Halifax Pop Explosion announces more headliners and keynotes

Halifax Pop Explosion Music Festival & Conference celebrates a whopping 25 years this October 18-21 with headlining acts like Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Charlotte Day Wilson, Clairmont The Second, Cloud Nothings, Patrick Watson, Tasha The Amazon, Weaves and comedy headliner Wyatt Cenac, in addition to the previously announced Japandroids and Ria Mae.

This year, the fest is leaning harder on the conference side of things with a radically different format. The XPAND Music Conference is free and open to the public, and keynote speakers Lido Pimienta, Malcolm London and Laina Dawes will be laying down the truth, “exploring socially-focused topics such as activism and community building.” Even if you aren’t involved in any aspect of the music industry whatsoever, the insight of Pimienta (Toronto-based, Colombian-born interdisciplinary musician, artist-curator and Polaris Prize shortlister), London (Chicago poet, activist, educator, and musician) and Dawes (author of What Are You Doing Here? A Black Woman’s Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal) is guaranteed to be enthralling.

Early bird festival wristbands are on sale now for $99.00 (plus taxes & fees) and are available here.