Inaugurated in 2006, OSHEAGA Music and Arts Festival stands as the largest festival of its kind in Canada. An exciting party dedicated to showcasing music and visual arts, OSHEAGA offers a world-class European-style event across its many outside venues. The outdoor events of the festival are staged in the breath-taking environs of Montreal’s Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Sainte-Hélène, an island of tranquility and oasis of greenery set in the middle of one of North America’s most stimulating cities. Bringing together tens of thousands of music lovers from North America and Europe alike, the festival aims to showcase emerging local and national artists, as they share the stage with some of the industry’s biggest names. Thus, over several days, more than 90 bands will take the stage across the city, fostering an unparalleled festive ambiance that Montreal alone can create under the summer sun. From its inception, the festival has featured some of music’s biggest stars, including Coldplay, The Killers, Iggy & The Stooges, Sonic Youth, The Roots, Rufus Wainwright, Arcade Fire, Weezer and Eminem, as well as important emerging artists such as The Stills, Coeur de pirate, Hey Rosetta!, The Barr Brothers and Elie Goulding. OSHEAGA also prides itself on its visual arts segment as the festival offers shows and exhibits in many venues across the city in the weeks prior to the event. For its seventh edition, OSHEAGA presented by Virgin Mobile promises fans an unforgettable festival experience.
The Osheaga site has numerous gravel paths that are navigable by wheelchair. Osheaga offers a platform reserved for concert goers in wheelchairs near the main stages (Rivière and Montagne). Those who have access to the platform are allowed to bring one (1) guest as company on it. A wheelchair accessible toilet is reserved at this location for those using the platform.
Osheaga is home to a wide array of food vendors covering festival staples (burgers, etc) to delicious and exotic ethnic foods. Beverages from water to beer and other spirits can be purchased on site.
The legal drinking age in Quebec is 18 years old. If you are planning on consuming alcohol at the festival, please bring two (2) valid pieces of ID and be sure to drink responsibly.
Osheaga festival goers may bring a clear plastic water bottle with them on site, and water refill stations will be provided. Festival goers may be asked to empty their bottle before entering the festival. No alcohol may be brought from outside of the festival.
Medical staff will be present on site. Please be sure to bring all prescribed medication you may need and avoid putting yourself in harm’s way. While it’s important to have fun, please monitor your consumption of alcohol, and be sure to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and juices throughout the day. Make sure to take breaks from the sun if needed. There are plenty of trees for shade on the Osheaga site, so please take advantage of them.
While fun and great entertainment is a definite priority at Osheaga, it is important to be respectful of your surroundings, other festival goers, and festival staff to ensure that every Osheaga-goer has the time of their life. That being said, please follow these guidelines while attending Osheaga:
> Please make an effort to recycle/throw out all litter. No one likes a dirty festival site!
> Please be polite to festival staff and festival-goers (though crowds congregate around the stages, please do not push your way through crowds, cut into lines, etc)
> Respect Parc Jean-Drapeau and the Osheaga site. Please leave the site as you find it upon entering Osheaga. Do not remove signs, banners, or posters from the festival site. Do not climb or damage trees, sculptures, etc.
> Respect the art. Several pieces of art are displayed throughout the festival site. Do not touch or move the art! Those who tamper with the art may be ejected from festival grounds.
If you are interested in having your work displayed at Osheaga, please contact us here. Please be sure to include “ARTS” in your subject title, your contact information in the body of the email, and a link to or jpeg of an example of your work. Please note that only artists who are chosen to present at Osheaga are contacted.
Lost and found is located at the Osheaga coat check at the festival gates. All lost items are to be turned over to Parc Jean-Drapeau after the festival. Please contact Parc Jean-Drapeau for all lost and found queries:
Phone: 514 872-6120
Fax: 514 872-5691
Email: clientele@parcjeandrapeau.com
There are several vendors on site offering a wide assortment of great merchandise such as t-shirts and other garments, music, jewelry, artwork, and a whole lot more. Osheaga artist clothing, CDs, and official Osheaga gear will be available at the Osheaga merch tents.
Osheaga is an all-ages event. Children aged 10 years and younger are admitted for free when accompanied by an adult with a valid Osheaga ticket.
The legal drinking age in Quebec is 18 years old. If you are planning on consuming alcohol at the festival, please bring two (2) valid pieces of ID and be sure to drink responsibly.
