Some days you’ve just got to dance, if so the fifth annual Lethbridge Electronic Music Festival is just your ticket in Galt Gardens on Aug. 13.
The free family friendly event runs from 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
And for the fifth year, the organizers are adding a third stage.
“When we started it, we didn’t expect it to become an annual event. But after the first year it worked and we’re very pleased with how it‘s going,” said organizer José Streeter, who is excited to present an expanded event for LEMF’s fifth anniversary.
“We’ve added a third stage and increased the size of the beer garden and increased the size of the kid’s zone,” he said.
The event features 30 acts coming from all over Alberta and B.C. to perform with quite a few local artists.
“It will be a little more laid back musically and chill in general. Not as high energy. We wanted to do something special for our fifth year, so I’m excited to see how busy it is. If it is we’ll continue it,” he said.
“It will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., the same as kid’s zone runs for,” he said.
He noted because the event is free to attend, it is difficult to say exactly how many people attend throughout the day.
“We’ve had bad weather for the past couple of years, but we usually get between 1,500 to 2,000 people all day,” he estimated.
Half of the acts on the bill are from Southern Alberta.
“It is the Lethbridge Electronic Music Festival so we wanted a lot of local talent. We have a lot of local DJs making their LEMF debut as well,” he said.
“And we have a number of acts from Calgary and Edmonton and Whistler and a couple of others from B.C.,” he observed, adding planning the event is pretty much a year-round job.
“We try to get together immediately after to talk about the event, then we take October and November off then we‘re right back at it planning in December and January,” he said.
“We put out a call and people send us their mixes and we listen to them, listening for skill and musical choice. We put on the best show we can with the budget we have,” he said, adding a grant from the heart of the City and dedicated sponsors help them plan a free party with plenty of good vibes and music.
He noted the three stages offer three different styles of electronica music.
“The Zodiac stage in the pergola is house music and progressive music and break music, while the Luminosity stage is mostly drum and bass and dub step music with a little funk. And the third stage is more house music, more down tempo,” he said.
Streeter performs a set as well.
“I’m at night this time. I’m usually on during the day so my kids can see me work, but this year I’m on from 8:30-9:30 right before Skiitour. It’s been five years and I’ve never played past 5 p.m.,” he said.
LINE UP:
Zodiac Stage presented by B93.3 FM
SkiiTour
aThousandKings
Flavours
The Neil & Bob Experience
Robbie C
Rick Sharma
Steve Samurai
Phunky Le Freq
Streeter
Marty Funkhauser
Trell
Luminosity Stage presented by 11:11 Live and PK Sound
Mittz
Wigginz
Constance
Ninjette
Inc.Line + J-reds
Alan Flava
ERWIN the INTERN
Koot.C
Verboze
Millz Skillz
Rabbyt
Serenity Stage presented by BassWorks Entertainment at Unified Vibe Productions
Aversive
Barbaro
Zero Lux
Opie & Disko
Bust N' Loose
HDrizzle
KOV
Hogue