Osheaga nearly sold out as trade tensions linger

The Killers, Olivia Rodrigo and Tyler, The Creator. The biggest bands are in town this weekend for The Osheaga Music & Arts Festival, but some are wondering if the trade war with the U.S. is impacting the event.

Osheaga brings in 150,000 music fans from all over the world for three days, plus an army of staff working the event. The forecast for the 18th edition is sunny, but the political climate has thrown some shade.

Professor Julian Karaguesian from McGill University’s economics department said, “The uncertainty about tariffs and the uncertainty about the border have a larger impact than the tariffs themselves.

“They do. And uncertainty generally, when it passes a certain threshold, is really toxic for investment. It’s toxic for business.”

Nick Farkas, Evenko’s senior vice-president for booking and concerts, is also the man who founded Osheaga.

He said uncertainty stunts business expectations. “How it impacts the Canadian dollar and how it impacts, whether people can get comfortable going back and forth over the border.”

Karaguesian said trade and tariff talks also affect tourism.

“Year over year, June 24 to June 25, the latest data shows that visits by Americans by car show over the land borders down by 11 per cent and by air, I think it was down by almost one per cent.”

Yet, Farkas says this weekend is almost sold out.

“Our American sales are pretty much on par with last year, versus Quebec, Ontario, America and the outside international sales. So far, it’s looking pretty similar to last year and the year before. So we’re encouraged to see that the Americans are still coming.”

Americans are still coming, except for some sponsors, says Osheaga site and operations director Eric Fortin-Lambert.

“Because of what happened with the U.S.A., some sponsorships were not able to be here.” He added that Canadian sponsors stepped into those opportunities.

The economic ups and downs of putting on the biggest festival of its kind in Canada are matched only by the high notes onstage.

Montreal Artist Emi Jeen has the dream come true experience of playing her favourite music festival and said to expect a rollercoaster ride.

“I start very like high energy and I go a little bit down and then up. There’s tons of things. We clap hands, we go down together, we jump. Yeah, we it’s a it’s a nice ride.”

Osheaga will take place on Aug. 1, 2 and 3.