Ahead of the 2025 edition of Surrey's huge FVDED in the Park, I talked with Alvaro Prol about the music festival he founded and operates every summer.
The two-day party (July 4-5) will mark the 10th anniversary of FVDED at Holland Park, save for a "pause" in 2023 and pandemic cancellations of 2020 and 2021.
Last year's triumphant return was a sell-out with 48,000 ticketholders over two days, and the 2025 festival promises to fill the park again for sets by Ti毛sto, Zedd, Kaytranada, Disclosure and other dance music artists from around the globe, with a strong Canadian flavour once again (21 of the 60 artists booked, on fvdedinthepark.com). For a preview, hear the FVDED 2025 Official Playlist on Spotify.
Prol runs Blueprint Events, presenters of electronic, R&B and hip-hop club nights, concerts and festivals. For FVDED, the company partners with Live Nation Entertainment to stage one of Western Canada鈥檚 biggest music festivals.
The following Q&A was recorded in March, a few weeks after this year's FVDED lineup was announced:
Me: What's your fondest memory of the first year of FVDED in Surrey, in 2015?
Prol: "The first year was special. Having Deadmau5 headline was great because we had such a long relationship with him, and also The Weeknd, right before he kind of became a little more pop and kind of got away from us. But that moment, having those two there, was just so great for me. I remember being on the dance floor when one of the Weeknd songs came on I was like, 'Oh, what a great moment that we're finally here and being able to create this event that I've been wanting to create through my whole career.' And even though FVDED had lived in a couple other venues before, as a smaller event, at Malkin Bowl (in Stanley Park) and then PNE Amp (amphitheatre), it didn't become a festival proper until it hit Holland Park.鈥� We got her ass kicked financially that year, FYI, and Year 1 was definitely an investment, but it was well worth everything, just being there, making it happen. A lot of people were like, 'You guys are doing an event in Surrey?' They didn't understand why we were going to Surrey to do an event, you know, and for us we knew that our people were already there, so it just made sense."
Do you have a favourite FVDED artist lineup over the years?
"Last year was pretty great and such a special year, to return there and sell-out. I really liked the year where we had Travis Scott and also Jack 脺, with Skrillex and Diplo playing together, that was a special year (in 2016). But really, last year was a special moment to come back, where people didn't think we would be able to come back, and get the love and support that we got. That was special."
Do you actually get to enjoy the music and dance like everybody else?
"No, it's tough. When I'm at the festival I'm very switched on and there's so much going on. I think I maxed out at 500 text messages in one festival, and I just pretty much have my head down dealing with all the micro-details that have to come together for a timed performance. Everything needs to work. As the festival director, we'll call it, I'm in the middle of a lot, but there are moments where I do partake, I do enjoy the moment, which doesn't happen much when you're the person trying to make those moments happen. Our responsibility is to make the moment for others."
What's new at the festival this year?
"Last year we rolled out the Forest Stage, where people could hang underneath the trees with shade and cover and a whole little world over there, with decorations and hammocks and stuff in the forest, which is really cool. Our site is really beautiful and there's a ton of trees, but it's also quite open to the sun, so it's good to have this forest area as well, which has become a chill area. This year we added the Propagate Stage, a fourth stage, near the Northwest tent. That's gonna be our kind of underground, more niche-y stage, I guess, offering some of the sounds that are bubbling globally. That's new, and we're gonna start adding more decor here and there, now that we're back and we have a good runway, to add to the atmosphere and just the overall experience of the event, where people can get lost. That's what we're working on now."
What about this year's artists? Which ones were you most excited about booking?
"I was really excited to get Ti毛sto. This is his biggest show in Western Canada ever, because he's never played a bigger festival that this one. He's reached this bigger-than-ever situation where he's been popping for so long and he's releasing so much music that's doing so well. I'm excited for him, super excited for Kaytranada, very excited for Disclosure, these great headliners. Other stuff that's more obscure and cool 鈥� like, this woman called Uncle Waffles will be really cool. We have lots of amazing local people as well, like Juelz. We're building vibes where we have four stages now, and we're able to almost curate little events within the festival, within each stage. It's really fun to be able to get to that point. We went up to 60 artists this year from 48 last year, I think, so we have an additional 12 artists this year."
It seems like a lot of Canadian artists for 2025. What does that say about Canada's EDM scene and its growth?
"I think it is growing, and we've always had great talent. I think it's just a matter of giving them a good opportunity to do what they do, and we always, always, always do our best to give those slots to our Canadian people that are doing their thing. The first one and two slots at most stages are reserved for people regionally, Canadians.鈥� If you remember, this event started as a Canada Day event way back in the day, and then we moved FVDED away from Canada Day, by a week. But that first event, we had all Canadian artists, with Zeds Dead, Felix Cartel and Adventure Club. And then we started at Holland Park with the Weeknd and Deadmau5 headlining, so we've always had that strong Canadian flavour, for sure."
With Tiesto, I think he brings a demographic of maybe parents coming with their kids this year. Do you see that happening with him headlining Friday, that first night?
"I think so. He's so generational and is releasing so much new music that it's not a situation where, you know, I'm booking that old rock band that hasn't released an album in 20 years. He's actually quite relevant, and I almost think his music is more relevant now than it used to be. Now he's releasing music like crazy. I love those stories, and I like looking out at the crowd and seeing parents with their kids 鈥� you know, teenaged kids and young adults, not little kids. As a father myself, I love that."
On that note, the festival is limited to ticketholders age 16 and older, right?
"Yes, last year was the first year for that. It worked out really well, and people were happy. There were no real issues, and also I think dance music has grown up a lot in North America in the last, you know, 10 years. A lot of the kids that were coming to FVDED 10 years ago are now young adults."
At this point, are you expecting another sell-out of nearly 50,000 again?
"When we went on sale this year, I was like, 'Oh my God, how are we gonna be able to do what we did last year?' But we had the exact same support as we did last year. The tickets have been flowing at the same pace as last year and everything's looking incredible. People came out and they supported us and bought tickets. We're in a really good spot, and I think we'll definitely hit last year's numbers. We've talked to Surrey about ways to see if can increase in the future, but for now we're happy with the numbers. I couldn't be more grateful. Every year, we just hope people like the lineup and want to come enjoy themselves again. We didn't spare anything and we went as hard as we could with this lineup to make sure people know that back-to-back, we weren't playing."
