together, 麻豆传媒映画responded nicely. Now what?
We are very excited to have 麻豆传媒映画come along with us now that we have a bunch of different initiatives that a second-year festival is afforded that a first-year fest is not. In addition to larger headlining acts, we would like to get more local music on the bill.
We have a second year coming and that is all thanks to the people of Vancouver, the media, the industry, the venues, and most importantly the fans. Somebody takes a chance, and the other side shows up to the play. That then allows the first party to take a bigger chance. We are going to build a bigger festival now. If there are things that people want to see on the next Westward Fest we are listening, reach out to us [at听[email protected]]. We want to be part of that conversation with everybody and know what those wants and desires of people are.
I am thankful and excited to know that we have a dance partner, which is the people of 麻豆传媒映画and the several people from outside of 麻豆传媒映画who came in to see The Westward Music Festival. I believe that we had 20 per cent of the people at the festival come in from areas such as Seattle, Spokane, Portland, Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna.
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Will Westward take place at the same time as Rifflandia next year?
I don't happen to know when Rifflandia is happening next year, but we saw a lot of benefits by running the two festivals at the same time this year. It was great to see the massive attendance that Nick and all the people from Atomic had over there [Victoria]. We received a really nice e-mail from Nick and his team wishing us the best of luck in our first year, and we wished them the same for their 10th year. The more we can do together with that kind of positive attitude the greater benefit it will be for all involved, the fans being the largest benefactors.听
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Will Westward see more genre mashing next season, or will you narrow your music focus in 2018?
I want to have more diversity in genres at next year's Westward Music Festival. I want to go further out there and see jazz, country and metal. Our goal is to curate a festival that multiple genres feel they want to be a part of, so we do not plan to narrow our focus in any way with Westward, we want to broaden it.
