“The very first year, on our very first show—it rained on us,” Kash Khan tells the Straight over a large Starbucks coffee. “It wasn’t a great start for a party named ‘Sunwave’.”

Fortunately for electronic music fans, a little precipitation didn’t dampen event director Khan’s spirits. Now entering its third year, Sunwave is a series of outdoor summer shows that exhibit the best of the city’s house and techno music. Comprised of six evenly-spaced events between June and August, Sunwave is an open-air extravaganza that brings the laid-back vibes of Montreal’s famous Piknic Électronik to Vancouver.

Granted, there are a few differences between the events. Set in the expansive grounds of Parc Jean-Drapeau, Picknic sees thousands of party-goers descend upon the park’s grassy slopes. But Khan has found a more than appropriate Vancouver alternative. Located in the secluded patio of Koerner’s pub near UBC, Sunwave might be off the beaten track—but it’s definitely worth the trip.

“Initially I wasn’t organising parties,” Khan recalls. “But one of my friends became the bar manager at the venue, and they’d recently renovated. Koerner's hit up a bunch of promoters in the city, and they all said they wouldn’t do an event because the pub was too far away. Nobody else even went to look at the space, but as soon as I got there it blew me away.”

“The patio looks completely different from the venue’s interior,” Khan continues. “It’s not a park, but they have enough trees and plants that it basically forms this awesome cornered-in garden. You don’t really get sunburned, you don’t get too hot, and the lighting at night is spectacular. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another space like it in Vancouver.”

Programming a huge roster of talent to energise the leafy dancefloor, Khan has already booked 32 artists—yes, you read that right—for the two month summer series. But despite lining up a swathe of the city’s electronic music performers, Khan has ensured that quantity has not trumped quality.

“All our performers are first-rate,” Khan says. “Everyone is an actual producer, and they each put their heart and soul into it. Nobody’s a newbie or a rookie— everyone’s a legit DJ with a serious following. But we’re all about community too. We not going to book an artist just because they’re really hyped or because we know they’ll bring people in. If you’re on the bill, it’s because you have an amazing sound.”

Khan’s focus on integration doesn’t just stop with the artists. Unlike a lot of the city’s secluded underground electronic music events, Sunwave’s outdoor venue not only opens up the scene to inquisitive Vancouverites, but encourages a huge turnout of partiers from outside the city.

“We attract a lot of tourists,” Khan says with a smile. “I’m always surprised by how many different nationalities turn up. Normally the community is very insular—there’s always the same faces coming to house and techno parties. But almost a quarter of our crowd are from out of town—Canadian or international—and it really lets a lot of people experience the Vancouver scene. It’s really humbling when tourists say that Sunwave has given our city a new significance, or that we’ve made Vancouver a special place for them.”

While its patio foliage and diverse audience are certainly selling points, Sunwave’s popularity is also helped by one key fact: it’s actually legal. Let’s face it—partying with the cops around the corner is a bit of a buzzkill, and unlike lots of Vancouver’s outdoor underground electronic music parties, punters at Sunwave know they’re in no danger of being shut down.

“My first attempt at an outdoor event was in 2011,” Khan recalls. “We took a whole bunch of equipment down to Wreck Beach to get the party started. It was all going really well—but about one hour in, the authorities pulled the plug. There weren’t any complaints, but the Rangers told us it just couldn’t happen. It was a tough thing to hear—but not as bad as hauling all that gear back up the stairs. Needless to say, I learned my lesson.

"That was a big concern for us when we started Sunwave—we didn’t want to throw parties that would be cut short,” Khan continues. “Fortunately, this venue has a really old bylaw that’s been there for decades, and it allows the pub to play live music any time until 1am. It’s a unique opportunity for day parties. And since these guys really dot their I’s and cross their T’s by sticking to the letter of the law, we knew we could launch an event with them.”

Buoyed by the success of Sunwaves past, Khan is excited to launch the series’ first show of the summer.

“Even in the off-season, people are asking after us now,” he says. “Honestly, it just feels great to offer something really different to our community, and to get such positive feedback.”

Sunwave is at Koerner’s Secret Garden on select dates from June 4 to August 27. See www.sunwavebc.com/ for details and tickets.