What Is Borealis?

Borealis Festival is Alberta’s answer to the boutique festival experience, providing an AMAZING weekend of cutting edge electronic music, Dance, art, and community . Situated in the beauty of Alberta PRAIRIES, our intimate size and setting keeps guests close to the music and art.

Here you can expect: Cream of the crop INTERNATIONAL artists represented alongside the whole spectrum of Alberta’S BEST TALENT. Stunning stages with world class sound SYSTEMS BUILT OF PK Sound. Inviting, dynamic Spaces decorated with care. YOGA & MOVEMENT workshops to excite the body and relax the mind.

Events and Performances go throughout the weekend and Attendees camp on site for the duration of the festival.
 

Why did you begin Borealis?

We created the festival in 2018 to fill what we felt was a gap in the western canadian festival offerings - something that catered to a middle ground between styles of expression but without sacrificing our ideals of high quality music, Nature INTEGRATION, dynamic visuals, and an amazing experience for our guests. We also wanted to create an Alberta platform for the music and art we loved as well as the Artists that we love, not to mention the ones we havent met yet!

Who Can Attend?

Borealis is open to party goes of all stripes, rooted in the Alberta festival COMMUNITY which is warm, welcoming and kind. To keep young ravers safe, Borealis Festival is an 18+ event, which means attendees must have valid government issued photo ID to enter.

Where & When IS IT?

Borealis Festival 2020 takes place Aug 14-16, in YELLOWHEAD COUNTY, Alberta, Canada. General admission begins Aug 14. Staff, Volunteers, and Performers may arrive Aug 13.

Detailed directions are available VIA Google Maps.

The FESTIVAL ends at NOON on Sunday Aug 16 . We ask all guests to leave the festival site BY 9PM on Sunday Aug 16. Please ensure that your driver is well rested for the RIDE HOME.

Arrival

Please have your government issued photo ID and TICkET CONFIRMATION EMAIL ready. The gate closes for a period of time each night. Please have a close look at Main Gate hours above and PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL TO THE COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBOURS AS YOU are NEARING THE SITE.

SHould I Fly?

If you're traveling from another country, Edmonton International Airport (YEG) is the nearest international airport to the festival site. Get precise travel directions to Borealis Festival by purchasing tickets. You will still need to arrange ground travel for yourself from the YEG airport.

Should I Drive?

directions are available via Google Maps.  The site is easily and conveniently accessible from any of the provinces primary cities - Calgary(350 km), Edmonton(115 km), and Red Deer(220 km)

Should I Share A Ride With friends?

Join the conversation on the Borealis Music Festival 2020 Facebook page and communicate with other travelLers as they make their plans. Since AB No Longer has a reliable Bus Service We now recommend driving or sharing a ride with friends you trust.

What Do I Need to Enter the Festival?

-Have your ID & Ticket confirmation EMAIL ready. Make sure You have your ticket confirmation email to claim your Tickets - Screenshot them or ensure are already printed if necessary.

-Arrive during the gate hours posted below. Our gate staff work hard to process entry into the fest as quickly and safely as possible. Abuse of the staff in any way will result in removal from the event

What are the GATE HOURS?

FRIDAY : NOON - 2 AM

SATURDAY 10AM - MIDNIGHT

Guests appearing outside of normal gate hours will not be admitted.

What is the cost of Re-Entry?

to keep vehicle traffic on site to a minimum, A Re-Entry Fee of $20 Per Person will be charged for attendees who take a trip off site so We strongly encourage you to stay with us on site for the entire event.

Can I Bring my Pet?

Live Animals wandering an event of this nature creates much stress for the animal as well as other attendees and thus pets are strictly prohibited on site at borealis.  PLease leave your furry friends safely at home. (LICENSED SERVICE ANIMALS MUST BE REGISTERED AT THE GATE)

Will You Search my Vehicle?

All vehicles entering the festival site are searched for alcohol, illegal substances, animals, glass bottles, mirrors and other banned items.

Are ALCOHOL and Drugs Restricted?

BOREALIS FESTIVAL IS A DRUG-FREE EVENT. ALCOHOL is not PERMITTED outside of personal campsites.

Vehicles will be searched upon entry to the festival site for ILLEGAL/BANNED items.

Can I Arrive on ThuRsday?

There is no Thursday Entry for Guests. Only Staff, Volunteers, and Performers will be PERMITTED to arrive no earlier than Thursday morning at the earliest. We cannot disturb the surrounding community with early arrivals and must try to be good neighbours and respect the community that hosts us.

What Items are prohibited?

- GLASS (especially bottles & mirrors)

- Illegal substances

- Laser pointers

- Unauthorized/unlicensed vendors

- Fireworks or Flares

- Fire dancing equipment

- Weapons

- Speakers and sound systems (no renegade stages please)

- Animals (service animals must be registered at the gate)

- Aerial drones

- Unauthorized solicitations (handbills, sampling, giveaways, etc.)

- Glitter (if you must use glitter, only use biodegradable glitter)

What Should I Bring? 

