There’ll be no quartets in the park or dirges in the dark. The Ambleside Music Festival has died, the District of West Vancouver confirms.
The rock and roll fest in Ambleside Park has drawn such acts as Weezer, Neil Young, Sheryl Crow and Ed Sheeran in past years. Promoter GSL Group cancelled the 2024 concert series promising to come back “making the 2025 festival an unforgettable experience.”
That won’t be happening though.
“District staff have recently been informed by the organizers of the Ambleside Music Festival that they will not be holding the festival this summer. While we know many residents and visitors look forward to this energetic and vibrant event, we respect that it is the organizers’ decision,” a statement from the district read on Friday. “We look forward to welcoming the community to the many events happening throughout the summer in West Vancouver, such as National Indigenous Peoples Day, Canada Day, Harmony Arts Festival, Dundarave Hoedown, and Coho Festival.”
As recently as May 21, organizers were representing to the district that they planned to go ahead, according to staff.
In January, Vancouver lawyer Tim Lack blew the whistle on the organizers holding onto more than $150,000 in provincial government grant funding from B.C.’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, which was supposed to have been spent on the cancelled 2024 festival.
At the time, a ministry spokesperson said the organizers had been permitted to put the 2024 grant towards the 2025 festival, but they now confirm the grant money has been returned.
Lack said it’s not appropriate for the government to be so loose with grant funding when smaller non-profit organizations get so little.
“Ambleside Music Festival was a private venture with high ticket prices and ultimately it didn’t fly and yet received the higher end of grant money,” he said. “Just because some private company wants to bring in some rich LA-based rockers and sell tickets at pretty high prices to those attendees, doesn’t mean that is a good use of tax money. I am actually quite appalled at that decision making in Victoria.”
In a statement, the ministry defended the grant system.
“Events are an important part of B.C.’s tourism, arts, culture and sports sectors. They bring economic benefits to communities, support local businesses and enhance local tourism offerings and community vibrancy,” it read.
[email protected]
twitter.com/brentrichter
brentrichter.bsky.social
Want to stay updated on North Vancouver and West Vancouver news? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
