Osheaga music festival bans wearing headdresses as ‘fashion accessories’
MONTREAL – The Osheaga Music and Arts Festival has banned fans and artists from wearing First Nations headdresses as “fashion accessories.”
In a Facebook posting, the music festival asked attendees to respect the “spiritual and cultural” significance of the headdress.
In recent years, headdresses have become a trend for unknowing fest-goers and celebrities, including Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani and Susan Boyle, all of whom faced criticism for treating the headdress as fashion.
In 2013, clothing chain H&M removed faux headdresses from its Canadian stores after receiving complaints.
Osheaga will be held July 31 to Aug. 2 at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal.
Headliners include Kendrick Lamar, the Black Keys, Florence + the Machine and Weezer.
Osheaga’s policy on headdresses will also apply to IleSoniq, the electronic music festival set for Aug. 14-15 with performances scheduled from Deadmau5, Azealia Banks, DJ Snake, Kiesza and Rae Sremmurd.
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