Galt Gardens will come alive with the sounds of electronica, during the first annual LEMF Lethbridge Electronic Music Festival. So get ready to dance.
“We’ll have nine Djs from out of town and 15 local DJs,” said organizer Jose Streeter.
They will be performing on two stages— in the amphitheatre and on a side stage on the grass. The festival takes place from 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Aug. 18. They are working on having a beer gardens, but the event is designed to be family friendly.
DJs include Deeps, MissDVS, Dom G, Fat Pat, Squalid Squad, MC Twist, D2, Bass Charger and Dubcepticon from out of town, some from a s far away as B.C. and a lot of local DJs.
Streeter noted there are as many types of electronic music as there are genres of music between classical music and rock and roll.
“There are a huge variety of sounds. Electronica music is as different as classical music and rock and roll. But it is a really under-appreciated style of music,” Streeter said adding electronica music has exploded since it hit the mainstream in the late ’90s. It has gained popularity in Lethbridge.
“A lot of the local DJs we know from working with Bassworks,” Streeter said a adding there are other local DJs as well.
“I’ve been wanting to get something like this going ever since I moved here,” Streeter said.
Streeter and co-organizer Steve Baines, who helped found the University of Lethbridge electronica club, have been putting on DJ shows at various local venues like the Eagles Hall, Blarney Stone and bi-weekly shows at Pops Pub for years, but have never attempted something on this scale.
“It has grown. It started with house and dub music. You hear a lot of electronica in pop music and people like Deadmau5 have given it exposure in the mainstream,” he continued.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a summer evening than listening to music in the park and supporting the downtown,” he continued.
They have received a lot of support from the City of Lethbridge and 500 people have said they’re going on the group’s Facebook page.
“And we really haven’t even done any promotions yet,” Baines said.
Co-organizer Steve Baines noted there will be food vendors and activities for the kids.
“ Electronica culture is about peace and acceptance, it doesn’t matter who you are or how you dress,” Baines said.
“And this is a free event for people to come and check it out and see what it is all about,” he said.
“It’s exciting, it’s one of the most popular genres of music in the world, so come out and see why,” Baines continued.
A version of this story appears in the Aug. 15,2012 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
