A day of fearless shredding and eclectic tunes is here.

The first ever Lillyfest by Local Losers Underground will bring people to the Polson Park skate park for some skate competitions, snacks, prizes and a full lineup of killer bands. 

Lillyfest gets underway today, Friday, Sept. 6, from 2 to 7 p.m. and is free to attend. 

Noah MacLeod, owner, musical director and production manager for Local Losers Underground, said the idea for Lillyfest came from a desire to engage with the young people of Vernon. He said there aren't enough events in town that directly target a youth audience. 

That said, music and skateboarding are for all ages, and MacLeod is looking forward to seeing a diverse array of people coming out to Lillyfest.

"We wanted to make this a totally free event that combines skateboarding with music," he said. "We're pretty stoked."

In creating the event, Local Losers has partnered with Okanagan Skate Co., Vernon's longest standing skate shop. Okanagan Skate Co. will be running a skateboarding competition as part of the event. The competition will run throughout the day to determine who can land the best trick, with prizes up for grabs. 

MacLeod said it's looking like Lillyfest could be Local Losers' highest attended event based on the amount of traction it's already seeing on Facebook.

He said the great thing about skateboarding is that it has few barriers and is free to try in almost any community. When Local Losers had an art shop and music venue on 30th Avenue, it offered a number of free events to the public. When the shop closed in June 2023, MacLeod said it became harder to offer free events to the community. 

However, he said Local Losers Underground is on track to put on 75 events this year, and over three quarters of those events are free. 

"We really want to push to do things that are more community-oriented, and I think (Lillyfest) is a really good way for us to get that under our feet again and get re-involved and support in a more direct way."

Bands will be playing while people are doing tricks at the skate park, and the two sides of the festival won't be far apart, as the City of Vernon has given Local Losers special permission to set up the music stage right beside the skate park. 

The musical lineup is a mix of psychedelic rock, jazz, punk rock, metal, folk and more, with bands from Vernon and the surrounding area. The full lineup includes The Jazz Implication, Bunch of Others, Handholders, Jorb.Co, The Afu Trio, Trailer Frogs, DIN + Other People, Foxtooth and Lee Van Cleef. 

The hope is to make Lillyfest an annual event.

More information about the festival can be found at .