Diljit Dosanjh's Vancouver Concert Expected To Be The Biggest Punjabi Show Outside India

Diljit Dosanjh is set to make history next year with a just-announced performance at Vancouver’s BC Place on April 27, 2024 — the first Punjabi stadium show. With a capacity of 54,500, it's expected to be the largest ever Punjabi music performance outside of India.

The BC Place announcement caps off a banner year for Dosanjh. This summer, he became the first artist to perform a fully Punjabi set at Coachella and in September, he released his latest album, Ghost. Ghost blends smooth R&B, moody trap and laid-back pop across its 22 tracks. It's a hit in Canada especially, spending seven weeks on Billboard’s Canadian Albums chart, peaking at No. 5. His collaboration with Sia, "Hass Hass," also went to No. 37 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Dosanjh’s success is no sudden development: Ghost marks his 13th album, and he first cracked the Canadian top 20 with his 2020 release G.O.A.T. Dosanjh, who is also a actor, was already a major star in India before 2023 — but his chart performance this year and the BC Place announcement indicate the rising popularity of Punjabi music in Canada, with Dosanjh one of the major figures out front leading the way.

Speaking to Billboard Canada for our Punjabi Wave cover story, talent buyer Baldeep Randhawa recalled taking a job at Live Nation with a goal of supporting South Asian music. At the time, he hinted at big things to come with Dosanjh and said he had already shown there's a major market for Punjabi music in Canada.

“I told them I was gonna prove the concept, book a 500 cap[acity] room and eventually go bigger,” Randhawa said.

When only a couple of months later, Live Nation booked Dosanjh, Randhawa learned he could skip right over the 500 capacity rooms and book arenas. Dosanjh performed at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, then a sold-out show at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena — which has a capacity of 18,000 — in June 2022.

That was a special night for Randhawa. “I was standing in the halls and I'm literally watching these little kids and they were like taking pictures with the Canucks stuff,” he says. “And they were like, I can't believe a Punjabi artist is playing here.”

Dosanjh is a superstar, but he’s not the only Punjabi artist making waves in Canada. Dosanjh collaborator Ikky recently announced a headline tour visiting five Canadian provinces in February 2024. Here are the dates on the "Man Like Ikky" tour, including ticket links:

February 9 - West End Cultural Centre - Winnipeg - tickets here

February 10 - Double Dragon - Edmonton - tickets here

February 15 - Marquee Ballroom - Halifax - tickets here

February 16 - The Observatory - Ottawa - tickets here

February 17 - Bar Le Ritz - Montreal - tickets here

Ikky’s album with Karan Aujla — another Dosanjh collaborator — Making Memories hit No. 5 on the Canadian Albums chart this year.

Meanwhile, the AP Dhillon ballad “With You” reached No. 42 on the Canada Top 100. Dhillon, a Punjabi-Canadian artist, also played arenas on his very first tour — including a sold out Rogers Arena debut in his home city of Vancouver.

“The numbers were great,” Randhawa said of Dhillon, “and we really kind of proved that concept. At that point is when my phone started ringing and everybody else was like holy shit, there's business here. There’s a market here.”

Pre-sale for Dosanjh’s BC Place performance starts on Nov. 30. General on-sale begins Dec. 1.