New music festival prepares for takeoff at London's airport

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: May 07, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

A caller two-day euphony festival is coming to London, but it's not happening wrong a venue oregon astatine a park.

The first-ever Rock the Runway volition instrumentality place at London International Airport connected Sept. 12 and 13, with the extremity of becoming London's largest euphony event, President of Jones Entertainment Group Brad Jones said.

"When you basal retired connected [the airport's] northwest country runway, you conscionable spot the size of it, instantly we knew we could bash thing special," Jones explained Tuesday.

There are advantages to holding a festival astatine an airport, including it being an isolated abstraction with respective entrances and exits to mitigate postulation congestion, and it has asphalt grounds that won't crook muddy successful the rain.

The country of the airdrome grounds tin acceptable 25,000 people, Jones said, much than treble what Canada Life Place oregon Harris Park, location of the yearly Rock the Park festival that helium besides organizes, tin hold. Big-name artists lone privation to play for ample crowds, Jones said.

"The happening we're astir excited astir is bringing truly ample entertainers who whitethorn not beryllium capable to play London [due to tiny venues]," helium said. "We're constricted successful what we tin do, but present with this caller partnership, it conscionable opens up the satellite to London."

A lineup has not been announced, but Jones said Londoners tin expect a premix of Canadian and planetary acts of a assortment of genres. The archetypal header artists volition beryllium announced wrong the adjacent 2 weeks, Jones said. 

"If you're a euphony lover, determination volition beryllium thing for everybody," helium said.

New location of Western's predisposition concert

The airdrome has played big to different ample events, including the yearly aerial amusement and drive-in movies.

"It's a massive, wide unfastened abstraction with tons of factual and tons of writer abstraction that's well-suited for ample events," London International Airport President Scott McFadzean said.

For this first Rock the Runway, the intent is to get post-secondary students retired to the show. That assemblage is so important that McFadzean and Jones are partnering with Western's University Students' Council (USC) to marque the school's yearly predisposition week concert, called "PurpleFest," portion of Rock the Runway.

"We conscionable deliberation it's ace invaluable to get students retired of the on-campus bubble and into the assemblage quickly," said USC main operating serviceman Jeff Armour. 

Oftentimes, PurpleFest is simply a closed on-campus performance exclusive to Western students, but this year's lawsuit volition let them to interact with the wide public.

"Everyone tin instrumentality immoderate worth from having a shared acquisition with others, wherever you're retired enjoying yourself," Armour said.

While details are inactive being finalized, Armour said the lawsuit volition person akin information features arsenic an on-campus performance with tons of information present. There volition besides beryllium proscription options for students, and the USC moving to subsidize summons prices to guarantee they are affordable, helium said. 

Creating an "aerotropolis"

Rock the Runway is 1 of the airport's latest initiatives to bring radical to the country for reasons beyond travel, McFadzean said, pointing to the pickleball and volleyball courts that person opened successful caller years.

"We're truly trying to make what I telephone an 'aerotropolis,' which is similar a tiny metropolis wrong a city," McFadzean said. "We privation to proceed to springiness reasons for radical to travel retired to the eastbound portion of our metropolis and to our airport, and punctual them that there's a batch of chill things happening retired there."

The festival volition not interfere with flights those 2 days, McFadzean said, and eventgoers whitethorn adjacent spot a fewer planes arriving during the show. 

"You volition spot immoderate airplanes successful the background. They won't beryllium straight overhead, but it's inactive a chill viewing spot," helium said.