The inaugural Unreal City Festival 2025 celebrated the city's underground rock music culture for two days of shows from incredible local artists. A mix of punk, indie, shoegaze, metal, post-rock, and post-punk shouted out the city's rich DIY spirit over two days, January 10-11 2025.

Now moving into the second edition, Unreal City is built by artists, for artists. We'll be taking over the Russian Hall in Vancouver's historic Strathcona/Raymur/Hogan's Alley again, January 2026, as well as expanding with select programming at venues TBA.

Our unique festival format finds bands and music artists upstairs, while downstairs you get access to the coziest, Grandma's-living-room style lounge in the city: DJs, hot food, drinks, on-site tattoo artists, and more.

Check out last year's Bands page for more info on who performed in 2025, or hit up the FAQ for answers to your burning questions.

Are you an artist or band? Our 2026 Application Form is accepting submissions until Friday, August 29, 2025.

Artisan/business owner/generous patrons interested in sponsoring Unreal City 2026 may email us at: unrealcityfest *at* gmail *dot* com.