WATCH: In light of recent deaths at other outdoor music events, the Squamish Valley Music Festival organizers are taking no chances as they prepare for this weekend. Jeremy Hunka reports.
Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? The Squamish Valley Music Festival made its debut in 2010. Executive Director Paul Runnals figured it would take five years to turn it into something big.
“We’re firmly planted and stepping into the level of a world class festival. We’ve heard nothing but rave reviews. How beautiful the site is. How easy it is to get to,” said Runnals.
This year’s festival goes Thursday until Sunday and features the strongest lineup to date. Headliners like Arcade Fire, Eminem and Bruno Mars. It’s not as difficult getting major artists to sign on now.
“The conversations are easier. We’re dealing with a much higher level of talent,” said Runnals. “Now we’ll get the phone calls returned. But we weren’t complete strangers. We were dealing with smaller artists and building our reputation.”
Even with direct competition from the Pemberton Music Festival this summer, Squamish is expecting a crowd of over 100,000 total for the weekend.
They’ve expanded to 3 and 1/2 days of music this year, which begs the question; how much bigger can it get?
“We’re going to take a good long look and see how everything goes”
Maybe Runnals will have to start thinking of new plan.
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