Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival is boasting its "most eclectic lineup to date" in 2025, and you're thusly being ordered to pull up your skanking boot straps and fasten your 2-tone suspenders for the fest's titular genres, as well as other offerings in the realms of jungle, punk, hip-hop and everything in between.
The island event runs June 18 through 22 across multiple venues in Downtown Victoria, and wants you to tap into to Canada's foremost celebration of Jamaican and Caribbean musical traditions and beyond.
Check out our five must-see performers heading to BC for this year's festival. Festival tickets are on sale now.
GrimSkunk
Montreal's founding "world punks" have been holding it down since the '80s, representing the melting pot of their hometown through language just as much as genre. Their last album, the NRA hitpiece Unreason in the Age of Madness, will have RATM-inclined fans and newcomers alike gunning for revolution.
illScarlett
Canada — Ontario specifically — has a rich history of third-wave ska and ska-punk dating back to the '90s and early 2000s, and illScarlett were smack-dab in the middle of the scrum (skrum?). Mississauga's answer to Sublime, illScarlett are among the few scene survivors, and they'll prove why on stage.
Propagandhi
Winnipeg punk legends have long been advocates for countless causes, throwing their fists at systems rooted in sexism, racism, nationalism, homophobia, imperialism, capitalism and organized religion — topics more relevant than ever in the current political climate. Their music reflects as much, and they're primed to provide some much-needed shows of solidarity this summer.
The Pharcyde
The West Coast hip-hop pioneers are hitting the road with Cypress Hill and De La Soul this spring, but their Canadian tour dates won't end there. Even though the joint run won't be hitting Alberta's Cypress Hills this go around, the Pharcyde will be paying Canada's West Coast a visit thanks to Vic Ska.
Sister Nancy
Straight from Kingson, Jamaica, the "Bam Bam" hitmaker known as the first female dancehall DJ will be showing the underclassmen how it's done — exactly as she has been doing since the '70s.