What to know
- Valley will make its Osheaga debut Sunday at 2 p.m. on the Bell River Stage.
- The Toronto trio formed in 2016 after two young bands were accidentally booked at the same studio.
- Valley’s new singles “Vending Machine” and “someday” introduce a more live and raw musical era.
- Osheaga’s 19th edition features 87 acts, including 26 Canadian performers.
Toronto band Valley has spent the past decade building its career one song and connection at a time. This weekend, that climb will bring the trio to one of Canada’s biggest festival stages: Osheaga.
Valley will make its Osheaga debut on Sunday, performing at 2 p.m. on the Bell River Stage at Montreal’s Parc Jean-Drapeau. It is a milestone the band has been watching other artists reach since its earliest days.
“We’ve always looked up to bands playing this festival,” bassist Alex Dimauro told Now Toronto.
The multi-JUNO-nominated alternative-pop band, which also includes lead vocalist and guitarist Rob Laska and drummer and vocalist Karah James, was previously booked to play Osheaga but stepped away from the appearance for another touring opportunity.
“Thankfully, the promoters were very understanding and said, ‘We’ll do next year,’” Dimauro said. “We got our second shot.”
For Laska, landing on the main stage makes that second chance particularly meaningful.
“It’s such an honour to play the main stage,” he said. “It’s one of the best festivals in the world, for sure, and the lineup is insane. The amount of artists they’ve managed to get this year is mind-blowing. They really do it the best.”
The 19th edition of Osheaga runs from July 31 to Aug. 2, bringing 87 acts to Montreal across three days. Twenty One Pilots, Canadian pop star Tate McRae and Lorde headline a lineup that includes 26 Canadian performers, 14 of whom are from Quebec. Other acts include The xx, Turnstile, Kehlani, Major Lazer, The Neighbourhood, Wolf Parade and Mother Mother.
Valley will share its Sunday bill with artists including Zara Larsson, Clipse, Of Monsters and Men, Between Friends and Lorde.
“I would love to meet Between Friends. I’m a really big fan of them. I think they’re so freaking cool, and they’re playing right after us,” Laska said. “Lorde is one of the core artists of our generation. We were raised on her.”
From a studio mix-up to Osheaga
Valley’s Osheaga debut comes 10 years after a chance studio scheduling mistake brought its members together.
“We got double-booked at a studio just in a suburb outside of Toronto, and we both showed up as separate bands,” Laska said. “Me and Alex were in a high school band, and Karah and Mike, formerly in the band, were in a band together. We ended up forming as one.”
The group’s members grew up around Burlington and Oakville and were navigating the years between high school and post-secondary education when they decided to pursue music together.
“It was very serendipitous,” Laska said. “When it happens to you, you’re like, ‘That’s cool. We met in a really magical way.’”
Since forming in 2016, Valley has amassed more than 1.2 billion global streams and built an international following through songs centred on relationships, nostalgia, heartbreak and growing up. The band’s breakout moments include the Gold-certified “Like 1999,” but Dimauro views that success as one part of a longer journey.
“We’ve had different moments, like lily pads or stepping stones, jumping from one step to the next,” he said. “‘Like 1999’ was one of those steps. It serves an important purpose in our band’s history.”
Valley enters a new musical chapter
The Osheaga appearance arrives alongside a new period of music for Valley. The band released “Vending Machine” in June, marking its first new music in nearly two years following the 2024 album Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden.
Its follow-up, “someday,” was released Friday and looks at grief, passing time and the tendency to save meaningful experiences for a future that is never guaranteed.
“‘Someday’ is very much about grief and losing people in your life, whether they’ve moved on, or it’s a friendship or a relationship,” Laska said. “‘Vending Machine’ is about being in the middle of a relationship that feels very one-sided and transactional and touches on output versus connection.”
Although the songs occupy different sonic spaces, both reflect Valley’s interest in finding new perspectives within universal experiences.
“If we’re feeling those things, then most other people are too,” Laska said. “There’s something very beautiful about relatability, but in your own niche. If you can find your own angle of writing about those things, that’s what creates that uniqueness.”
The band is also taking a more immediate approach to recording its forthcoming work. James said many of the new songs were recorded live off the floor, giving them a sound closer to what audiences will hear at Valley’s shows.
“A lot of the songs that we worked on for this upcoming body of work were done live off the floor, meaning we set up our instruments, practised the song a few times, pressed record and played,” she said.
The ‘Montrealness’ behind Osheaga
For Osheaga co-founder Nick Farkas, Valley represents exactly what the festival has tried to support since it began in 2006: Canadian artists with a strong commitment to performing live.
“We want to see a band that tours, that plays and that is out there promoting themselves,” Farkas told Now. “A band that’s willing to go and play at a bar at six o’clock on a Wednesday—that speaks to what we want to do at Osheaga.”
Canadian music has been part of Osheaga’s identity from the beginning, with the festival giving emerging performers opportunities to play alongside internationally recognized acts.
“We wanted to be that place where Canadian bands could come and shine, and we continue to be proud of that aspect,” Farkas said.
“From the first bands on in the day, on the smallest stages, to headliners, we’re always going to have a place for Canadian bands.”
He describes the festival as a condensed version of the city itself, bringing Montreal’s music, food, art and personality onto the island.
“What sets Osheaga apart is the Montrealness,” Farkas said. “It’s not a word, but I’m calling it a word. It’s free-flowing. It’s organic. There’s a vibe, there’s a party, and everybody just seems to get into it.”
Toronto has also played a significant role in the festival’s survival and growth.
“I consider Osheaga almost to be as much a Toronto festival as a Montreal festival,” Farkas said. “We’ve always been honoured that so many people come from Ontario and the rest of Canada.”
However, those hoping for an Osheaga edition closer to home should not expect the same festival to be replicated in another city. Farkas said Evenko has been approached about expanding and remains open to creating another event, but Osheaga itself is rooted too deeply in Montreal to travel.
“Would we do another festival somewhere else? Maybe,” he said. “I wouldn’t say no, but it wouldn’t be Osheaga. We’d call it something else. We’d find something local.”
Evolving without losing its identity
This year, organizers have focused on keeping the festival familiar without allowing it to become too predictable. That includes new art, food vendors and site configurations, along with late artist announcements and changes intended to protect visitors from increasingly challenging summer weather.
“We never want it to be static,” Farkas said. “We want anyone who came the year before to come in and say, ‘That’s in the same place, but that’s different.’”
Farkas said the site has added more water fountains, misting stations, canopies, tents and awnings to give festivalgoers better access to water, shade and shelter.
After nearly two decades, Farkas said the opportunity to discover artists and shape a festival from the ground up is still what keeps him invested.
“I love hearing new music. I love discovering new bands. I just love music,” he said.
“The idea of having 90 artists performing in the same place and that we’re responsible for that—that’s what keeps me coming back.”
For Valley, Osheaga similarly represents a culmination and a beginning. The band says more music and announcements are coming throughout the remainder of 2026, setting the stage for a busier year on the road.
“Start saving your money for 2027 when it comes to shows,” Laska said. “The whole end of 2026 is going to be setting up next year, which we’re really excited about.”
Meanwhile, with Osheaga’s 20th edition looming, Farkas is already looking around the island and imagining what could come next.”
“I want to see 30, but 20 is the big focus right now,” he said. “I just want it to last. I’m hoping that it’s good forever, and I’m hoping that the name goes on.”
