A decade is an eternity in the music industry.
Coachella, which is arguably the world's most iconic music festival, only held its first three-day weekend in 2007.
After bringing the likes of Ice Cube, Calvin Harris, J.Cole and Skrillex to Kelowna, “Canada’s Hottest Beach Festival” is preparing for its 10th anniversary, which is quite the achievement after seeing major Canadian festivals like Squamish Music Festival collapse in recent years.
The big anniversary coupled with the overwhelmingly positive response to COG’s 2017 lineup announcement has both music fans and the festival organizers excited for July 28th.
“In the very beginning the event started out as a professional beach volleyball tournament, and in year two we became Center of Gravity,” said COG organizer Kelly Shepherd.
“As the festival grew in attendance, we brought in bigger artists, large production, added new sporting activities/zones and implemented programs to enhance guest experience and sustainability within our community.”
Unsurprisingly, COG pulled out all the stops to celebrate its 10th anniversary with the legendary Snoop Dogg hitting the stage this year.
“It's awesome to see the shared excitement for this years lineup. I've been asking people who they are most excited to see and they are listing off four or five of the acts, not just one or two,” explained Shepherd.
“The booking process includes list after list and a team providing feedback and suggestions to make sure we really nail it out of the park.”
Hitl it out the park they did with names like Marshmello, Schoolboy Q and Excision causing a wave of excitement in the often critical world of festival lineups.
While the big names are an obvious selling point for the festival, COG is unique in the way it integrates extreme sports and a renowned beach volleyball tournament into the weekend.
“The festival has a combination of great music and adrenaline sports hosted downtown in an incredible park,” said Shepherd.
“You can take a dip in the lake or suntan on the beach while taking in great music and watching amazing athletes.”
Over the past ten years Center of Gravity has also created an excellent working relationship with the City of Kelowna.
“Our organization understands the importance of crowd control, public safety, and minimizing the impact on the local community and we are continuously working together with the city to make sure the festival is a positive experience for attendees and the city as whole,” explained Shepherd.
The 10th anniversary celebration goes down July 28th-30th in Kelowna City Park and is sure to once again be “Canada’s Hottest Beach Festival.”
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