Rifflandia Festival moving out of Royal Athletic Park and into Rock Bay

“This is a decision we started pondering months and months before the CFL news broke." Nick Blasko, Rifflandia Festival president and CEO. Rifflandia, the city’s longest-running concert event, is moving from Royal Athetic Park (RAP) to the Matullia Lands at Rock Bay—a 4.5-acre parcel of land that was transferred from BC Hydro to the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations in 2022.

“We’re making a choice now that feels right for our festival and its future,” Nick Blasko, Rifflandia’s president and CEO tells Capital Daily.

Following successful runs of the event’s Electric Avenue on the Matullia Lands the last two autumns, Rifflandia organizers are moving the entire festival to the Rock Bay setting and will consolidate the fest into one weekend. The rebranded Rifflandia Festival will take place Sept.13-15, organizers said.

“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,” said John Rice, a spokesperson for Matullia Holdings, a limited partnership between the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, which owns the land.

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Last year, Rifflandia was spread out over two weekends at two venues, and although Blasko concedes the atmosphere at both venues was “fantastic,” he feels “the experience was getting too wide” and that there is more upside at a more wide-open venue, and a slimmed-down schedule.

“There's this idea that someone needed to choose carefully, you know, what weekend or what day they could attend the festival,” Blasko says.

“What we're trying to do is take everything that was great about previous versions of Rifflandia and package it into one site for everyone.”

Has been in the works for some time

There had been rumours Rifflandia was seeking a new venue, although any connection with developments at RAP were not a factor, Blasko says.

In November, it was announced the BC Lions would play the Ottawa Redblacks in a regular-season CFL game on Labour Day Weekend.

That will necessitate renovations to the stadium, including the addition of seats and possibly a new field surface, but Blasko says the idea of moving was being considered long before that.

“This is a decision we started pondering months and months before the CFL news broke,” he says.

“It's more about the potential of what the lands at Rock Bay offer into the future,” Blasko says. “And this is our first step towards making that future a reality.”

RAP was fine but not the future

Blasko says while RAP served its purpose and his crew didn’t face any major concerns, there were some minor inconveniences, such as the sprinklers in the field, a lack of necessary power, and a lot of competing interests operating in a limited space.

“Even getting on and off the grass, there is a challenge for large infrastructure, and it gets more challenging every year,” he says.

“It's a very tricky venue to move in and out of.”

Rock Bay he says, is a similar size in a slightly different shape, allowing for more configuration options.

“It's just much easier access, and allows us to kind of set up more distinction with our stages and the zones and where they're actually located.”

With few suitable outdoor areas available near downtown, Rock Bay could become the city’s outdoor music hub, Blasko says of the land which last summer the city was promoting as a potential Industry, Arts and Innovation District located near Rock Bay.

“I 100% support these lands being used for arts and gathering and those purposes,” Blasko says. “I view it as one of the last realistic opportunities for large scale public gathering in Victoria.”

‍ This likely means later shows

The move could spell relief to some of RAP’s neighbours, who despite a 10pm curfew, had complained about the noise and traffic. Blasko says he anticipates Rifflandia Festival concerts lasting longer into the night.

“We will certainly go to midnight on the Friday and the Saturday,” he says. “And I could see us going a little bit earlier on the Sunday, but we haven't made any decisions yet about that.”

Blasko says he’s also still making decisions on the rollout of this year’s lineup but hopes to make some announcements in the coming weeks.

Rifflandia was first held in 2008 and over the years has attracted such acts as Moby, Courtney Love, Iggy Pop and Paris Hilton.