The upcoming edition of the Rifflandia festival will be held entirely on the Matullia Lands in Rock Bay, where a portion of the multi-day music festival was held in 2023.
The festival ran over two weekends on two separate sites for the first time ever last year, with programming split between the Matullia Lands at the corner of Pembroke and Government streets and Royal Athletic Park.
The music and culture mainstay — which is set for Sept. 13-15, 2024 — announced today it will return to the framework of its early editions with a single weekend of events, to be held exclusively on the site where its Electric Avenue night programming drew a record 8,000 fans on opening night in 2023.
Rifflandia will be an all-ages venue under the new one-site, one-weekend model, another step forward for what is one of the area’s most popular events.
“For the past 17 years, Rifflandia has served a diverse and creative music-forward community, and throughout that time we have always maintained a spirit of reinvention,” festival founder Nick Blasko, president and CEO of Rifflandia Entertainment Co., said in a statement.
“Innovation is what drives us as we continue to present the best live music experiences in Victoria.”
The company has signed a multi-year agreement with Matullia Holdings, which was formed in 2011 as a limited partnership between the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations.
“The lands at Rock Bay have served as an important gathering point for generations, and we look forward to continuing and building on this powerful cultural legacy,” John Rice, operations manager of Matullia Holdings, said in a statement.
Rifflandia made its triumphant return in 2022, following a four-year break, and in the past two years has brought top performers Lorde, Charli XCX, Iggy Pop, Shaquille O’Neal, and Paris Hilton to Victoria.
Performers and ticket information have yet to be announced, but will be made at a future date through , according to organizers.