At West 4th Avenue on Saturday, July 11

“I want to cheer for the clouds,” enthused the Balsam Stage’s MC during the early stages of the Khatsahlano Street Party. “Even if it rains, this is so good.”

Nearly identical sentiments were echoed by numerous folks throughout the course of the fifth instalment of the free outdoor festival; not only were people unbothered by the lack of sunshine, they seemed downright delighted. After a scorchingly sunny spring and early summer—which, of course, came complete with hazy smoke from nearby wildfires—this temperate day was a welcome change. What’s more, the cool weather made it possible for fans to hike between the six stages along West 4th Avenue without ever breaking a sweat.

With over 50 acts on the bill, Skinny Kids got the music underway at 11:15 a.m., and they cranked their amps as they tore into a selection of ‘60s-tinged garage-psych numbers. It was very early in the day for such fuzzy music, but the long-haired trio acted as a bracing wake-up call for the festival’s early arrivers.

For those seeking a gentler start to the day, there were yogis doing the downward-facing dog at the Yew Stage, while Kiki the Eco Elf got the kids dancing with her family-friendly comedy tunes at the Trafalgar Stage.

Throughout the day, the Balsam Stage was host to all 12 of the contenders in this year’s Peak Performance Project contest. The first of these was folk-rocking Victoria resident Mike Edel. Unfortunately, his slow-building, cinematic standout “The Country Where I Came From” was undermined by the photo booth that 102.7 The PEAK had set up near to the stage, since the workers running it chose that exact moment to blast Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe.”

After that, it was a six-block walk to the Burrard Street Main Stage, next to which Trattoria Italian Kitchen hosted a meatball-eating contest in which uninhibited competitors attempted to inhale 10 sauce-covered, baseball-sized meatballs in just two minutes.

After that unappetizing display, pop-rock singer Louise Burns arrived on the adjacent stage with four backing players. With the exception of keyboardist Bryce Janssens, the musicians were all wearing sunglasses despite the cloudy weather; their eyewear added a steely sense of cool to the Disintegration-style synth drama of “Emeralds Shatter” and the Stevie Nicks-flavoured new cut “Pharaoh”.

Following Burns’ set, Khatsahlano’s organizers took the stage for the event’s official greeting, with Musqueam rep Debbie Sparrow welcoming everyone to her people’s traditional lands.

Next, the Abramson Singers delivered one of the day’s quietest performances, with project leader Leah Abramson joined by backup vocalist Lucien Durey and Brasstronaut guitarist Tariq Hussain. Their ghostly folk ballads were in stark contrast to the celebratory tone of the festival, but it was nevertheless a spellbinding display. This was apparently the Abramson Singers’ final show, as the outfit’s namesake announced that she would be retiring the moniker and focusing on her new band Lost Lagoon.

It took an epic trek across the entire length of Khatsahlano to catch a couple of sprawling country rock numbers from Real Ponchos at the Trafalgar Stage. The eight-block walk took 25 minutes due to the hoards of festival-goers lining up at countless vendors. No one seemed bothered in the slightest by the steady drizzle that had begun to fall, and some folks idled to watch skateboarders ride down a hill littered with jumps and ramps.

The Trafalgar Stage was part of the festival’s “Family Zone,” which made Needs by far the strangest scheduling choice of the day. Kids were getting their faces painted a matter of metres away from where the quintet was kicking up a frightening hardcore punk racket, with unhinged frontman Sean Orr licking the floor and pretending to strangle himself with a roll of cables. He even stole one youngster’s ball cap and put it on his own head before offering the same child a handful of gummy candy from his pocket.

There was a Nestlé vendor located close to the stage, and Orr spent portions of the rebellious set condemning the corporation, arguing, “They’re stealing our water while the province burns.” He also chugged brownish liquid directly from a container of motor oil; let’s hope, for the sake of his health, that it was just a stunt and not actually oil.

From there, the rain stopped and the afternoon became of blur of bands: the Courtneys bashed out infectious—albeit extremely repetitive—fuzz-pop tunes on the Main Stage, while Dada Plan treated receptive listeners at the Vine Stage to a string of sax-laced, conga-bopping psych jams. Mindil Beach served up bland reggae rock on the Balsam Stage, while Hot Panda’s yelping frontman Chris Connelly charmed fans at the Vine Stage with his giddy energy and jittery art-rock.

By this point, some vendors were beginning to close up shop, and the Belle Game attracted a large crowd to the Main Stage. Since last year, the former five-piece has lost a member and has developed an affection for electronic R&B, and there was a synth-y swagger to its atmospheric, reverb-drenched rock. But although the band’s style has shifted, the sound is still focused on the towering vocal heroics of lead belter Andrea Lo. The passionate refrains of “River” earned a particularly enthusiastic response from awestruck onlookers.

The bulk of Khatsahlano’s remaining attendees had arrived the Main Stage in time for headliner Yukon Blonde’s 8 p.m. start time. Frontman Jeffrey Innes emerged with a cry of “Kitsilanoooooo”, and the five-piece showcased its synth-spiked new sound by kicking off with the sparkling boogie of “Confused” from the recent On Blonde LP.

The 70-minute set was impeccably tight, with a massive, arena-sized sound and gorgeously rich five-part harmonies that seemed as if they had come wafting straight out of Laurel Canyon. The material placed an emphasis on upbeat danceability, and “Make You Mine” began with an intro of pulsing disco rhythms, bloopy arpeggiators and pew-pewing laser effects.

After a surging rendition of “Fire”, the dude standing next to me told his buddy, “That was a high. I don’t think they can top that,” and they promptly left. He was wrong, of course, and the electrifying night ended a few songs later with the jubilantly soaring back catalogue favourite “My Girl”, during which guitarist Brandon Scott left the stage to gleefully crowd-surf.

The throng bounced along with increasing vigour, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it had once again begun to spit with gentle rain. If there’s one thing that this year’s Khatsahlano proved, it’s that you don’t need sunshine to have a joyous summer party.