MASSiF Music takes place in Nelson BC, on the land of the Syilx tmixʷ (Okanagan), Sinixt, and Ktunaxa. Founded in 2016, Massif Music Festival Society is a non-profit music promotion society with a volunteer board of directors who designate roles to volunteer committees. 

MASSiF happens every year on the last weekend in September, at venues within downtown Nelson.

MASSiF is entirely supported by attendees, community business donations and grants. All of our profits go to the artists.

Mission: To bring underrepresented music to the Kootenay region, within an intimate and unique festival experience designed to foster connections among artists and between fans, featuring a carefully curated line up of diverse, underground and overlooked musicians.

Vision: A regional music festival featuring acts conscientiously chosen to represent diversity within the heavy music scene.

WHY WE EXIST

A series of live-to-air radio shows at Kootenay Co-op Radio called Crank It to 6 (2012-2016), run by Jay Hannley and Nelson from Nelson, were the impetus for MASSiF.

These shows fed the appetite of a vibrant group of music lovers, including youth, who did not have easy access to heavy music in the Kootenays. Crank It to 6 helped us to see that a music festival in our little town of Nelson was possible.

After the first festival in 2016, it was abundantly apparent how many cis, white men comprised the stage. Less than 25% of bands included women, and almost none had people of colour. 

MASSiF thereafter created our mission to specifically include women and non-binary performers in our mandate, to promote diversity in this genre, and support the growth and evolution of heavy music.

Massif is a supportive performance opportunity for marginalized folks.

And we want youth to see that on stage.