A full schedule of artist set times will be available on Osheaga.com in the weeks prior to the festival. Please join our mailing list in order to be the first to know when the schedule is made public. Festival headliners are the last to play on each given day, and hit the stage between 9:00pm and 9:30pm (subject to change).
Artists perform anywhere from 30 minute sets for emerging artists to 90 minute-plus sets for the festival headliners.
Osheaga takes place in Parc-Jean Drapeau on Ile Ste-Hélène; an island of tranquility set in the middle of the bustle of one of North America’s most exciting cities. Ile Ste-Hélène is located just off the island of Montréal. This beautiful site is a mixture of rolling pasture and forested areas accented by flowerbeds and open-air artwork brought to the island for Montreal’s Expo ’67. Osheaga’s 4 stages are spread out against this unique and beautiful back-drop!
There is no camping available at Parc Jean-Drapeau. If you wish to camp while you’re in town for Osheaga, you may wish to contact:
CAMPING LA CLÉ DES CHAMPS 415, montée Saint-Claude , Saint-Philippe (QC), J0L 2K0 Reservations (450) 659-3389
For something a little more scenic, you can check out the beautiful Oka Nature Park, which is only about 45 minutes from downtown Montreal.
PARC NATURE OKA 2020 Chemin d'Oka, Oka (QC), J0N 1E0 Reservations
1 800 665-6527 (Canada and the United States only)
(418) 890- 6527 (Outside Canada and the United States)
inforeservation@sepaq.com
Osheaga ends at 11:00pm each night, but don’t let that stop you from partying while you’re in Montreal. We suggest checking out the sights and sounds of the city. St Laurent Boul. (known as “The Main”) or rue St. Denis are always a fair bet. We suggest asking some locals where the best watering holes are, or what restaurant to hit up for a tasty post-festival treat. Poutine, Bagels, and Smoked Meat are amongst the must-haves for any visitor anxious to get the real Montréal experience.
August in Montreal is most often warm and sunny, so bring plenty of sunscreen and some shades to protect yourself from those sunny rays. Needless to say, please do come prepared for less ideal weather. We suggest bringing a pocket-sized poncho, and a sweatshirt / windbreaker just in case the weather isn’t so warm and sunny.
Osheaga was a name used for the area that is now Montreal by some of the first European settlers in the region. The name is said to originate from Jacques Cartier when he met the Mohawks near the Lachine rapids in what is now Montreal. But so the Mohawk oral history goes the white man was waving with his hands, either offering to shake hands or asking about rapids on the river. The astonished Mohawks looked at each other and said "O she ha ga" which meant people of shaking hands. From the meeting Cartier transcribed the word Osheaga as meaning large rapids while the Mohawks would use the oral phrase to describe where they met the people of the shaking hands.
Small back packs and bags/ purses (Note: all bags will be searched)
Sunscreen
Lighters/Cigarettes
Digital Camera (non-professional, i.e. no removable lens)
Disposable cameras (non-professional)
The following can be found on site:
Toilets
Food kiosks
Beer
Juice
Water bottles
Recycling bins
ITEMS NOT ALLOWED ON THE FESTIVAL SITE
Alcoholic beverages (brought from outside)
Illegal Drugs and drug paraphernalia
Glass bottles and cans
Rigid Thermos, coolers or other such containers
Megaphones
Fireworks
Beach balls, soccer balls, etc…
Skateboards
Animals (except Guide dogs)
Large back packs (camping style)
Tents
Video Equipment
Professional photo equipment (SLR cameras, i.e. removable lens cameras)
Audio Recording equipment
No items intended for sale/promotion
Any object that can be used to cause bodily harm
Items that are on the disallowed list will be confiscated. We recommend not bringing them to the festival site at all to save you the extra hassle! Please do not bring anything that could be dangerous to other festival-goers, as they will be confiscated.
We recommend taking the STM’s Metro system to Osheaga, but if you must travel to Osheaga by car please be sure to carpool. Driving directions and parking information can be found on Parc Jean-Drapeau’s website here: http://www.parcjeandrapeau.com/Infos/Accès/tabid/77/Default.aspx
There is no camping available at Parc Jean-Drapeau. If you wish to camp while you’re in town for Osheaga, you may wish to contact:
CAMPING LA CLÉ DES CHAMPS 415, montée Saint-Claude , Saint-Philippe (QC), J0L 2K0 Reservations (450) 659-3389
For something a little more scenic, you can check out the beautiful Oka Nature Park, which is only about 45 minutes from downtown Montreal.
