Golden Sound Festival Recap

Festival season is almost at a close across the Kootenays, but the sweet sounds of summer are still ringing between our ears as we whisk toward winter. One of the more underdog events we at Mountain Culture Group got to take in just a week and half ago took place in the rugged little hamlet of Golden, British Columbia.

The Golden Sound Festival went off on August 19th and 20th, with 500 people attending the unique block-party format that draws heavily on the famous South by Southwest festival of Austin, Texas, and its Toronto, Canada, counterpart, North by Northeast.

Its multitude of shows took place over two days across four venues in downtown Golden, including a free outdoor stage. This marks the seventh year for the festival, which is looking to shake up its model going forward, with extra events throughout the year and an expanded summer event.

Standout performances this time around spanned genres from electropop to ’70s prog rock and haunting folk. Austin-based headliners The Bright Light Social Hour put on a raucously entertaining show, along with the silver-voiced Cobra Ramone, the seducingly eclectic Folk Road Show (whose international roster now features two formerly Golden-based musicians), veteran rockers We Are The City, with Wooden Horsemen and surprise guests Bend Sinister.

The overall production is possibly the most well-curated lineup for quality big-city tunes in small-town British Columbia. Come shake your ass with hipsters and hippies alike next summer at a down-to-earth festival where you’ll bump elbows with some of the best bands in Canada out watching with you out in the front row.

Photos by Joseph Carter