Music/Features

Toronto’s NorthbyNortheast (NXNE), Canada’s leading festival of new music and sister festival to Austin’s SXSW, is back June 14 – 19 with tickets and passes now on sale.

The festival will feature over 300 emerging acts at over 20 of Toronto’s best live music venues from Tues., June 14, through Sun., June 19 with most shows happening Wednesday through Saturday.

Complete festival passes for the entire week are only $20 — less than the $29 NXNE charged in 1995 and significantly less than recent festival prices. Single admission to any one show is $10.

“After the crappy two years we’ve all been through, we don’t want any financial barriers keeping people from attending NXNE and re-discovering the joy of live music,” says festival founder Michael Hollett (Hollett is also editor/publisher of NEXT). The festival is also one of the only discovery festivals to not charge artists for applying to play.

“By making band applications free, we have seen an amazing increase in submissions and a great diversity of performers applying. Clearly, a lot of great artists have been working hard on their craft during the pandemic, and we can’t wait to share what they have created with Toronto audiences.”

Most venues feature five sets a night, all shows start on the hour from 9 pm till 1 am (2 am for venues with extended licenses), with 40-minute sets and 20-minute changeovers.

“The integrity of the schedule is really important to us and to the club-hopping experience,” say Hollett. “Fans need to know bands will go on when we say they will so they can have the fun of confidently hopping from venue to venue to check out new acts knowing the artists will actually be performing when they are supposed to be.”

While the emphasis is on new Canadian talent, artists from all over the world will be playing the festival and include: Vicky R (France), Anna Smyrk (Australia), Omar Noir (Norway), Blue Kubricks (U.K.) and dozens from the U.S. Among the hundreds of Canadian acts are rising stars like Omega Mighty, Osé, Balto, Jeremy Voltz, Black Pontiac, Like A Motorcycle and Dear Youth. Check out artists lists at nxne.com.

NXNE 2022 venues include The Horseshoe, the El Mocambo, The Gladstone House, Garrison, Baby G, Rivoli, the Cameron House and any more. Find full festival details at nxne.com, and check out nextmag.ca and the June issue of NEXT for more information.

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