PARC NATURE OKA 2020 Chemin d'Oka, Oka (QC), J0N 1E0 Reservations
1 800 665-6527 (Canada and the United States only)
(418) 890- 6527 (Outside Canada and the United States)
inforeservation@sepaq.com
This all depends on the artist’s set length. The number of songs an artist will play is determined solely by the artist. Osheaga does not control the number of songs played by any given artist.
A full schedule of artist set times will be available on Osheaga.com in the weeks prior to the festival. Festival headliners are the last to play on each given day, and hit the stage between 9:00pm and 9:30pm (subject to change).
Children aged 10 years and younger are admitted for free when accompanied by an adult with a valid Osheaga ticket.
Due to the limited amount of space available in the Reserved Seating area, every person admitted to this area must have a valid Reserved Seating ticket, including children.
Please note that there are no daycare facilities at Osheaga.
The special edition ticket is a limited edition collectible that serves as your ticket for the weekend. It features a unique design based on the 2012 theme and 3D graphics. The perfect way to say “I Was There!” available as an upgrade to your General Admission Weekend Pass, and included for all Reserved Seating Access Weekend Passes.
In order to ensure delivery of all special edition tickets purchased, their sales will be stopped at midnight on Sunday, July 22nd.
There are 3 main categories of Osheaga tickets:
3-Day Festival Passes grant admission to the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Osheaga.
2-Day Classic Passes grant admission to the Saturday and Sunday of Osheaga.
Single Day Tickets grant admission to the day of your choice.
For onsale dates, prices, and points of purchase please see our tickets page.
2-Day Classic Passes and Single-Day tickets onsale at a later date subject to availability following the onsale of 3-Day Festival Passes.
All ticket categories are available in either General Admission or Reserved Seating Access. General Admission tickets grant access to the Osheaga festival site and all its stages at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Reserved Seating Access grants the same access as General Admission tickets and access to the reserved seating grandstands located near the two main stages. On top of having a reserved seat and unobstructed view of the main stages when you purchase Reserved Seating Access, you will also have access to:
1) Private washrooms
2) Exclusive food & beverage stands
All pricing and information on where to purchase Osheaga tickets can be found on our ticket page.
Osheaga is an all-ages event.
Children aged 10 years and younger are admitted for free when accompanied by an adult with a valid Osheaga ticket.
The legal drinking age in Quebec is 18 years old. If you are planning on consuming alcohol at the festival, please bring two (2) valid pieces of ID and be sure to drink responsibly.
Children aged 10 years and younger are admitted for free when accompanied by an adult with a valid Osheaga ticket.
Due to the limited amount of space available in the Reserved Seating area, every person admitted to this area must have a valid Reserved Seating ticket, including children.
Please note that there are no daycare facilities at Osheaga.
The best way to get to Osheaga is to take the Metro . Follow signs to the Yellow Line; the stop which lets you off right at the gates of the festival is "Jean-Drapeau".
We highly recommend you do NOT drive to the site.
Metro: The Osheaga festival site is located right next to the Jean-Drapeau metro station (yellow line). The STM operates Montreal’s subway (metro) system as well as an extensive bus network on the island of Montreal. Buying your return tickets on your way to the festival is a smart move to avoid lineups. For more info about the STM, please click on the link below.
STM
Car: We recommend taking the STM’s Metro system to Osheaga, but if you must travel to Osheaga by car please be sure to carpool. Driving directions and parking information can be found on Parc Jean-Drapeau’s website here: http://www.parcjeandrapeau.com/Infos/Accès/tabid/77/Default.aspx
Bicycle, Foot: Directions on how to reach Parc Jean-Drapeau by bicycle, and foot can be found here: http://www.parcjeandrapeau.com/Infos/Accès/tabid/77/Default.aspx. Parc Jean-Drapeau offers bicycle parking near the festival site.
