Rifflandia is moving locations, but don’t worry — it’s only going down the street.
After one of its biggest years in 2023, Rifflandia will permanently move its main operations from Royal Athletic Park to the Matullia Holdings area of Rock Bay, in between Phillips Brewing and Vancouver Island Brewing.
Last year, Rifflandia was split up into two weekends for the first time, and the Matullia Holdings area served as the main hub for the first weekend, Electric Avenue, the 19+ mostly electronic music-filled weekend. It also served as a venue in previous years too.
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Now, the festival will go back to its original all-ages, one-weekend model strictly on the Matullia Holdings land owned by the Songhees Development Corporation (who purchased it from BC Hydro in 2022).
“The lands at Rock Bay have served as an important gathering point for generations, and we look forward to continuing and building on this powerful cultural legacy,â said John Rice, operations manager at Matullia Holdings, via a release.
Matullia Holdings area of Rock Bay (Google Maps)
After years of its main headquarters being at Royal Athletic Park, Rifflandia has signed a multi-year deal to house the popular music festival in this new, mostly concrete, area in Rock Bay. Plans for how the area will be transformed are sure to come closer to the festival this upcoming September.
“We are honoured to work alongside the team at Matullia to bring this new vision and multi-year plan to life,” said Nick Blasko, president and CEO of Rifflandia Entertainment Co., in a press release.
“[W]e have always maintained a spirit of reinvention. Innovation is what drives us as we continue to present the best live music experiences in Victoria.â
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Since 2008, Rifflandia has served as Victoria’s biggest, brightest, and most eclectic music festival by pulling some of pop and rock music’s biggest names, such as Lorde, Iggy Pop, and Paris Hilton, among others.
Last year, Rifflandia upped the ante with dual weekends, drone shows, and some of the biggest names the festival has ever seen, like Herbie Hancock, Mavis Staples, and Melanie C (aka Sporty Spice). Plus, there was a weed delivery service (the first of its kind at a festival) aptly called Splifflandia.
What do you think about the change?