Ora Cogan is one of many artists playing Margins of Sound June 26 to 28 in Nanaimo. (Paloma Ruiz-Hernandez)

A new experimental music festival is launching in Nanaimo, as a three day celebration of audiovisual and ambient music.

Featuring independent artists, the upcoming Margins of Sound is a new festival taking place on the weekend of June 26 to 28 in Nanaimo. The festival organizers plan to bring together both local and visiting artists for a 72 hour long rave with performances, workshops, listening experiences and community gatherings.

The Margins of Sound Society (MOSS) was founded in 2025, as a group driven to support independent and local artists around British Columbia, by creating music and arts events that encourage creative freedom and an open space for community connections.

The group's openness allows for audiences to discover new sounds, perspectives and ways of listening. With concerts and workshops MOSS helps create opportunities for people to understand and explore music’s possibilities.

CHLY spoke with Josh Rudolph and Priyandka Chakrabarti, the founders of the Margins of Sound Society. Chakrabarti dives into the idea behind the festival.

“The Margins of Sound is a three day festival, and it's bringing together music, sound art, audiovisual performance and workshops. In ways that invite people to listen differently, learn something new, and encounter art that they might not otherwise discover,” said Chakrabarti.

Rudolph explained how the festival aims to create opportunities for audiences to engage with a new musical listening experience while also bringing together performers from different backgrounds and formats.

“We’re interested in the spaces between categories, between genres, between scenes, and most importantly, the space between audience and participant and performer.”

Organizers hope audiences will discover new perspectives while participating with performances and community focused activities.

The OV Art Centre is hosting two of the nights of the festival (Luis Zablah / CHLY 101.7FM)

The festival begins Friday June 26, at the OV Arts Centre featuring an immersive audiovisual showcase. Saturday will feature a free event at Bowen Park Amphitheatre, plus a follow up ticketed event with an audiovisual showcase. The event wraps Sunday featuring a hands-on ticketed workshop where participants can learn and explore a variety of topics such as field recording, acoustic ecology, biosonification, and individual performance.

The event will feature a plethora of musicians such as Modern Biology, Hannah Epperson, Ora Cogan, Ruby Singh, Colliding Canyons and much more.

Colliding Canyons is a psychedelic instrumental rock group originating from Nanaimo. The group blends rock with electronic music, creating a new sound that explores different perspectives of music.

Will Hills is a member of Colliding Canyons, who perform on the Saturday of the festival.

“[We’re] so excited and honored to be asked to perform at the Margins of Sound Society Festival.”

He explained that the group focuses on creating an experience for listeners, instead of just being entertainment.

“We don’t have any words in our music. It’s music that’s hoping to express many of the things that aren’t expressible with our human languages.”

Hills believed that the festival is an opportunity for independent artists in Nanaimo to be recognized and connect with others within the community.

“To see a festival dedicated to experimental electro-acoustic musics happening in the community is just so fabulous,” said Hills.

Ora Cogan is another featured artist at the festival, known for blending folk, rock and experimental sounds. She describes her planned performance and how it is different from her previous work, focusing more on improvisation and creating new sounds.

“For this, I’m working on more of an improv and experimental set that I’m going to be doing on my own,” said Cogan. “It will be more drone heavy than what I usually do.”

Cogan explains the festival gives artists the opportunity to explore new creative directions outside of traditional performances.

“I feel really grateful for the opportunity to experiment, and to kind of get into a different kind of train that I usually go on when we’re touring so much and playing the same songs every night.”

Both Cogan and Hills echoed how festivals like Margins of Sound help create new connections between artists and audiences by encouraging people to experience new sounds and forms of music. The unique music festival opens its doors for the community of Nanaimo to explore and enjoy local independent music with the help of the organizers.

Co-founder Josh Rudolph said the festival's goal is to move beyond the music.

“I would be most comfortable calling it a listening festival, and listening goes beyond just listening to music or listening to sound art,” he said. “The world might be a little bit more of a harmonious place if we all just learn to listen a little better.”

Margins of Sound kicks off on June 26 at the OV Arts Centre with its doors opening at 7:00 PM for their inaugural immersive audiovisual showcase.

Further information on the scheduled events is available on their official website.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.