SCAM ALERT: Festivals across Canada are being targeted by scammers using phishing emails to lure small businesses to secure vendor spots with fraudulent application forms requesting deposits. Artists are also being targeted to secure bookings. We have reported this activity to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre through the RCMP. Do not respond to anyone claiming to represent the Cowichan Valley Bluegrass Festival without checking with the staff contacts listed on this page. Protect yourself by checking to see if email addresses or festivals urls look suspicious. If you have been targeted, you can report an incident to the RCMP and Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Contacts
The Cowichan Valley Bluegrass Festival is a B.C. registered non-profit society with a mandate to promote bluegrass and related music. We have a three-person management team and a volunteer board assisted by a group of part-time volunteers who work hard during festival week.
General festival inquiries – Operations
Festival sponsorship and vendor inquiries – Al Planiden
Volunteering – contact for information
Performer inquiries – Bookings
Booking policy
Our festival is genre-specific to Appalachian string band music (bluegrass, old-time) with priority going to acoustic artists in those fields. We have a curated booking policy that selects those either deeply immersed in, or informed by, the traditions of bluegrass, old-time, and related styles such as retro country acts. We don’t book solo acts and rarely book less than a trio. We are committed to diversity in our genres, Indigenous reconciliation, and welcome all creeds and genders.
