Local Talent, Lasting Impact: Experiencing PEI Through Live Entertainment

Prince Edward Island has no shortage of talented musicians, performers, storytellers and speakers who can add something memorable to a business event. Bringing local talent into a conference, meeting or incentive program gives delegates a more authentic connection to the Island while creating meaningful opportunities for local creatives.

Live entertainment can also be a powerful way to extend the event experience beyond the meeting room. From world-class festival weekends to local food, culture and hospitality, PEI offers plenty of ways for visitors to experience the Island through the people and experiences that make it unique.

To explore the impact of live entertainment on the Island and how festivals can become part of the business events experience, Meet PEI connected with Ben Murphy, CEO of Murphy Hospitality Group & Whitecap Entertainment, the team behind Cavendish Beach Music Festival and Sommo Festival.

More Than a Festival: Why People Keep Coming Back

Every year, thousands of people travel to Prince Edward Island for Cavendish Beach Music Festival and Sommo Festival. What is it about these experiences that keeps people returning year after year?

“People don’t come back for one band.
They come back for how the whole weekend makes them feel. What we’ve been building for 18 years, that connection to the site itself, can’t be created overnight. It’s the Island as the backdrop: the ocean, the red clay, the sense that you’re somewhere specific, not just at a festival that could be anywhere.
Add in a lineup that keeps getting bigger and a crowd that treats each other like neighbours, and you get something people build their summer around, year after year.”

Creating Experiences That Stay With You

Memorable events are about more than what happens on stage. Live experiences can create connections between people and a destination in ways that are difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Why does attending a live event like CBMF or Sommo stay with people long after they’ve gone home?

“Because it’s tied to a place, not just a stage. Anyone can watch a great set on their phone the next day, but live music is essential in a way that doesn’t translate. There’s nothing quite like standing shoulder to shoulder with a stranger and realizing you both know every word.
That shared feeling can’t be copied, and the setting is doing as much work as the performers. That’s what turns a concert into something you’ll talk about for the rest of your lives.”

Turning a Business Trip Into an Island Experience

For meeting delegates, a trip to PEI doesn’t have to end when the conference does. Arriving early or staying a little longer can create opportunities to experience more of the Island.
For someone already visiting PEI for work, what makes adding a festival to the trip worthwhile?

“You’ve done the hard part…getting to PEI. A festival gives you a reason to turn a work trip into an actual trip: something to talk about with colleagues besides the agenda, maybe a reason to bring a partner along or stay the extra day.”

A Different Kind of Corporate Experience

Live entertainment can also offer an alternative to the traditional corporate dinner or team outing. Whitecap Entertainment offers VIP tickets and corporate hospitality options designed to bring teams, clients and leadership together in a different setting.
What makes those experiences different from a traditional corporate outing?

“Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a nice dinner to celebrate your team. But we put so much emphasis on creating unique spaces around the festival grounds to give companies places to host in different forms — the upper deck of our VIP Sunroof, singing every word while looking out over the whole crowd, or one of our corporate suites hosting 30 team members or potential clients.
Wherever they land, we prioritize good sightlines, real food and drink, a space to actually talk business or just decompress, and a shared experience the whole group remembers together. It does double duty: it rewards people, and it gives leadership and clients time together outside of a boardroom, which tends to build more trust than another dinner does.”

Why September Is an Opportunity for Business Events

September on Prince Edward Island offers a different pace. The summer crowds have started to thin, the weather remains inviting and many conferences and business events are already bringing visitors to the Island.
Sommo Festival takes place in September. What makes the month such a great time to experience PEI, and how does Sommo add to that energy?

“September on PEI is so underrated, it’s my favourite month. The weather is still warm, the water’s at its warmest of the year, the summer crowds have thinned out a touch, and the Island slows down. It’s also when a lot of conferences and business events are already bringing people here.
Sommo gives that same energy CBMF has in July, but puts more focus on our local farmers, fishers, and food and beverage producers.”

