Of course, this year’s headliners aim to please: Friday it’s the house-tinged electronic dance music of well loved and oft heard on TikTok Rüfüs Du Sol. On Saturday, pop superstar Billie Eilish returns five years (and a pandemic) after her last appearance at Osheaga. And then, on Sunday, Montreal has the pleasure of welcoming living legend Kendrick Lamar for the third time at Osheaga…but it has been almost a decade since his last appearance. We are in for a treat.

The festival offers the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of genres, but there is always a good focus on dancing. Evelyne Côté, Director, Booking, Concerts and Events for evenko, promoter of Osheaga, gave Northern Transmissions a little history of how electronic offerings at the fest developed. In 2011, she explains, “we expanded from 2 to 3 days because we were able to book Eminem. It was a huge year.” Even though Osheaga has clear roots in indie rock, “over the last 18 years, music and trends have evolved, and my role is to bring structure to the stage dedicated to electronic music and tie it in” with all the other acts.

It started as a “dance space” that was little more than a “table with CDjs and a mixer”, but as the programming grew, Côté explains, “the vision was to always mix acts”. Acts like Todd Terje – who performed with full band the Olsens in 2016 and Caribou, who last year did likewise. Though the Island Stage leans electric, it remains its own place and demonstrates a balance between electronic and instrumental music, thus presenting some of the most exciting artists: “we have (DJ/producer) Pawsa, who is exploding and (reggae-tinged bass duo) Ganja White Night but also French79 – a pianist playing electronic music and Monolink, who plays with guitar.” And there’s also crossover on other stages: Rüfüs Du Sol is headlining this year after playing in 2019. Belfast electronic duo Bicep, Côté explains, is playing “at the same spot where Rüfüs was – we thought about that mood when programming. It is about being as diverse as we can with that genre. This isn’t just a dj tent.”

The success of Osheaga’s dance-oriented programming has led to the development of ÎleSoniq, the electronic music-focused fest that occupies Parc Jean-Drapeau the weekend following Osheaga. Because big EDM producers (like Tiësto, who performed in 2014) were calling and asking about playing, “the idea of having an offshoot that would directly speak to the EDM and DJ culture fan locally and internationally” seemed like a good idea, and the fest is as wide ranging as Osheaga, “we started with something more mainstream, but we have been striving to gear it towards a wider spectrum of electronic music. We have tried to go deeper into different genres – going leftfield with the bass and more shades of house, for example,” Côté describes.

But before ÎleSoniq, Osheaga will offer up an embarrassment of riches that will whet the appetite of anyone who likes to dance. If the Parisian disco courtesy of L’Impératrice isn’t enough groove for you, add the dance-inducing Turkey-meets- Holland Anatolian rock/funk/folk/psychedelia of Atlin Gün. Then, having started their careers as DJs and taste-making bloggers, Bicep will surely provide the perfect accompaniment for their sunset slot on Friday evening. If, however, you aren’t sure what you are in the mood for, take in Rina Sawayama, who pairs her soaring vocals with so many bits and pieces of genres that the moment you think you’ve heard a sliver of ABBA, you will be faced with some glam metal guitar, in the best of ways.

Goth Babe, a.k.a. Griff Washburn, hails from Tennessee but travels all over playing his brand of perfect summer synth pop – pray for a sunny afternoon to accompany his show on Saturday afternoon. It will be a tough choice as at the same time the Polaris-prize winning and overall wonderful Lido Pimienta is performing. Another band that goes well with the sun (and has, incidentally, recorded with Pimienta – I’m hoping there just might be a special reunion!) is Colombia’s Bomba Estéreo and their infectious cumbia rhythms. And before Billie takes the stage, the adored The National makes their Osheaga return – it may be a tough choice: Carly Rae Jepsen plays at the very same time.

A Sunday afternoon highlight will surely be the introspective lyricism and indie country rock of Australia’s Julia Jacklin. Another singer-songwriter to look forward to on the same day is Japanese Breakfast (a.k.a. Bestselling author of the amazing Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner), who will showcase her creative string-laced popscapes. Fred Again, famous for his pandemic lament “Marea (we’ve lost dancing)” (as well as for producing songs for folks like Ed Sheeran and Stomzy), will certainly keep people moving, as they get ready for Mr. Lamar.

This is but a smattering of the offerings available this weekend – the festival is reliably curated, with the opportunity to see one’s faves, but it’s also very likely to fall upon a new love. When in doubt, just walk to the closest stage and enjoy.

Words by Erin MacLeod and Evelyne Côté

Limited tickets are still available order HERE