It’s that time of year again as the organizers of Music Waste, Vancouver’s premier underground music festival, start to sift through the heaps of bands that want to play the annual event. Set to take place June 5 to 8 at a number of venues, including the Astoria, Pub 340, and Hoko’s, Music Waste will try to fit as many acts onto Vancouver stages as possible.

“People have been applying since September,” organizer Cameron Reed told the Straight. “We’ve already had about 100 bands submit, and I’m sure that’s going to increase over the next month.”

Although event planners will be putting on three or four shows a night for this year’s event, it will be difficult to include every artist who applies. “That’s obviously way more than we can organize,” Reed laughs. Bands that don’t make the cut shouldn’t feel discouraged, however. Go Your Own Waste, a program introduced last year, openly encourages groups that don’t get picked to book their own shows as part of the fest. The only requirements are that ticket prices be kept to $5 or less, with festival passes accepted at the door.

“The original spirit of the festival back in the ’90s was to empower artists to put on their own shows,” Reed explains. “We’re showing bands that it’s not hard to do this.”

The submission deadline for Music Waste–curated shows is April 25, while Go Your Own Waste shows can be booked until May 1. See www.musicwaste.ca/ for more information.