The 31st-Year Issue Reviewed Sunday, May 24, 2026 · 17 days to opening night
Lee's Palace at 529 Bloor Street West in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood — a brick concert venue with its signature painted mural facade and PALACE marquee, an NXNE 2026 host venue
★ The 31st-year issue · June 10–14

300+ artists. 30+ rooms. Zero in North York.

NXNE is downtown — and it always has been. But Line 1 puts the festival's best Billboard Canada LIVE bookings inside 35 minutes of North York Centre, and the last train back to Finch leaves at 2:20 AM. Here's the trip plan, and which five sets are actually worth it.

📌 Reviewed May 24 — 17 days out By the North York Guide editors 6 min read
Live countdown to opening night
NXNE 2026 · Wed Jun 10, 8 PM
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Days
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Hours
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Min
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Sec
5 nights
Jun 10 — Jun 14
300+ artists
First 100 announced
30+ venues
All downtown
$49
Discovery wristband
The 30-second answer

NXNE 2026 is five nights of club-hopping in Queen West, Bloor West and Kensington. None of it touches North York — but Line 1 makes it commutable.

We researched every confirmed booking, mapped the transit math, and ranked the five Billboard Canada LIVE shows worth the trip from North York. The 31st annual NXNE runs Wednesday June 10 through Sunday June 14, 2026. The festival's first 100 of 300+ artists are confirmed; the rest roll out across May and June. The venue circuit is tight — Horseshoe, Rivoli, Lee's Palace, The Mod Club, Sneaky Dee's, The Garrison — clustered for venue-hopping at 40-minute sets with 20-minute changeovers.

For North York readers, the question isn't "what's near me" — nothing is. It's "which sets are worth the trip and what time does the train go home." The Billboard Canada LIVE @ NXNE 2026 lineup gives you five solid anchors. The last northbound Line 1 train hits Finch at 2:20 AM Saturday, slightly earlier other nights — your buffer for a 1 AM set is about 60 minutes.

If you only have a minute

The five things to plan around

  1. Fionn — opens the festivalWed Jun 10
  2. Sickick — masked electronicSat Jun 13
  3. Covet — post-rock at Lee'sFri Jun 12
  4. Line 1 + last train timing2:20 AM
  5. Wristbands — Discovery vs VIP$49–$499
The shows worth the trip

Five Billboard Canada LIVE bookings, ranked by trip value.

NXNE's curatorial spine is the Billboard Canada LIVE series — five 2026 shows already locked in at the festival's premium rooms. Each one anchors a different night and a different sound. Pick the act, plan the train home around it.

★ Editor's pick · the opening-night booking
Wed · Jun 10 · The Rivoli

Fionn — opening-night Billboard Canada LIVE

📍 The Rivoli · 334 Queen Street West, M5V 2A2 · Line 1 · Osgoode station + 4-min walk
Sound
Rock
Set
40 min
From
Wristband

Vancouver twin sisters Alanna and Brianne Finn-Morris whose rock anthem "Blow" spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard Canada Modern Rock Airplay chart in October 2025. The opening-night Billboard Canada LIVE booking — high-profile, modest room. The Rivoli holds about 230, which means you'll be close enough to feel the kick drum.

Why this one: opening night is the easiest train trip — last Line 1 back to Finch arrives 2 AM weeknights, and you'll be done by 11. Pick this if you want one festival night without a logistics headache.
Tickets Map
Sat · Jun 13 · SOUNDSTAGE

Sickick — masked LED electronic

📍 SOUNDSTAGE at the W Toronto · 90 Bloor Street East, M4W 1A7 · Line 1 · Bloor-Yonge station + 1-min walk E
Sound
Electronic
Vibe
Club
From
Wristband

Toronto's masked LED act Sickick headlines Saturday at SOUNDSTAGE — the festival's most production-forward room. His "Lonely Together" with Aloe Blacc and Vikkstar hit global streaming charts, and he's remixed Madonna and Post Malone. Expect heavy visuals, a full LED mask, and a dance-floor build.

The catch: Saturday-night sets at SOUNDSTAGE typically run to 1:30 AM. The last northbound Line 1 hits Finch at 2:20 AM Saturday — leave Bloor-Yonge by 2:10, or grab the 320 Yonge Blue Night bus straight up Yonge.
Tickets Map
Fri · Jun 12 · Lee's Palace

Covet — post-rock at Lee's Palace

📍 Lee's Palace · 529 Bloor Street West, M5S 1Y5 · Line 1 · Bathurst station + 1-min walk
Sound
Post-rock
Room
Iconic
From
Wristband

San Francisco's Covet — Yvette Young's instrumental project, built on two-hand-tapped guitar — lands at Lee's Palace on the Friday. Lee's is the festival's most storied indie room (Nirvana played here before they were Nirvana). Covet's playing rooms three times this size on tour. Catching them at Lee's is an NXNE-only kind of trade.

