Would you even believe me, if I were to tell you that Drake, Eminem, and Bruno Mars all performed in a field in Squamish over the course of two summers in the mid 2010’s. You’d probably think that I’m lying to you.

I’m a local, who attends multiple local music festivals and I was even shocked to see the old posters for the Squamish Valley Music Festival. It’s weird to think about now, but for a few years, Squamish was essentially a Coachella of the North.

So, why would a festival in one of the most beautiful places on earth with over 120,000 people attending just stop?

It’s a question that’s bugged me ever since finding out about the festival. I’ve driven past the Logger Sports Grounds plenty of times and never realized that some of the biggest icons in music history were standing right there. In 2015, they had Drake and Sam Smith. In 2014, it was Eminem and Arcade Fire. By all accounts, it was a massive success.

But in the music industry, “success” doesn’t always mean “sustainable.”

It wasn’t just a simple choice, it was a math problem. Tamara Stanners from The Peak 102.7 put it best when she noted that most of these huge artists want to be paid in U.S. dollars. She said,

“When most of the artists are looking for American money and our dollar is at 70 cents, it’s difficult to be competitive.”

That 30-cent difference is the gap between a festival existing and a festival going broke. Even the Mayor at the time, Patricia Heintzman, admitted the cancellation was purely a business decision driven by those financial pressures. She surmised that the “mounting costs and mounting competition” from other festivals like Pemberton made it impossible to keep the lights on.

By March 2016, instead of a lineup announcement, fans got a “difficult decision” statement and a deleted Instagram account.

It’s a depressing ending for something that put BC on the global music map. Every time I see a “No Fun City” comment about Vancouver, I think about Squamish, and how those people woulda killed to have been in attendance. We as a city proved we could host the biggest names in the world. We just couldn’t figure out how to pay for it.

Maybe one day someone will try again, but for now, the only thing left of the festival is some old wristbands and the videos and stories that live on in the internet.