Over A Decade Strong!
The Beginning
Taking influence from Europe’s music festival circuit, Armstrong MetalFest is a heavy metal celebration that encourages metal heads from across Canada and the globe to mosh and camp with the backdrop of the great outdoors of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.
The festival started in 2009 as “Armstrong Open Air” as a homage to the European festivals. Humble beginnings in a farm field, we began our journey with many local bands on a stage made from a gooseneck trailer.
Starting with a small organizing crew, the festival slowly began to outgrow the field, and we moved to the Hassen Arena.
The logo design was a homage to the upside down iconography many metal bands we listened to adopted. The leaf was used to involve the “Canada” aspect in some way, and in 2012, we moved to a clearer representation of what was originally just a mockup on plywood with spray paint.
The Middle
With the move to the Hassen arena, we gained some more permanent crew to help with the event’s ever-growing responsibilities.
What started as a backyard party in 2009 with nothing but eleven local metal bands, such as Terrifier, Xul, and Odinfist, to name a few, has grown into a huge success admired by the Western Canadian Metal scene.
Over the years, we have seen lineups that include Cattle Decapitation, Suffocation, Beyond Creation, Dayglo Abortions, Rivers of Nihil, The Zenith Passage, Anciients, Bison BC, Striker, Crimson Shadows, Holy Grail, Archspire, Cryptopsy, Unleash The Archers, Divinity, Into Eternity, Ninjaspy, Vesperia, XUL, Odinfist, Death Toll Rising, and Gomorrah, among many others.
After some small alterations to the logo in 2014, we adopted a “color changing leaf” in 2015. This rotation added much needed distinction to each year and allowed for less repetitive color palettes.
After the 2 year hiatus, we experienced in 2020 and 2021 due to heightened pandemic concerns, we came back with another slight redesign to the leaf. Adding additional textures and more color.
The Future
As the years go on, we hope the event continues to grow to expand and support the community we are proud of. The festival has always been a place of acceptance and belonging. We continue to view it as we did from its humble beginnings, a gathering of our metal family.
“I am very proud of the work our team has put into this year of Armstrong MetalFest. Our work is paying off, so far this year we have broken every record for ticket sales we have ever had. As a community we built this festival from the ground up. As the festival grows, so does our community. We are all proud of this big beautiful beast!”
Jesse Valstar (Festival Co-founder)
A further look at the past years:
Western Canadian Metal Festival Alliance (WCMFA)
Eight metal music festivals of all shapes and sizes banded together. World domination through cooperation!