Closest to Line 1: Bathurst station is a 22-minute ride from North York Centre, and Lee's is across the street. No streetcar transfer, no walk-through-the-rain. Easiest in/out of the five.
Tickets Map
Thu · Jun 11 · SOUNDSTAGE

Frank Walker — DJ set + Q&A

📍 SOUNDSTAGE at the W Toronto · 90 Bloor Street East, M4W 1A7 · Line 1 · Bloor-Yonge station + 1-min walk E
Format
DJ + Q&A
Sound
Electronic
From
Wristband

Canadian producer Frank Walker plays a hybrid DJ set + on-stage Q&A on Thursday — a rarer programming format than NXNE typically runs. His "Lay It On Me" featuring Josh Ross and Norma Jean Martine charted at #13 on Top 40 radio. Worth it if you like dance music but also want to hear how the producer thinks.

The sleeper pick: Q&A formats fill up fast — Thursday is the festival's first big-name booking and the room is intimate. Buy early; doors at 8 PM, Q&A first then the set.
Tickets Map
Sat · Jun 13 · The Mod Club

Yot Club — bedroom-pop crossover

📍 The Mod Club · 722 College Street, M6G 1C4 · Line 1 · Spadina + 510 streetcar S to College
Sound
Indie-pop
Crowd
Young
From
Wristband

Ryan Kaiser's bedroom-pop project Yot Club blew up via TikTok and Spotify — and now plays The Mod Club (formerly the Axis Club, the room where Daniel Caesar played his first major headlining show in 2016). NXNE's bet on Yot Club is the festival's clearest "catch them before they're stadiums" booking of 2026.

If you have to pick one Saturday set: Yot Club ends earlier than Sickick — usually wrapped by 10:30 PM — so it's the better train-home pick for a Saturday. Or stack both: Yot Club at 9, sprint to Sickick at 11.
Tickets Map
Wed–Sun · Jun 10–14 · Various

Discovery acts worth a wristband-only night

📍 Queen West + Kensington Market cluster — walking distance between rooms
From
$49
Rooms
3–5/night
Format
40 min

If you don't want to anchor a night on one act, the Discovery wristband ($49) is the festival's actual point. Exclaim's 2026 must-see picks are Accelerant (Toronto indie rock), BBQ Pope (indie punk), GHOSTFORM (post-hardcore), Lila Gray (Vancouver folk), and Lex Leosis (Toronto rap, ex-Sorority). Most play the Queen West cluster — Horseshoe, Rivoli, Cameron House, Cafe Pamenar.

Walk between rooms: Horseshoe to Rivoli is 60 seconds. Rivoli to Cameron House is 2 minutes. The cluster exists by design — wristband holders can hit 3–5 rooms in a night without an Uber.
Full lineup Venue map
The 5-night calendar, condensed

Pick your night.

NXNE compresses into five tight evenings. Doors at 7, first set at 8, last set as late as 1 AM. Each night below has the one booking worth planning the train around.

Wed Jun 10 · Opening night

Fionn opens at The Rivoli.

Opening night is structurally the easiest trip — crowds aren't peak, last set lands well before midnight, and the Line 1 last-train pressure is loose. Fionn's Billboard Canada LIVE booking is at the Rivoli — Queen West, four-minute walk from Osgoode station. Doors at 7 PM, expect the festival opening remarks first, then the headliner. Out by 11.

Thu Jun 11 · Industry-pivot night

Frank Walker, with a Q&A first.

Thursday is when the Billboard Canada Power Players events ramp up downtown — most of it's industry-only, but Frank Walker's public Q&A + DJ set at SOUNDSTAGE is the night's biggest open booking. SOUNDSTAGE sits on the sixth floor of the W Toronto at Yonge & Bloor — a one-minute walk from Bloor-Yonge station and the closest NXNE 2026 venue to the Yonge corridor.

Fri Jun 12 · The post-rock night

Covet at Lee's Palace.

