{"id":843456,"date":"2026-08-03T01:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T01:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/843456\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T01:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T01:23:13","slug":"osheaga-celebrates-second-highest-attendance-as-19th-edition-winds-down-in-the-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/843456\/","title":{"rendered":"Osheaga celebrates second-highest attendance as 19th edition winds down in the rain"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want an idea of how much fun was had at the 19th Osheaga Music and Arts Festival at Parc Jean-Drapeau this weekend, here\u2019s a pretty good place to start: Impossibly popular Quebec buzz band Angine de Poitrine gave a surprise performance<\/a> Saturday afternoon \u2014 and that was not the highlight of the weekend.<\/p>\n

It was one of them, sure. But as we\u2019ve come to expect at Montreal\u2019s biggest popular music festival, there were highlights aplenty<\/a> on what turned out to be the second-biggest weekend in Osheaga\u2019s history, after 2023, when R\u00fcf\u00fcs du Sol, Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar headlined.<\/p>\n

For some, the highlight may turn out to be Sunday\u2019s headliner, Osheaga veteran Lorde, who last headlined in 2017 and also performed in 2014. She was set to close out the rainy day\u2019s lineup with an artful pop touch that seemed perfectly calibrated to appeal to Osheaga attendees \u2014 who skew young and are over 60 per cent female \u2014 while making space for a wide variety of music fans.<\/p>\n

A total of 151,000 people passed through the Osheaga gates this year, with sellout crowds on Saturday and Sunday, and the site at 90 per cent capacity on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to do Year 20 next year,\u201d said festival director Nick Farkas. \u201cTo think of where we came from \u2014 I was joking that there are more people working here now than people who paid to go see the first year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TateTate McRae performs at the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Montreal on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s lineup attracted legions of Tate McRae devotees, who swarmed the main-stage area to catch the Calgary singer-songwriter and former So You Think You Can Dance contestant\u2019s meticulously choreographed and elaborately staged set, which was about as slick as it gets at Osheaga. They were rewarded with a flurry of singalong hits and dynamic routines by her crew of dancers, who moved in lockstep as they swirled around the star.<\/p>\n

\u201cMontreal\u2019s always the loudest city on the tour,\u201d McRae gushed in appreciation of the ecstatic reaction.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s headliner Twenty One Pilots brought their anthemic mix of rock, electronic and hip-hop influences to their crowd-rousing, day-closing appearance.<\/p>\n

\"AngineAngine de Poitrine performs at the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Montreal on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Angine de Poitrine rumours swirled throughout the day Friday. Osheaga officially announced the news on Saturday morning, but the band\u2019s name appeared on T-shirts and posters being sold throughout the site and was the subject of so many excited whispers that one publicist began referring to them as C\u00e9line de Poitrine, an allusion to their widespread, cult-like appeal.<\/p>\n

The viral, polka-dot-costumed duo had already drawn some 150,000 excited faithful to their free outdoor show at the Montreal International Jazz Festival<\/a> in June, forcing the closure of the site once it reached capacity. The fact that the jazz fest and Osheaga are both run by Evenko helped secure the group for both events.<\/p>\n

Farkas and Osheaga co-director Daniel Glick booked Angine de Poitrine for Osheaga in May, three months after securing the band for the jazz fest, but decided to keep the news hush-hush, as Saturday tickets were already selling extremely well.<\/p>\n

The duo did not disappoint. <\/p>\n

Alien siblings Khn and Klek de Poitrine delivered their frenetic math-rock jams with gusto and Osheaga was on board, with fans raising their hands to form reverential pyramid symbols when prompted and cheering when they recognized a familiar tune, like the jagged funk jam Fabienk.<\/p>\n

\"LittleLittle Simz performs at the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Montreal on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

There was a strong rock representation to the rest of Saturday\u2019s programming, with hometown heroes Wolf Parade<\/a> leaning into their indie anthems, including the Heated Rivalry-propelled I\u2019ll Believe in Anything.<\/p>\n

British rapper Little Simz spit lyrical fire in her early-evening set on the Forest Stage, followed by rollicking Swedish punks Viagra Boys on the adjoining Valley Stage, Scottish indie icons Franz Ferdinand and Baltimore alt-punk phenoms Turnstile.<\/p>\n

\"SombrSombr performs at the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Montreal on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in poetic counterpoint, New York gentle giant Sombr was delivering a fest-highlight set on the main Mountain Stage, dropping hit after hit as a sea of adoring fans sang along with glee. The crystal ball says he\u2019ll be back to headline before we know it.<\/p>\n

\"RhianRhian Teasdale of Wet Leg performs at the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Montreal on Friday, July 31, 2026. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Among this critic\u2019s Friday favourites were the soul shakedown of the amazing Leon Bridges, and a trio of British acts including the sassy dance-pop jams of female-fronted Wet Leg, the hazy indie gems of British singer-songwriter Blood Orange (a.k.a. Dev Hynes) and his versatile band, and the moody brilliance of The xx, who showed zero rust in what was a bit of a comeback after a nearly eight-year hiatus. The day was capped off with an engaging set by New York\u2019s indie buzz band of the moment, Geese, at the far end of the site.<\/p>\n

\"ClipseClipse performs at the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Montreal on Sunday, August 2, 2026. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Rap took the lead on Sunday with a lineup including performances by highly entertaining Virginia duo Clipse and Georgia rapper Gunna, who lit up the Mountain Stage two hours apart. In between the two, Swedish pop sensation Zara Larsson and her dancers were like a big ray of sunshine piercing through as rain continued to fall. And to balance Lorde\u2019s pull on the main stage, the fest programmed massive club-music crew Major Lazer over on the Forest Stage. Either way you cut it, epic times were guaranteed.<\/p>\n

tdunlevy@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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