Today, Calgary’s Sled Island Music & Arts Festival is excited to announce the second wave of artists playing the 2024 edition of the event, running June 19 - 23. The annual festival presents a thoughtfully chosen lineup of music, comedy, film, art and conference programming in multiple venues across Calgary, Alberta each June. The artists announced today – including the final music headliners, three more picks from 2024 guest curator Show Me the Body, and an assortment of captivating up-and-comers – are added to a list of 25 previously announced acts confirmed to perform at this year’s festival.
New additions include breakthrough Canadian indie rock sensation EKKSTACY, trailblazing Argentine singer-songwriter Juana Molina, outlandish hyperpop performance artist Alice Longyu Gao, experimental guitarist and composer Jeff Parker (a longtime member of the post-rock group Tortoise), boundary-pushing hip-hop artist and composer Slauson Malone 1 (selected by Show Me the Body), Francophone post-punk quartet Corridor, and LA goth rock outfit Death Valley Girls.
Sled Island will welcome Cincinnati synth-punk trio The Serfs, Toronto-based punk rock four-piece Bad Waitress, celebrated Canadian DJ and rapper Myst Milano (returning to the festival after a gripping performance in 2018), Detroit ghettotech trio and guest curator selection HiTech, psych-laden shoegaze project The Discussion (the latest offering from Laura Pleasants of Kylesa), NYC rhythm and noise band Sediment Club – the final guest curator pick and side project of Show Me the Body’s Jackie McDermott – and Indigenous electronic artist Kehiw, who will be headlining this year’s Drum Beat Entertainment showcase. These acts join already announced acts such as Mick Jenkins, Cherry Glazerr, Show Me the Body, Kari Faux, Planet Giza, W.I.T.C.H., Laurel Halo, Forest Swords, Wombo, Soul Glo, Tomb Mold and many more.
On top of that, the festival announced an outstanding collection of emerging artists joining this year’s lineup, including electronic-infused hip-hop artist Sydanie, trap and R&B performer SuKha Never Dies, Edmonton soul singer Aladean Kheroufi, Vancouver-based afro-fusion act MAUVEY, ambient composer and violinist respectfulchild, indie-folk singer-songwriter Bennett Mitchell, avant-pop artist Kee Avil, ‘90s-influenced indie rock group knitting, Japanese drummer and electronic composer mineo kawasaki, Winnipeg post-punks Fold Paper, Edmonton post-hardcore four-piece Midnight Peg, noise-meets-screamo outfit OBROA-SKAI, Ottawa art-pop band Pony Girl, electronic dream pop artist Tess Roby, and dynamic Vancouver punk band WAIT//LESS.
The festival also debuts a partnership with the Iranian artist-run festival SET Experimental Art Events this year, who have curated a small selection of some very exciting Iranian artists to perform at Sled Island 2024. The project, titled SLED X SET, is a collaboration meant to build relationships between the Iranian and Canadian artistic scenes, and to bring more cutting-edge and boundary-pushing music and multimedia art to Calgary and beyond. The artists joining Sled Island this year include Niloufar Shiri & Caleb Klager, Golpesar, Artsaves and Cinna Peyghamy.
Sled Island’s complete 2024 lineup will be announced in the coming months, including over 150 more bands as well as comedy, film, visual art, special events and conference programming.
Sled Island passes are currently on sale at SledIsland.com. A limited number of single-show tickets to select newly-announced Sled Island 2024 shows will go on sale this Friday, April 12 at noon MDT.