Friday is the festival's most crowded night — every wristband holder is out, downtown traffic is rough, and rideshare surge prices spike after 11. The play: take Line 1 to Bathurst, walk one minute to Lee's Palace, see Covet, and head straight home. No streetcar transfer, no rain detour. 22 minutes door-to-door from North York Centre.

Sat Jun 13 · The doubleheader night

Yot Club early, Sickick late.

Saturday has the two highest-demand bookings of the festival on opposite sides of downtown. Yot Club at The Mod Club (College + Crawford) typically wraps around 10:30 PM — leaving you a 30-minute streetcar-and-subway window to get to Sickick at SOUNDSTAGE (Yonge & Bloor) for an 11 PM start. Last Line 1 northbound hits Finch at 2:20 AM — set a phone alarm at 2:00 AM regardless.

Sun Jun 14 · Closing night

The discovery night.

Sunday programming is lighter, but it's the best night to use a wristband on pure discovery. The Queen West cluster — Horseshoe, Rivoli, Cameron House — runs through to the close. Sunday Line 1 service ends around 2 AM (no Saturday extension). Plan to be at Osgoode by 1:30 if you're staying late.

The reference table

Every Billboard LIVE show — by venue.

Five Billboard Canada LIVE @ NXNE 2026 bookings with confirmed dates, addresses, and the Line 1 route from North York Centre. Cross-confirmed against the official Billboard Canada announcement and the NXNE 2026 venue map.

Billboard Canada LIVE @ NXNE 2026 — confirmed bookings + transit from North York Centre
ArtistWhenVenue + AddressRoute from N York
Fionn
Billboard Canada LIVE		 Wed
Jun 10		 The Rivoli
334 Queen St W, M5V 2A2		 Line 1 · Osgoode + 4-min walk W (≈32 min)
Frank Walker
Q&A + DJ set		 Thu
Jun 11		 SOUNDSTAGE at the W Toronto
90 Bloor St E, M4W 1A7		 Line 1 · Bloor-Yonge + 1-min walk E (≈18 min)
Covet
post-rock		 Fri
Jun 12		 Lee's Palace
529 Bloor St W, M5S 1Y5		 Line 1 · Bathurst + 1-min walk (≈22 min)
Sickick
masked electronic		 Sat
Jun 13		 SOUNDSTAGE at the W Toronto
90 Bloor St E, M4W 1A7		 Line 1 · Bloor-Yonge + 1-min walk E (≈18 min)
Yot Club
indie-pop		 Sat
Jun 13		 The Mod Club
722 College St, M6G 1C4		 Line 1 · Spadina + 510 streetcar S (≈35 min)
The wristbands

$49 to $499. Pick your level.

NXNE sells three pass tiers plus single-venue tickets. The wristband is RFID — pick it up at the NXNE Artist House at the Centre for Social Innovation (Queen & Spadina) any day from June 10–14. Bring photo ID.

$49 · Discovery Pass

The festival's actual point.

General wristband. Lets you walk into any participating venue first-come, first-served, up to room capacity. The premise of NXNE is built around this — five nights of indie discovery for under $10/night. Best value if you don't have a specific must-see act and want to wander Queen West.

$149 · VIP Pass

For the act-anchor crowd.

VIP wristband. Same first-come venue access, but with priority lines at flagged shows and VIP perks across the industry-aligned programming. Sensible if you're going for two or three specific Billboard Canada LIVE bookings and don't want to risk capacity lockouts.

$499 · Platinum Pass

Front of every line.

Platinum wristband. Everything in VIP plus front-of-the-line priority at every participating venue. Designed for industry attendees and serious fans who want to anchor multi-act nights without ever waiting at a door. Roughly the cost of nine VIP single tickets — only makes sense if you're going hard every night.

Single-venue tickets

For one show, one night.

Available separately for select Billboard Canada LIVE shows — Sickick at SOUNDSTAGE is listed via Showpass at single-venue rates. Use if there's exactly one act you care about and the wristband math doesn't pencil out. Buy directly through the NXNE site or its named partner platforms; avoid third-party resellers.

Getting there + back

Line 1 is your only good answer.

North York Centre and Sheppard-Yonge on Line 1 are the launchpad. Every NXNE venue worth your evening is within 35 minutes of one of those stations. The hard part is the train home.

For Lee's Palace

The easiest in/out.

Board Line 1 at North York Centre, ride to Bathurst station (about 22 minutes). Walk one minute east on Bloor — Lee's Palace is on the south side. No transfer, no streetcar, no walk-through-rain detour. The single easiest North York-to-NXNE trip of the festival.

For The Rivoli + Queen West cluster

Line 1 to Osgoode.