The following items are essential for getting the most out of your Borealis Festival experience:

-Tent

-Sleeping bag and blankets

-Solid footwear

-Flashlight

-Warm clothing And Layers

-Refillable water containers.

Can I Take A Shower?

There are no showers located at Borealis, we invite you to purchase your own portable SUN showers.

What are the grounds like? 

One of the best parts of Borealis is the campgrounds. Your festival ticket includes access to 3 beautiful camp Zones - “Bass Camp’, the “Mid Range” and “Treble Clef”. Tent Camping is Free and Most attendees camp in tents. There is limited free potable water available on site, but we still RECOMMEND you bring full containers for your campsite.

Can I Camp With My Vehicle? 

parking for your vehicle is free. Camping With your vehicle requires a pass starting at $15 depending on the size of your vehicle (Car or rV) and the location you wish to camp (Bass Camp or Treble Clef). Cars+Trailer Combos will be considered RV’s for the purposes of these passes. there are no RV hookups on site.

How do I Leave No Trace?

Borealis Festival is dedicated to the leave No Trace mindset. guests are responsible for keeping their campsites clean and disposing all camp waste APPROPRIATELY before leaving the site. Prepare with garbage bags and a love of the planet. if you purchase brand new equipment before your trip try your best to dispose of packaging or plastics before you come to site. 

What Accessibility access is Available?

Accessible camping is available for those with limited mobility. The site is equipped with wheelchair accessible Bathrooms.

The festival grounds are on a campground with primarily grass and dirt. All the environments are accessible by wheelchair however it is bumpy in places. We RECOMMEND camping in Bass camp to keep travel time to camp short and sweet.

Please contact borealisfest@gmail.com to let us know if you will be attending with accessible camping needs.
 

Can I RESERVE A Camp

Limited Reserved camping is Now available. Reserved sites are at the top of the hill in Treble clef and include 2 vehicle camping passes (or 1 rv pass) and room for 2-4 tents plus vehicles.

Where are my tickets

Borealis is Paper Free and Tickets are ‘Will Call’ which means you can claim them at the front gate. Please bring your ID and have your confirmation Email ready to claim tickets.  If you haven't received your ticket confirmation via email, please check your junk mail.

your ticket confirmation EMAIL is the only way to claim your tickets at will call.

Explicit directions will be sent out Aug 01 to all confirmed Ticket Buyers.

For all other ticketing questions, please email customer service at borealisfest@gmail.com

Thursday Entry

Thursday Entry is not available this year at Borealis.

Day Passes

LIMITED Day passes MAY be available on Saturday night only if the event does not sell out. Check back here for updates.

Transfers

If you want to transfer a ticket to a different person, or sell your ticket, or you are considering buying a ticket from someone, Simply have the original ticket holder fill out this form to register the change - it will ask for the previous ticket buyer info and new ticket holder - A confirmation will be sent to the new ticket holder to use to claim tickets at will call. please be sure to contact us at borealisfest@gmail.com if you have any issues..

If you wish to leave a ticket for a friend at the gate, you can do so free of charge, just speak to our gate staff.

Refunds

Borealis does not offer refunds on Tickets or PAsses. Join the Borealis Music Festival 2020 Facebook page and use it to find buyers for your tickets. Join the page HERE. 

First Aid & EMERGency Responce

Borealis Festival employs the efforts of the amazing team at EER to keep our attendees safe and secure. We aim to do better each year and are proud that borealis guests have had access to the best care in rare cases of trips or falls. Visit them to say hi and thank them for all they do for our community!

There will be a main First Aid tent located beside Harm Reduction that you can visit 24 hours for any questions or emergencies.

Peace - Love - Unity - Respect

Borealis aims to be a safe, inviting and inclusive environment for everyone, but we cannot do that without your help. we ask that attendees take responsibility for maintaining a atmosphere of mutual Care and respect. As Ravers we must take care of one another. We ask all attendees that If they notice someone is unwell, help them get access to medical services ASAP. If another guests BEHAVIOUR is WORRYING or harassing others, inform a member of the Staff, Harm Reduction, or security team and allow them to help mediate if NECESSARY

REDUCING HARM

Borealis Festival is a drug-free event. We have Still followed the best practices of our peers in the festival field and taken a proactive approach to Harm Reduction to PROTECT our attendees. by providing some tools and information regarding harm reduction, Our goal is to ENCOURAGE our guets to RESPONSIBLY MANAGE THEIR own health and safety. WATCH FOR MORE INFO ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA STREAMS ABOUT SAFER PARTYING AS THE FESTIVAL APPROACHES!

Borealis Festival HAS ADopted and taken inspiration from many of the best festivals in Canada and around the World on many best practices from general processes to harm reduction policies.

here we want to acknowledge them for their incredible contributions to creating a culture of safety, inclusivity, and creativity by sharing their knowledge and their journeys with us as mentors, tutors and inspirations.

Special thanks goes to the minds behind Bass Coast, Shambhala, and Astral Harvest, which have inspired us to follow in their footsteps while also carving our own path for Alberta!