Chasing Summer brings lit beats to town

By Ayesha Chugh, July 26 2016 —

Chasing Summer, Western Canada’s largest electronic music festival, returns to Calgary July 30–31. The festival will bring up to 34,000 fans to the Max Bell Centre festival grounds.

In previous years, Chasing Summer was held at Fort Calgary. With the change in venue, festival-goers can expect an increase in local food trucks and vendors along with more accessible public transit options.

This year’s lineup features genres ranging from big room to drum and bass. Festival producer Harvey Cohen says fans will be able to catch two of the world’s top DJs, with sets from Hardwell and Martin Garrix.

“We knew exactly what we wanted this year for our set list and are excited to bring some of the biggest names in electronic dance music,” Cohen says.

In addition to the main Sunrise stage, Chasing Summer will include two side stages. The Ajunabeats stage will feature artists like Andrew Bayer and Seven Lions. The Deadbeats stage will host artists such as Jauz and Hunter Siegel.

Though much of Chasing Summer’s lineup is stacked with international names, there will be several local artists featured at the festival.

Calgary duo Sunseekerz, made up of Richi Omony and Tibor Tomic, have DJed together since 2011 and try to incorporate a spectrum of styles into their sets.

“We have a wide range of musical influences since we follow different genres of EDM,” Tomic says. “That is something that we think makes us unique — when we come together the crowd will get to hear everything from house to trance to big room, but with our Sunseekerz touch on it.”

Sunseekerz are a staple at Chasing Summer. They’ve played the festival for the past three years. Tomic says the group is grateful they have the opportunity to perform on the same stage as many big artists.

“Chasing Summer is always the highlight of our year. We love the atmosphere that it brings to the whole city of Calgary. You can feel the excitement in the air,” he says. “It’s mind-blowing because we are able to experience some of the biggest names in the industry in our home town.”

Check out Sunseekerz’s set at 6:40 p.m. on July 31 at the Sunrise stage. And remember the basics if you’re attending the festival — drink lots of water and keep a friend nearby.