A final word and look at Osheaga 2026

[This comes from Stephane Duboard. – AC]

As one of the crown jewels of music festivals in this country, Montreal’s Osheaga has developed an international reputation as a world-class event. That said, its status has also brought comparisons with other music festivals that have leaned heavily into the corporate space and focused on social media influencers to the point of being dubbed the ‘Canadian Coachella’ by some of its critics. We ventured into Osheaga this past weekend to see for ourselves how the festival has changed over the years, and what the experience is like for the ‘non-influencers’ who are there strictly for the music, and especially in the alt-rock genres.

First off, the festival itself is spread out over a massive space, which allows for plenty of room for the up to 60,000 daily visitors to find a spot all to themselves. With the pair of main stages and the pair of side stages over a kilometer apart, the trek can be daunting, especially under a glaring summer sun (or worse, torrential downpour), but with a DJ tent, an acoustic stage, food and merch vending booths and photo op zones all along the way, setting out on the stage-to-stage expedition isn’t quite as challenging, but still very much time consuming.

The sheer number of corporate brand activations did get to be aggravating at times, given just how much real estate they took up in every single area, giving the whole experience a ‘basic subscription with ads’ feel to the entire festival. Even the VIP sections weren’t immune to the aggressive marketing placement, or being the butt of jokes of some performers (more on that later).

That being said, while the influencer and corporate infiltration is quite well established, once you made it into the pits in front of the stages, it was remarkably easy to lose yourself in the music and ignore those other distractions, and the vast majority of fans did just that, at all the stages, so once you tuned out the rest, you still had at its core a great music festival. Speaking of music, here are the highlights from the weekend:

Friday’s main stage lineup featured so many great fresh rock bands, and frankly, each and every one of them met or exceeded expectations with their performances. Getting to watch the Brit trio of Wunderhorse, Wolf Alice and Wet Leg back-to-back feels like the type of lineup that will be looked back upon in amazement. 

In particular, Wolf Alice’s wide range from mellow ballads like “Don’t Delete The Kisses” and “The Sofa” to kick-ass punk rocker “Yuk Foo” and “Play the Greatest Hits” kept fans intrigued throughout their set, never knowing what direction singer Ellie Rowsell was heading next.

Ramping it up even more, Wet Leg followed it up with a rapid fire set of 14 songs in 50 minutes, squeezing in every single one of their viral hits, including a triple shot at the end of “Chaise Longue”, “CPR” and “mangetout”. 

Another triple shot of alt rock bands closed out the main stage that night, and gave Friday a distinctively alternative feel. First was The Neighbourhood, who proved throughout their set that they are far from one-hit wonders, drawing fans in before closing out the show with 16 times platinum “Sweater Weather” and “Softcore”.

In contrast, The XX took a more minimalist approach to their production, with the trio entirely bathed in black and white as they performed a riveting set of hypnotic guitars over electronic beats. A perfect transition before the main event.

When it comes to festival headliners, Twenty One Pilots could teach a masterclass in performance. The amount of engagement with the crowd, using every inch of space, from a separate 30 foot drum tower set up next to the stage, to lead singer Tyler Joseph running into the crowd multiple times to perform in random spots, the duo proved just how artificial the barriers can be between artists and fans. And that connection was returned to them tenfold with the passionate singalongs by the diehard fans who’d been camped out all day to see their heroes.

Beyond shoehorning in almost every hit into a tight set, they also found time to poke fun at the controversy that surrounded their performance of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” by having a video intro from Jack White himself endorsing them playing his song. Mixed with some excellent stage banter, and poking fun at the top deck of the VIP section, they had the crowd in the palm of their hands all night. By the end, the only word that could properly capture their performance: triumphant.

With a very rock-forward lineup Friday, Saturday was always going to pale in comparison. However, there were a few acts across the stages that ensured rock fans still had plenty of options, including a Coachella-like mystery addition to the main stage lineup.

After their appearance at Jazzfest drew a record-breaking crowd estimated at over 80,000, it was probably a smart move to keep viral sensation Angine de Poitrine’s name under wraps until the day of to avoid a similar crowd control issue. And much like at last month’s Ottawa Bluesfest where they shared a stage with country star Ella Langley, their set was not only captivating, but it also provided a fascinating opportunity to watch the Tate McRae fans who were unaware of the duo.

As they ripped through their set of microtonal tracks with odd time signatures, the devotees in the crowd bounced along with hands held high in their trademark triangle, which left the uninitiated as confused as ever, but unable to resist joining the vibe.

Also sharing the main stage that day was Colorado’s Mt. Joy. Known primarily for their indie-folk songs, their set had a much more jam band feel, which brought more energy and showcased their musicality and interplay.

Later that night, Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand had a commanding set on the side stage, ripping through their two decades of hits, with the only true surprise being that they didn’t close with “Take Me Out” but rather lesser hit “This Fire”. But bonus points for lead singer Alex Kapranos’ mostly accurate attempts at French stage banter.

Immediately after, Turnstile took to the other side stage, and delivered a blistering set of hardcore throwbacks mixed with their more adventurous songs from their Grammy-winning album Never Enough. They definitely have the best case for largest mosh pit of the festival, and the pit was moving throughout the entire set, which included a brave cameraman catching the action in the eye of the storm. Even during their more new wave inspired songs like “I Care”, the intensity never dipped that far, and immediately ramped back up to 11 on pit favourites like “Birds”.

Sunday had a few more standout alt-rock bands in Mother Mother and Of Monsters and Men, but the occasional sprinklings that had randomly appeared Friday and Saturday turned into major downpours which put a damper on the festivities. That said, overall, the 2026 edition of Osheaga showed very clearly that, despite the increased focus on influencers and branding, the core of the festival continues to be about the music of all genres, including a solid portion of rock for us fans. Bring on 2027.