The two charting stars will take Canada’s biggest country music festival to its first-ever Edmonton edition as Boots and Hearts West from Aug. 28-29 at Fan Park @ ICE District.
Republic Live — the producers of Boots and Hearts Music Festival — have announced the inaugural Edmonton edition of the popular country fest. Boots and Hearts West arrives in Western Canada from Aug. 28- 29, 2026, in Fan Park @ ICE District.
To kick off its inaugural year, country juggernaut Russell Dickerson and Grammy-nominated artist Shaboozey have been tapped as headliners. The full festival lineup will be revealed at a later date.
The Boots and Hearts West expansion is a milestone for the eight-time Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) country festival of the year winner, which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary. Marking its first major festival event outside of Ontario, the addition builds on the brand’s desire to reach fans across the country, reflecting how listeners have built a strong foundation for Canadian country music — and for new fans to come aboard.
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"As Boots and Hearts continues to grow, expanding to Western Canada is a natural next step — especially with Edmonton’s passionate country-music community providing the perfect environment," shares Brooke Dunford, Republic Live's director of booking and business development, in an exclusive statement to Billboard Canada.
Genre-bending trailblazer Shaboozey is continuing his success north of the border. Last year, the Virginia singer’s "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" broke the record for most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, spending 25 non-consecutive weeks at the top. To celebrate the feat, Billboard Canada presented him with a plaque for his No. 1 hit onstage at his headlining concert at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall last September. Next year marks Shaboozey’s return to the Canadian festival stage since he performed at this year’s Osheaga, where he played his smash hit twice, and then Montreal festival Lasso shortly after.
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Bringing big headliners helps launch Boots and Hearts in the country juggernaut of Alberta, but there's an equal focus on artist development. The festival has become a crucial stepping stone for Canadian country artists, with charting artists like Owen Riegling making crucial strides there. Dunford cites a few, including Sarah Vanderzon, the winner of the Boots and Hearts Emerging Artists showcase last year.
"This expansion also supports Republic Live’s evolution, including the launch of RLive, our new management division representing artists from B.C.'s Tyler Joe Miller and Zach McPhee to Quebec’s Sarah Vanderzon," Dunford, the recent Billboard Canada Women in Music 2025 honouree adds. "As we grow geographically and continue investing in artist development, our goal remains the same: to create more opportunities for rising talent to step onto big stages and to welcome fans across the country into the Boots family."
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Boots and Hearts isn’t the first music festival to expand into Western Canada. Earlier this year, organizers of the outdoor EDM festival, Igloofest, announced its first-ever Edmonton edition, sharing the official lineup last week.
Tickets for Boots and Hearts West will be available for presale on Wednesday, December 3, at 10 am MT, with public on-sale beginning Friday, December 5, at 10 am MT, here.
