The annual Laketown Shakedown festival is set to return this summer with Wu-Tang Clan, Arkells, and The Glorious Sons headlining the Lake Cowichan event.
The three-day festival, scheduled for June 30-July 2 at Laketown Ranch, has been dormant for two years, due to COVID-19 concerns. The previous edition, held in 2019, was headlined by Snoop Dogg, Incubus, and Smash Mouth and drew north of 10,000 fans, according to organizers.
The upcoming event is expected to post a similar total for sets by close to 50 acts, including Lights, Sugar Ray, Felix Cartal, Haviah Mighty and Big Boi from OutKast.
“We try and program it with a wide variety of artists, from the ’90s to today,” said festival manager Mike Hann of Duncan’s Wideglide Entertainment, which is co-producing Laketown Shakedown with Live Nation Canada.
”We cater to a big demographic.”
Wu-Tang Clan is making its long-awaited Vancouver Island debut after initially being booked, along with Third Eye Blind and Ludacris, for the postponed 2020 installment. Hann expects ticket sales to be brisk in the coming weeks, now that area festivals can move forward without capacity restrictions.
“Based on [Wu-Tang Clan] being part of our 2021 line-up, which unfortunately didn’t get to happen, people are going to be ecstatic to see them come back.”
Tickets and camping passes go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. through laketownshakedown.com.
