Osheaga Music and Arts Festival

Osheaga. Yes, that is a weird name. I am fully aware. Osheaga. That is what the natives called the land that is now known as Montreal. Osheaga is the first word that the Aboriginal people spoke to the French-European explorers when they first set foot into Canada, also called Kanata in the First Nation's tongue. Okay, this is just a little bit of a history lesson before we get to the actual point. The point being one of the most amazing music festivals in the country.

Osheaga Music and Arts festival. Osheaga has been one of the most amazing music festival experiences I have had so far in my life.

I discovered Osheaga when I was only 17 years old. This is when I started getting interested and curious about outdoor music festivals. This is also when I started getting more and more into "indie" music - which brings me to my next point about Osheaga.

Osheaga is a mostly "indie" music festival, that has a lot of very popular headliners each year. The Osheaga music and arts festival takes place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and it is usually the last weekend of the month of July, which is, luckily for us, a long weekend! Hurray! Long weekend in Montreal! The festival itself takes places on the Jean-Drapeau Island. And it is not limited to one small section of the island. This festival takes place all over the entire island. There are multiple stages, with multiple artists, performing at the same time! You can walk around the island and explore different artists the whole day! Isn't that sick? I would say so!

Now, there is much, much more to Osheaga than JUST music. Did I forget to mention an amusement park? Yes. I am not joking! There is an amusement park on the island, that is set up just for Osheaga!

There are the swings, balance challenges, photo booths, and tons of other cool things to make sure you and your friends have the best festival experience ever!

There are also tons of booths and other attractions where you can get a lot of free stuff and do fun things! For example, H&m had set up a little house, that is neon on the inside, with a fun photobooth, and paint, and stickers, and other little things so you could decorate yourself to be the Osheaga hipster king or queen! Nestea, Perrier, and all these other drink and food brands had booths set up to keep you hydrated and entertain you.

There are lots of trees on Ile Jean-Drapeau, which you be grateful for when you are there, because man, can Montreal ever get hot in the summer. Virgin Mobile is the main sponsor for Osheaga. Virgin Mobile is nice to set up a wi-fi chill-zone equipped with wi-fi, hammock swings, and phone chargers! Perfect for a little nap after walking around the island all day.

Now, I will talk about some of the artists and stages that I really enjoyed at Osheaga. I went to Osheaga 2015. That was one of the best years for the festival. I got to see Milky Chance perform, which was lovely. That night I got to see electric Kygo, and the famous and amazing Kendrick Lamar. Those were at the main stage.

Osheaga is like a modern-day Woodstock. Thousands of people sitting on the grass and enjoying the music.

However, my favourite stage is the Electronik stage. As you can guess just by reading the name, this stage plays absolutely phenomenal electronic music. EDM, Trance, you name it, they will play it. What made the experience that much more amazing is that in the middle of the set, it started to pour! Do you think this stopped anybody from dancing and partying? Nope! We all just kept going!

The art part of Osheaga is difficult to explain, so you must go there for yourself to experience it. Osheaga's art theme is colourful, cute, neon, and digital. There are two cute characters that are the official characters of the festival, so you will see them everywhere you go! Osheaga is also like a little electronic robotic village, so a lot of art looks like city buildings. Moreover, there are geometric neon shapes all over the island, and in the trees. Bring a camera, because you will be taking lots of photos!

Now, I will speak about the logistics of Osheaga.

- Ile Jean-Drapeau is accessible by both bike and metro. Parking is tricky, so I would definitely recommend taking the metro there. You cannot get lost, as all you need to do is follow the massive swarm of people going towards the island.

- Osheaga can get quite expensive. A three-day pass is around $300CAD. Which is a lot. If you truly want to go there for all three days, then purchase the festival pass. But, many people will only purchase passes for the day, or the two days they want to see. Last year, I only purchased the one-day pass, as I only really wanted to see Kendrick Lamar and Milky Chance.

- Do not get tricked into paying for Osheaga accommodation. This is literally nothing but a cash grab that at first glance appears to be a good price. I strongly, strongly recommend that you search for your own accomodation. Montreal is a big city, and there are lots of places to stay. I would recommend searching for a room, flat, or house on AirBnB. You can rent a whole apartment for as low as $20CAD per night. That is dirt cheap. And as you will probably be going with friends, you can really end up getting away with paying $10CAD each for a place. However, if you are not a fan of AirBnB, then I would recommend staying at the Hotel Suites Le Faubourg. It is a cute, decent, and cheap hotel in downtown Montreal. Every room there is a suite. There are two beds that can fit two people each. These are located in the main room - so kitchen and living room. There is a separate room with a pull-out sofa and desk. The pull-out sofa bed can also fit another two people. So realistically, you can put six people in a single room, and pay a really good price.

- Do not purchase any food or drinks at the Osheaga festival site. Festival food and drinks are extremely overpriced, because they know that you are hungry and thirsty, and you have nowhere else to go to eat and drink. Bring your own food, and bring lots of water. Montreal gets very hot and humid in the summer. You will be outside in the heat all day, while dancing and walking. So make sure you stay hydrated!

- Do not try to smuggle alcohol or drugs onto the festival grounds. You must go through security and go through a pat-down, and a bag and pocket search before you get into the festival. They know how to find alcohol and drugs. So, do not waste your time, do not waste security's time, and don't waste the people waiting behind you in line's time. Moreover, there are police officers there, and you risk getting arrested. Have fun safely!

- Do not take drugs or alcohol if people offer you anything. There are substances at festivals like these, regardless of security. Protect yourself and your friends, and say no to anyone offering anything. Kindly decline any offers, and report the situation to security if you do feel that the situation can escalate into something more dangerous later on.

- Be prepared to be surrounded by a lot of intoxicated people. That being said, many people will not be on their best behaviour. The best thing you can do is either ignore the person that is annoying you, or call security if the situation is getting out of hand. Do not try to instigate fights or solve fights by yourself.

- Do not wear your favourite shoes. Especially if they are white. They will never be white again after this festival. Ottawa Bluesfest grounds are basically just dirty. So your shoes will get very dirty. Try to wear darker shoes so that they do not get completely destroyed.

I really hope this got you hyped for Osheaga this year! It is really a festival worth seeing if you are in Canada for the summer, as people from all over the country come to Montreal for Osheaga weekend!

Stay safe, and rock out!