Celebrating the country’s diverse range of artists and genres, the third edition hosts over 60 acts performing at various venues across Canada on Sept. 26, including St. John's, Kelowna, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Mississauga, Whitehorse and more.
A cross-country music event is returning to 20 Canadian cities — at the same time.
On Sept. 26, Music Day in Canada will host music events across the country, with over 60 diverse artists performing at more than 20 venues and stages.
Spanning Vancouver to St. John’s, Newfoundland, it’s the third edition of the cross-country music event and is set to be its biggest one yet. It follows 2025’s iteration, which activated in 11 cities across the country, and its inaugural 2024 year, hosted in nine Canadian cities.
The main goal of Music Day in Canada is to champion local artists and increase discoverability with the idea that “those local scenes become stronger when the country pays attention together.” Instead of hosting the same event in every music market, the day bridges the gap between “existing local infrastructure and new community-led programming.”
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While the sprawling events operate within the Music Day in Canada ecosystem, each city can curate what the experience “looks and sounds like in its own community.” Some cities host free events while others have artists perform at local music venues for a small fee. Programming and ticketing vary by city.
On the west coast, British Columbia will host three events across three cities, including Kelowna, Vancouver and Abbotsford, while Edmonton attendees will see multiple independent venues participating across the city. Saskatoon’s sole event will host six local artists, who will perform a free show at Gather Local Market.
Oshawa’s free show at Biltmore Theatre includes performances by Wine Lips, The Anti-Queens, Shiv & the Carvers and Sigh Die. Over in Barrie, Brian John Harwood, Andy Colonico, Beasley and Graham Scott Fleming will join forces for a country music-themed night at The Queens Hotel. On the east coast, the St. John’s event at The Newfoundland Embassy will host an open-mic night, while Blink-182 tribute band Blink 902 will celebrate 2001's Take Off Your Pants and Jacketwith a headline show at Tide and Boar.
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Additional programming takes place in Antigonish, New Glasgow, Sydney, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Truro, Moncton, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Mississauga and Whitehorse.
Some of the artists performing at this year’s edition of Music Day in Canada include: jazz act Jonathan Cottrill (Abbotsford), indie-folk singer Megan Lange (Edmonton), soul supergroup The Bon Vivants (Saskatoon), R&B singer Jana Jacobs (Winnipeg), dream-pop band Dayblooms (Charlottetown), singer-songwriter Steve Luxton (Sydney) and pop-punk act Madeline (St. John’s), among many more. Find the full Music Day in Canada lineup here.
"Canada doesn't have one music scene. It has hundreds of them," says Michael Sriven, founder of Music Day in Canada, and executive director at Vancouver-based entertainment agency The Lemmon Foundation, which has worked in tandem with Music Day in Canada and local venues, producers, artists and music organizations to curate and produce this year’s roster.
The one-day event extends the organization’s year-round efforts to support artists and industry professionals through education, mentorship and professional development initiatives.
