Pop and rock stars with careers spanning from the 1960s to the present were announced Wednesday as the headliners for the 2015 edition of Big Music Fest.
Festival organizers held a press conference at Kitchener City Hall on Tuesday to announce the lineup for the second edition of the weekend-long festival.
Headlining Sunday, the final day of the event, will be Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Rod Stewart, as well as new wave band and fellow hall of fame inductees Blondie, and Dancing With the Stars mainstay Mark Ballas.
Saturday’s show will have a harder edge, with main acts including Soundgarden, Jane’s Addiction, Extreme, and Monster Truck.
Festival president Mark Higgins says the “multi-dimensional” lineups are intentionally designed to provide different sounds on different days and entice a larger audience.
“We’re addressing the needs that were left out last year,” he told CTV News.
This year’s edition of Big Music Fest runs from July 10 – the night of a ‘battle of the bands’-style competition – to July 12, with several days of festivities in downtown Kitchener leading up to the feature performances.
“It’ll be a great celebration … and it’ll also see the festival overall extend,” said Mayor Berry Vrbanovic.
Ticket presales begin Thursday.
In 2014, more than 20,000 people filled McLennan Park to see musicians including Aerosmith, Bryan Adams and Slash.