Expanding the Island Experience Beyond Peak Summer

PEI is often associated with July and August, but events like Sommo are helping shift that perception and demonstrate the opportunities available throughout the year.
How has Sommo helped show visitors that there’s still plenty happening after the peak summer season?

“Sommo proved the demand was there. People will travel for a festival experience on PEI outside of peak summer, often alongside everything else the Island has going on and the Island can deliver it just as well in September as it can in July.
It’s changed the conversation with visitors and with meeting planners: PEI isn’t a summer destination anymore, it’s a season, and a growing one.”

Making Live Entertainment Part of the Itinerary

For meeting planners, having a festival happening during a conference can be more than a convenient coincidence. It can become part of the event itself.
If you were speaking directly to a meeting planner considering Prince Edward Island for a conference, how would you suggest they make the most of having a festival taking place during their event?

“Build it into the itinerary, don’t treat it as an optional add-on. Block time on the agenda for delegates to actually go, encourage people to arrive a day early or stay a day late, and use it as the informal networking event.
Nothing breaks down the usual conference stiffness like standing in a crowd together at a show. The festival does the relationship-building a planner would otherwise have to engineer.
Play to the strengths of the place: PEI slows the pace down and brings out the best in most of our visitors.”

Food, Culture and the Flavours of PEI

Music may bring people to the festival grounds, but the experience doesn’t stop at the stage. Local food, beverages, makers and hospitality are all part of what makes an Island event feel distinctly PEI.
Why are those experiences just as important as the headline performers?

“Because that’s what makes it PEI, and not interchangeable with any other festival in the country. The food, the beverage program, the local makers. We’re celebrating Island culture in every corner of the festival, and it’s often what people end up talking about as much as the music.
Headliners get people to the festival grounds; the food, drink, and hospitality are what make them feel like they actually visited Prince Edward Island.”

Putting PEI on the Map for Events

As PEI’s entertainment calendar continues to grow, festivals and live events can play an important role in showing meeting planners that the Island has more to offer than traditional destination experiences.
Looking ahead, what role do you hope Whitecap Entertainment continues to play in showcasing Prince Edward Island as a destination people want to visit — not just for a vacation, but for conferences, corporate retreats and group events as well?

“I’d like Whitecap to keep making the case that PEI belongs in the same conversation as any major festival or event destination. That means continuing to build events people plan trips around, and making sure the people bringing conferences, retreats, and group business here see the Island’s entertainment calendar as a reason to choose PEI over somewhere else, not just a nice bonus once they’ve already booked.”

Live Entertainment Beyond the Festival Weekend

The Island’s live entertainment story is also expanding beyond the major festival weekends. Whitecap Entertainment recently announced the new Highwater Show Hall in Cavendish, creating another opportunity for visitors and groups to experience live music throughout the year.
How do you see the venue creating more opportunities for visitors and groups to experience live entertainment on PEI beyond the festivals?

“Highwater takes what CBMF and Sommo do for a weekend and makes it available all year. We designed and curated an open-air space across three levels — big enough to attract serious artists, intimate enough that you’ll feel like you’re catching every word.
It’s a home for the artists you love and the discoveries you’ll brag about hearing first. It means a group or a conference doesn’t need to time their trip around a festival date to get a great live show on the Island — there’s now a venue built for it in Cavendish, with a season of shows planned beyond the two festival weekends.
That’s a real shift: PEI live entertainment stops being a summer-only story.”

Experience PEI’s Music Scene for Yourself

Ready to experience PEI’s music scene for yourself?
Meet PEI is giving away two General Admission Weekend Passes to Sommo Festival, taking place September 11–12, 2026.
Enter for the chance to spend a weekend enjoying live music, great food and the unmistakable energy of an Island festival.

Prize: Two General Admission Weekend Passes to Sommo Festival, September 11–12, 2026
Entry deadline: September 1, 2026
Winner notified: By September 4, 2026
Enter to Win

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