Additional Information
Élisapie, Laura Niquay, Zouz, US Girls, La Sécurité, We Are Wolves, Death From Above 1979, KinjiOO, Bon Enfant, Mike Clay, and Maryze are among the nearly 50 artists and bands performing at the Santa Teresa Festival throughout the weekend.
Just a 40-minute drive from Montreal, in the charming suburb of Sainte-Thérèse, one of the festival season’s best-kept secrets unfolds every year: Santa Teresa. More intimate than its counterparts, the event is dedicated to presenting a diverse lineup that breaks the mould, right in the heart of the city on the main street. In addition to offering a wealth of musical discoveries, we also love it for its relaxed atmosphere and the surprises the team has in store for us. We had the chance to learn a little more about this year’s edition, taking place May 8–10, 2026, by chatting with Joakim Morin, the programming director.
This interview was conducted in partnership with La Vitrine
PAN M 360: What sets the Santa Teresa Festival apart from similar events?
Joakim Morin: We’re a festival I like to call “off the beaten path,” with a very eclectic lineup. The idea behind the lineup is really to do things differently from everyone else (Laughs)! We feature sought-after headliners—drawing from Europe, England, the United States, or Ontario—who stand out from the current trends. At the same time, we also feature local and even emerging artists, giving them their first festival opportunity. We have a unique lineup, with both free and paid shows, where discovery takes center stage and where we enjoy creating unlikely pairings with artists who wouldn’t normally perform together. We’re trying to make a few dreams come true.
PAN M 360: What genres of music will be featured at this year’s event?
Joakim Morin: Our program spans three days, and when it comes to the free shows, it really covers all bases—we really wanted people to step outside their musical comfort zones. As for the paid lineup, we always set a slightly clearer direction. Since there’s always a hip-hop day in Santa Teresa, we decided to go all out by kicking things off in that vein on Friday with Kinji00—but making it free! For Saturday, since we’re seeing a major rock comeback, we wanted to put it in the spotlight with a dream lineup: Death from Above 1979, Wavves, La Sécurité, and We Are Wolves, to name just a few! To close out Sunday, since it’s Mother’s Day, we’ve put together a more family-friendly lineup so that everyone—from the oldest to the youngest—can enjoy the day together, featuring Bon Enfant, Mike Clay, and many others!
PAN M 360: Can you give us a sneak peek at this year’s standout discoveries?
Joakim Morin: There’s Montreal artist MARYZE, who’s now based in Hollywood and is coming back especially to play a show here. Also—and I’m a little biased because I work with them—there’s Oui Merci, who just released an excellent album and will be playing a free show. I recently discovered Roxanne Izzo, who I think will be doing her only festival with us this summer, and among the bigger artists, I was really happy to land Wavves and U.S. Girls—we’re the only ones presenting them.
PAN M 360: What is the general atmosphere like on the streets of Sainte-Thérèse during these three days?
Joakim Morin: The festival itself takes up part of the downtown area, mainly along the main street. There are paid shows taking place in the adjacent parking lot, and we also have a free stage on the church grounds. On the street, we’ve scheduled DJ sets, after-parties, karaoke, and we also have a program in the old chapel. Whether you’re at a restaurant, a bar, or a show starting on the street, there are events at every doorstep, and the whole community gets into the festive spirit. Starting at 3 p.m., things really start to pick up, and the areas we’ve set up all over the place fill up—whether it’s the food truck corner, the beer garden, the merch areas, the market pop-ups, or even a neighbour’s balcony, haha! All kinds of things are happening at the same time; it never stops, so you can just go with whatever you feel like doing in the moment!
PAN M 360: What kind of people are out on the streets for the occasion?
Joakim Morin: We get a lot of locals coming by who are interested, but since it’s still a small community, there’s only so many people, so we can always count on folks from bigger cities like Laval and Montreal to come check it out! We always make a point of not overlapping too much with the programming at those places so we can maintain our unique character and not step on each other’s toes, haha! There are also a lot of people from the northern suburbs who make the trip to join in the festivities. It’s great for the local economy: the patios and shops are packed! We also attract the curious—those looking for more niche discoveries—since people have become really open-minded about genres and are very open-minded.
PAN M 360: What are the funding challenges for an event like yours?
Joakim Morin: The budget cuts are really being felt… This year’s lineup is running on about 50% of last year’s budget, so of course, it shows. We’re trying to reach out to new partners, but even they have budget concerns because times are tough for everyone: promoters, labels, and artists. We’re definitely no longer in the “small festivals” category, so we’re also among the least funded… but I think there really needs to be a political debate that sets the framework—with laws—for how subsidies are handled. But that’s a whole other debate, haha!
PAN M 360: Can you tell us more about this year’s event? Do you have any surprises in store for us?
Joakim Morin: What we offer is an intimate experience that opens the door to magical moments, a closeness, and a connection that are hard to find at larger events. Since we have some fairly niche acts, we also have a lot of artists hanging out in the crowd, so it’s pretty common for people to take selfies with them or just enjoy a good time together. As for new additions, this year we decided to include a lot of DJ sets by artists on the lineup to let people discover them in a different way, from a different angle. I always think it’s fun to check out musicians’ playlists—they often have great taste, haha! Santa Teresa is a small festival of GREAT MUSIC, period.
PAN M 360: With the event just a few days away, are you already thinking about the next one?
Joakim Morin: Actually, yes, haha! Since things are happening this year that I wish had happened last year, haha, so they’ll go into the 2027 schedule! When something doesn’t work out or the timing isn’t right, we always tell the agents that we’ll try again next year. We can’t always program everything we want to, so we navigate between possibilities, solutions, and the budget. One thing is for sure: if everything goes as I hope, next year’s schedule is going to be mind-blowing!
PAN M 360: Any final thoughts?
Joakim Morin: Support smaller festivals! If there’s a festival you love and go to every year, take a chance and check out a different one—haha! Get out of the city—there are plenty of wonderful surprises waiting for you!
