When Rifflandia opened in Victoria, B.C., in 2008, there were reasons for skepticism. Could a summer music festival in the sleepy island capital work? One local music blogger described the first event—with venues scattered across Victoria—as little more than a series of local music shows, with some questionable scheduling choices, and the biggest names (The Beatnuts and The Walkmen, both from New York) hardly anything to write home about.
But Rifflandia stuck, and flourished. As this September marks the first year without the festival, after its cancellation was announced this summer, fans remember a vibrant yearly tradition full of of memories and big names—including Mother Mother, Tegan and Sara, Cake, Macklemore, The Flaming Lips, Courtney Love, Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, A Tribe Called Red, Moby, Lorde, Charli XCX, Pussy Riot, Iggy Pop, Feist, and Public Enemy.
While Rifflandia hit bumps along the way, closing down from 2019 through 2021 due to financial strain and then the pandemic, it is remembered not only for music but also for a creative local community, warm cooperation with the local Songhees Nation on whose land the festival was held, and its own branded craft beer (Rifflandbrau from Phillips Brewing). Through much of its 15-festival run, photographer John Carlow was there. In these images, he brings Rifflandia back to life.
Rifflandia in 2023.
The Beatnuts, 2016.
Iggy Pop, 2023.
Rich Aucoin, 2014.
Paris Hilton, 2023.
Jurassic 5, 2016.
Stephen Marley, 2023.
Public Enemy, 2025.
Festival goers at Rifflandia. With Vince Vaccaro, 2017.
