From January 14th to February 6th, 2016, renowned Montreal winter festival Igloofest will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The event, which takes place at the Jacques-Cartier Quay in the Old Port of Montreal, will be completely redesigned with the mainstage shifting to the other side of the site. The festival opens with a DJ set by Ninja Tune’s legendary breakbeat and downtempo fusionist Bonobo (Jan 14). German royalty Paul Kalkbrenner (Jan 15) joins him on the opening weekend, while British “baron of techno” Dave Clarke closes the first techno bonanza of the festival (Jan 16). The big hitters keep coming as the weekends unfold, with strong headline sets coming in from The Martinez Brothers (Jan 21), Sébastien Léger (Jan 30), Michael Mayer (Feb 5), and Tale of Us (Feb 5).
Special events abound. Hotflush Recordings founder Scuba is back at the Igloofest decks alongside Ultramajic boss Jimmy Edgar (Jan 22). Maceo Plex shows up for a bill spotlighting his Ellum label (Jan 23), featuring Argentina’s Shall Ocin and Spain’s Odd Parents. Carl Craig teams up on the decks with fellow motor city veteran Al Ester (Jan 29), on a bill that also features Canadian expat Heidi, for a concept the second-wave techno godfather has been hosting lately called “Detroit Love”. And to end things with a bang, the final weekend kicks off with a special two-stage night dedicated entirely to Modeselektor’s 50Weapons imprint (Feb 4), which is embarking on a farewell tour that’s only making 10 stops worldwide to commemorate the label’s end after 50 releases. The corrosive duo will be performing twice, DJing for one set and performing live as Siriusmodeselektor (alongside producer Siriusmo) for another, on a two-stage bill that will also feature Shed, Benjamin Damage and Truncate.
Perhaps one of the most significant achievements of Igloofest programing has been the attention afforded to so many excellent local DJs and producers. A decade after Igloofest first began giving these talents center-stage, international-grade Canadians such as hip-hop innovator Lunice (Jan 14)andsoca maven Poirier (Jan 30) are coming back to share this 10th anniversary victory lap. Mistress Barbara (Jan 16) will be celebrating her 20th anniversary as a DJ with us. Also along for the ride are new-gen clubbers such as RYAN Playground (Jan 14), rising techno producers Alicia Hush (Jan 15) and Magnanime (Feb 5), and the ravenous diggers of Music Is My Sanctuary, whose founder Lexis appears with Dr. Love as part of their UK Garage Forever (Jan 15) nights.