Saint John’s Area 506 promises to pack the city’s waterfront for a fourth year with a bigger lineup, more music festival fun, and an extra day to enjoy it all. Held at Saint John’s Coast Guard site over the New Brunswick Day long weekend, the music festival takes place from August 2 – 4, 2019 and today we are learning exactly what their musical lineup has in store for us.
With an expectation of the festival topping last year’s amazing performances from Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire, Arkells, Big Wreck and returning favourites July Talk, Area 506 have set the bar high for themselves with a reputation for the Canadian festival hat trick: something local, something new, and something that can be found on a Big Shiny Tunes compilation.
“We’re incredibly excited about this year’s lineup,” says Ray Gracewood, Chairman of the Area 506 committee. “We’ve been able to grow this festival steadily over the past four years with the support of incredible partners and sponsors, and of course the fans. This year we’ve added a third night of music at their new Coast Guard site and we couldn’t be prouder of the lineup we’ve put together. We’re so proud to offer such an amazing weekend of music, culture, and goods. It’s is our biggest year yet.”
“Once again, AREA 506 has put together a true spectacle for our city and our province,” says Victoria Clarke, Executive Director of Discover Saint John, Founding Partner and 2019 Marquee Sponsor of Area 506. “We’ve been a proud sponsor since day one and this year’s projection proves that when you nurture an event it can grow into something truly fantastic. Saint John is so electric during the New Brunswick Day weekend, and we’re so happy to continue to take part.”
8:00 a.m. AT: The first two acts announced today are the yin and yang of East Coast music: good old boys and JUNO award-winning indie rockers Wintersleep, who just released their latest album, In The Land Of, at the end of March, and The Galpines, whose album, Sorry Mom, should, in fact, not be played within hearing range of your mother or anyone with a heart condition (but go ahead and treat yourself, we won’t tell anyone).
9:00 a.m. AT: Local favourites and winners of the Stingray Rising Stars Competition at last year’s Harvest Jazz and Blues, The Backstays, join the Area 506 lineup along with the half the reason we grew up with so much angst, Matthew Good.
10:00 a.m. AT: Moncton’s hard rocking ECMA-winners The Motorleague join the lineup along with multiple-award winning singer-songwriter Christina Martin.
11:00 a.m. AT: Ontario’s multiple Juno Award-nominees indie rockers Tokyo Police Club will be playing Sunday night, and Saint John’s own singer-songwriter Kylie Fox will be there to entertain you on Saturday.
12:00 p.m. AT: Area 506’s lineup gets a shocking twist with Vancouver’s Juno Award winning electronic rock duo Dear Rouge, and New Brunswick’s genre-defying… funky electronic jazz group Les Païens.
1:00 p.m. AT: Indie rockers The Rural Alberta Advantage and Fredericton’s Bleum will both be playing Area 506 on Sunday night.
2:00 p.m. AT: Joel Plaskett is always going to be somewhere, and this summer that somewhere is Area 506. You practically can’t bring up east coast music without bringing him into the conversation. The real question is: will he be performing music from Thrush Hermit’s re-release of Clayton Park? We also have local favourites Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth. These guys are the hot ticket item everywhere right now!
3:00 p.m. AT: We’ve hit headliner territory. Out comes the first of the big names with Dallas Green gracing the top of the poster as City and Colour, along with the addition of Fredericton’s time-warped classic rockers The Crossroad Devils.
4:00 p.m. AT: We have arrived. The final announcements of today are Moncton’s award-winning rockers FM Berlin and the Saturday night headliners who we’ll probably be talking about all summer, Interpol. Need we say more?
Here’s Area 506’s complete lineup:
Aside from their reputation for a solid lineup, Area 506 is again expected to dominate the city’s waterfront with its signature Container Village: half playground – half Thunderdome, and full of New Brunswick produced goods, culture, and entertainment. The music festival will also host its massive beer tent featuring Moosehead products and a variety of craft beers, as well as their popular Road of Restaurants, full of vendors and food trucks. (And, of course, let us not forget about Area 506’s VIP section with private bar and washrooms and choice seating area.)
An extremely limited number of Pre-Early Bird festival passes go on sale Thursday, April 4th at 4:00 p.m. at www.Area506.ca for $99 + HST and applicable taxes. Immediately following, early bird passes will be available for $119 for a limited time. Regular weekend passes are $149.00 + HST and applicable fees. A limited number of VIP weekend passes are available for $299 + HST and applicable taxes. Single day tickets are also available, as are free tickets for those under the age of twelve. This year regular admission to AREA 506 is all ages! For more information regarding schedules, artists, tickets sales visit area506.ca