The Sunday Gospel, a long-time Hillside tradition, happens at the Island Stage. This is also where you will find more experimental and upbeat music to dance to all day and into the evenings during the Hillside Festival weekend. Though we try to offer a wide variety of genres and acts across our three main music stages, the Island Stage has a reputation for wilder, innovative fare. Arcade Fire played Island Stage when they first came to our festival in 2004 as a barely known band. Both Iskwé and Cadence Weapon did a legendary show here. And we’ve had epic workshop sessions on this stage. In 2017, Leonard Sumner played in a session with Billy Bragg, Sarah Harmer, and Lisa Leblanc that had everyone on their feet. And in 2018, Jeremy Dutcher and A Tribe Called Red collaborated for the first time in front of an audience in a powerful, moving performance people are still talking about. At Island, you may purchase beer, wine, and cider as well as food from terrific food vendors. Island Stage is also very close to the Food Pavilion, so you should have no problem indulging all of your senses.
