Music News

Sound of Music Festival transforms into Return to Live Series, starting with Monster Truck

For years, Burlington’s Sound of Music Festival was 10 days of nearly non-stop shows throughout the city in June, a great and lively way to kick off the summer with some big-name talent in a sparkling setting.

Last year, of course, was lost to COVID. But the festival’s organizers didn’t want to give up two years in a row. 

So they went to a local-ish favourite that doesn’t back down — everyone knows you don’t f*ck with the Truck. 

Monster Truck was just announced as the first act in the festival’s Return to Live series, hitting the Burlington Performing Arts Centre stage on March 27. Tickets for the livestream will go on sale March 9. 

“Regrettably, the world simply isn’t in a place where we can safely have 250,000 people in a park,” says Myles D. Rusak, the festival’s executive director. “We’re choosing to focus on what we know we can deliver instead of dwelling on what we cannot. To that end, we are excited to announce that with the support of the city of Burlington, the festival will continue, albeit in a different format for 2021.”

Other performers will be announced for the series, which will run from March until August, and each event will reflect an aspect of the festival’s overall experience: the Club Series, Streetfest, Family Zone, Mainstage artists and even Live on the Lake, organizers promise. “The Return to Live Series will take place in various venues across the city and will reflect the festival’s core values of delivering free and accessible music to the community.”

Rusak admits that missing out on last year’s festivities cost the organization more than $1 million. “While we want to stay true to our roots of offering high-quality free programming to concert goers, we also need to include ticketed events to remain sustainable and plan for growth in 2022 and beyond.” 

All performances will be available for streaming so fans can enjoy the music from the comfort of their homes. There’s also a hope that, as things progress and restrictions are lifted, there will be “an increasingly larger in-person live audience, until finally an eventual return to the full festival experience the community has come to know and love.” 

Most information on the festival is available here, where tickets for the Monster Truck show will be on sale next Tuesday. 

Amber Healy

I write about music policy and lawsuits because they're endlessly fascinating.

Amber Healy has 516 posts and counting. See all posts by Amber Healy

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