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Music

Weak Loonie Will Hurt Our Festival Headliners

So much for an LCD Soundsystem performance at Digital Dreams…
Courtesy of Terry Ting

The loonie's continued decline in value (it is now sitting at around $.70 US) will potentially force Canadian summer music festivals to feature less international headliners, CBC Canada reports. Representatives from two of the nation's biggest summer festivals, the Ottawa Jazz Festival and Amnesia Rockfest in Montreal both went on record to discuss the difficulties of booking talent with weak currency.

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"The American bands are costing us, like, 40 per cent more than they used to," Alex Martel, creator of Amnesia Rockfest, said to CBC Canada. On the bright side, the lack of international performers could increase opportunities for Canadian artists. To save money this year, Martel suspects that he will invite more domestic talent to play.

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