Alessia Cara, Public Enemy, NxWorries and Maribou State will headline Rifflandia 2025
Organizers announced the lineup Wednesday morning. The festival returns to a four-day format from Thursday September 11 to Sunday September 14.
The first night will feature UK electronic music duo Maribou State and a special performance by the Victoria Symphony playing Daft Punk. Rifflandia founder Nick Blasko said on The [email protected] that it’s a collaboration he has been working on for a very long time.
Hip hop legends Public Enemy top the list of Friday acts with support from Descendents, The Funk Hunters with Chali 2na, Shakey Graves, Macy Gray and Nanaimo’s Whipped Cream.
Multi-grammy award winning artist Anderson .Paak returns to Victoria for the first time since performing as his DJ alter-ego DJ Pee .Wee at Philips Tilt in 2023. This time he’ll perform in rap super duo NxWorries with record producer Knxwledge. They will headline the Saturday. Other notable names include Sleater-Kinney, The Death South and JP Saxe.
Closing out the festival will be Grammy and Juno award winning Canadian singer songwriter Alessia Cara. Joining her on the Sunday lineup are more Juno award winning Canadian artists in Charlotte Cardin and Walk Off The Earth.
We’ve provided links to every artist on the lineup at the bottom of this article.
The Phillips Brewery property will not be part of the festival grounds this year. Other changes to the layout include the addition of a catwalk to the main stage, an expanded comedy stage and more turf.
This will be the 15th edition of the festival and organizers are giving back to the community by launching Rifflandia Foundation and giving 15% of every ticket sold directly to local organizations. Each participating organization has a unique code that Rifflandia ticket-buyers can enter in their cart during checkout.
The participating organizations are:
DVBA Clean Team
KidSport Greater Victoria
Peers
Reciprocity Trusts
Surfrider Foundation South Vancouver Island
UVic Vikes Athletics
Victoria Children’s Choir
Victoria Conservatory of Music
Victoria Cool Aid Society
Victoria Hospitals Foundation
Victoria Orange Shirt Day
Victoria Pride Society
Women In Need (WIN) Community Cooperative
Participating Greater Victoria School PACs
Participating Victoria and Saanich Community Associations
The Rifflandia Foundation is the festival’s own non-profit dedicated to increasing equity and access to sports, live events, and cultural activities for individuals and communities facing social, economic, and physical barriers. The 15% contribution will go to the foundation if no other code is used.
Full festival details are available at rifflandia.com
Lineup:
Thursday September 11, 2025
Maribou State | TroyBoi | The Victoria Symphony plays Daft Punk | AHEE | Mary Droppinz | Mat The Alien | Pigeon Hole | Abstrakt Sonance | Prayer Handz | Dust Cwaine
Friday September 12, 2025
Public Enemy | Descendents | The Funk Hunters feat. Chali 2na | Shakey Graves | Macy Gray | WHIPPED CREAM | Hollow Coves | ProbCause (DJ set) | OMBIIGIZI | Handsome Tiger | Thomas Anthony | Return of the Jaded | Canadian Beauty
Saturday September 13, 2025
NxWorries (Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge) | Sleater-Kinney | The Dead South | JP Saxe | Billianne | Phibes | TVBOO | Krafty Kuts | Fort Knox Five | Mood Swing & Chevy Bass | Wyatt C. Louis | Control Room | Westwood in The Dome | The Choirs YYJ does Radiohead | Frog Eyes | Stund | Naturalist | T3MPR | S@M 1 @ M b2b Steph Tsunami
Sunday September 14, 2025
Alessia Cara | Charlotte Cardin | Walk Off The Earth | William Prince | Taiki Nulight | Dirtwire | Honeycomb | Hoang | Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys | Cadence Weapon (DJ set) | The Choirs YYJ does Divas | oncor | GRIIMM | DJ Boitano | DJ Dabbler