Best Western Plus Montréal Airport Hotel (4 Étoiles)
13,000 Cote-De-Liesse
Dorval, Quebec
H9P 1B8
514-631-4811
Delta Centre Ville (4 Étoiles)
777 rue Université
Montreal, Quebec
H3C 3Z7
514-879-1370
zero1 (3 1/2 Étoiles)
1 Boulevard Rene-Levesque Est
Montreal, Quebec
H2X 3Z5
514-871-9696
Additionally, we recommend checking out the following link for information on other lodging options as well as other travel related info for out-of-town visitors: www.wikitravel.org/fr/Montreal
From Ottawa (about 2 hours) : Take the HWY-417 E/Trans Canada Hwy E Continue on AUT-40 E/Autoroute Transcanadienne E Take exit 66-S on the left to merge onto AUT-15 S toward Pont Champlain/AUT-10/Centre-Ville/Montréal Take exit 63-E on the left for Aut. Ville-Marie toward Centre-Ville Merge onto AUT-720 E/Autoroute Ville-Marie Take exit 7 toward AV. de Lorimier/AV. Papineau/Pont Jacques-Cartier Merge onto Rue Notre-Dame E Turn left at Avenue Papineau Continue on Rue La Fontaine Continue on Pont Jacques-Cartier/RTE-134 Take the exit toward La Ronde/Parc Jean-Drapeau Turn right at Chemin du Tour-De-L'Îsle
From Toronto (about 6 hours) : Take the HWY-401 Express E Continue on HWY-401 E/MacDonald-Cartier Fwy Continue on AUT-20 E Continue on AUT-720 E/Autoroute Ville-Marie Take exit 7 toward AV. de Lorimier/AV. Papineau/Pont Jacques-Cartier Merge onto Rue Notre-Dame E Turn left at Avenue Papineau Continue on Rue La Fontaine Continue on Pont Jacques-Cartier/RTE-134 Take the exit toward La Ronde/Parc Jean-Drapeau Turn right at Chemin du Tour-De-L'Îsle
From Quebec City (about 2hours 45minutes): Take the AUT-440 O Take exit 12 for Aut. Henri IV S./AUT-73 S/AUT-73 N/AUT-40 E/Aut. Henri IV N. toward Chicoutimi/Pont P.-Laporte Keep left at the fo rk, follow signs for Aut. Henri IV Sud/Pont Pierre-Laporte/AUT-73 S and merge onto AUT-73 S Take exit 131-O to merge onto AUT-20 O/Autoroute Transcanadienne O toward Montréal Take exit 90 to merge onto AUT-20 O/RTE-132 O toward Aéroport Dorval Take exit 8 for Boul Taschereau/RTE-134 toward Pont Jacques-Cartier Merge onto Boulevard Taschereau/RTE-134 O Take the ramp onto Pont Jacques-Cartier/RTE-134 E Take the exit toward La Ronde/Parc Jean-Drapeau Slight right at Chemin du Tour-De-L'Îsle
From Boston (about 5hours) : Take the I-89 N Continue on RTE-133 N Continue on AUT-35 N Take exit 18-O to merge onto AUT-10 O toward Montréal Take exit 6 toward RTE-132 E/AUT-20 E Merge onto Boulevard Marie-Victorin Take the exit on the left onto AUT-20 E/RTE-132 E toward Longueuil/Montréal Take exit 8 to merge onto Boulevard Taschereau/RTE-134 O toward Pont Jacques-Cartier/Montréal Take the ramp onto Pont Jacques-Cartier/RTE-134 E Take the exit toward La Ronde/Parc Jean-Drapeau Slight right at Chemin du Tour-De-L'Îsle
From New York (about 6hours) : Take the I-87 N/New York State Thruway N Take exit 24 to merge onto I-87 N/I-90 E toward Albany/Montreal Take exit 1N to merge onto I-87 N toward Albany Int'l Airport/Montreal Continue on AUT-15 N Continue on AUT-20 E/RTE-132 E (signs for AUT-20 E/Longueuil/RTE-132 E) Take exit 8 to merge onto Boulevard Taschereau/RTE-134 O toward Pont Jacques-Cartier/Montréal Take the ramp onto Pont Jacques-Cartier/RTE-134 E Take the exit toward La Ronde/Parc Jean-Drapeau Slight right at Chemin du Tour-De-L'Îsle
Osheaga takes place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. More specifically, Osheaga happens in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Ste-Hélène, an island just off of the island of Montreal. Please see the map.
