Image via The 4th Street Lilac Festival
From its humble beginnings as a local craft sale 26 years ago, Calgary's 4th Street Lilac Festival has grown into a huge annual music and arts event, drawing over 100,000 people. With the focus on emerging artists and hometown talent, Lilac Fest offers a fantastic opportunity for exposure. And the best news of all? The festival is currently booking 10 Canadian Sonicbids artists to be a part of the May 2015 lineup, who will all be compensated and keep 100 percent of their merch sales!
Shannon McNally, the festival's artistic director, gave us some insight on the growth of Lilac Fest, how they manage to keep the event free, and how Sonicbids artists can benefit from getting involved.
How have things changed over the festival's 26 years?
The festival has grown into its own organization and is no longer community-run. It still, however, maintains a local and independent appeal. The attendance has skyrocketed and now attracts residents city-wide. There's attention from exhibitors and musicians on a national level who wish to participate because of the festival’s opportunity for exposure and its market reach potential. The festival has expanded to 12 blocks, hosts 400 exhibitors, six stages, street performances, a children’s area, and patio extensions to name just a few of the activities. The demographics have always been diverse, but we are now noticing a greater number of blossoming young families and artistic professionals.
With that kind of enormous growth, how have you managed to keep Lilac Fest a free event?
The musical component of Lilac Fest has been mandated to foster an independent and grassroots feel for artists to gain exposure and live performance experience. As a not-for-profit organization, our staff works hard to achieve funding and grants to help keep the music and event free to attend. Volunteers are also an integral part of the festival, and it would not succeed without their help and dedication. In addition to booking bands, we will be accepting volunteer applications in the new year.
What are you looking for when booking Sonicbids artists for Lilac Fest?
The Lilac Fest is looking for new and emerging talent within Calgary and the province of Alberta. Bands on a national level are welcome to submit, but this is challenging to coordinate because of distance. The festival looks for 80 percent new and 20 percent repeat performers to provide everyone equal opportunity. It is important to have some live performance experience with a majority of original material. The performance should always be family-friendly and suitable for a daytime public event. Genre restrictions include anything not family-friendly or overtly obscure-sounding. Heavy metal, some hard rock, hip-hop, or punk would fall under those restrictions. We use our discretion and do follow up communication with artists when previewing submissions to help determine the best fit for the event.
Why do you think Sonicbids artists should play Lilac Fest?
The reason why artists should play at Lilac Fest is simple: this event is free to attend and draws a diverse and appreciative audience. The amount of exposure to potential fans and local talent rustlers is incomparable to any other city-wide event. Lilac Fest is host to 100,000 people over the course of this eight-hour, one-day event, and for an emerging artist, this is a unique platform to showcase his or her music outside of a bar or nightlife atmosphere. Every performance is paid and negotiated with the festival on an individual basis. We believe in compensating our artists to show support for their art and their future within the industry.
Apply to play Lilac Fest by Feburary 13, 2015.