Ride to Osgoode station (about 28 minutes). Exit, walk four minutes west on Queen Street. You're inside the Queen West cluster — Rivoli (334 Queen W), Horseshoe Tavern (370 Queen W), Cameron House (408 Queen W), Black Bull (298 Queen W) all within five minutes of each other. This is where the venue-hopping math works.

For SOUNDSTAGE @ W Toronto

Line 1 to Bloor-Yonge — one block.

From North York Centre, ride to Bloor-Yonge station (about 17 minutes). Exit at the Bloor Street East side and walk one minute east — the W Toronto sits on the corner of Yonge and Bloor at 90 Bloor East. SOUNDSTAGE is on the sixth floor. The closest NXNE 2026 venue to North York by raw transit time.

For The Mod Club + College cluster

Line 1 + 510 streetcar transfer.

Ride to Spadina station (about 22 minutes), then transfer to the 510 Spadina streetcar southbound, exit at College. Walk three minutes west — Mod Club is at 722 College. About 35 minutes door-to-door. The 510 runs all night during the Blue Night service window.

The train home

2:20 AM Saturday, 2:00 AM other nights.

Last northbound Line 1 train arrives at Finch around 2:20 AM Saturday and 2:00 AM Wednesday–Friday. Sunday service ends around 2 AM as well — there's no late-night Saturday extension to Sunday. After service ends, the 320 Yonge Blue Night bus runs every 15 minutes between roughly 2 AM and 5 AM along the Yonge corridor — boards from Yonge & Queen, gets you to Sheppard or Finch. Backup plan: keep $30 for a rideshare home (downtown to Finch is typically $25–$35 at 2 AM).

If you do one thing

Buy the $49 Discovery wristband and pick Friday at Lee's.

Covet at Lee's Palace on Friday June 12 is the highest-leverage NXNE trip for North York: 22-minute Line 1 ride to Bathurst, one-minute walk, a touring band playing a room a quarter their normal capacity. The $49 wristband also gets you into Horseshoe, Rivoli and the rest of the cluster the same night.

A note on free shows

No 2026 free outdoor headliner has been announced yet.

NXNE has historically anchored a free Billboard Canada outdoor show at Sankofa Square (Yonge & Dundas) — Khalid headlined in 2025. As of late May 2026, the festival has not announced a 2026 free outdoor headliner. We'll update this section the moment they do.

What we know for 2026: the Billboard Canada LIVE @ NXNE series (Fionn, Frank Walker, Covet, Sickick, Yot Club) is a ticketed series, not free outdoor programming. The five must-see Exclaim picks (Accelerant, BBQ Pope, GHOSTFORM, Lila Gray, Lex Leosis) are wristband-access shows, not free walk-ups. If you want guaranteed free music in June, the Luminato at Sankofa Square Ode to Joy with the TSO on June 12 is your best confirmed free outdoor show.
Questions worth answering

NXNE 2026 FAQ

When is NXNE 2026 and how long does it run?

NXNE 2026 runs Wednesday June 10 through Sunday June 14, 2026 — five nights. It is the festival's 31st year, following the landmark 30th-anniversary 2025 edition. More than 300 artists perform across 30+ venues in downtown Toronto, with special activations at Union Station, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Are any NXNE 2026 shows happening in North York?

No. The 2026 venue map is concentrated in Queen West, Kensington Market and the Bloor West corridor — Horseshoe Tavern, Lee's Palace, The Rivoli, The Mod Club, Sneaky Dee's, The Garrison and similar rooms. No North York venues (Meridian Arts Centre, Aga Khan Museum, or Lithuanian House) appear on the NXNE 2026 lineup. North York attendees are commuting downtown on Line 1.

How much do NXNE 2026 wristbands and passes cost?

Three pass tiers are available at nxne.com/tickets-passes. The Discovery Pass is $49 CAD and gets you festival wristband access. The VIP Pass is $149 with additional perks. The Platinum Pass is $499 and adds priority front-of-the-line access at every venue. Single-venue, single-night tickets are also sold separately for select Billboard Canada LIVE @ NXNE shows. RFID wristbands are picked up at the NXNE Artist House at the Centre for Social Innovation (Queen & Spadina) from June 10–14.

Who is performing at NXNE 2026?

The first 100 of 300+ artists have been announced. Confirmed Billboard Canada LIVE @ NXNE 2026 shows include Fionn at The Rivoli on June 10, Frank Walker at SOUNDSTAGE on June 11, Covet at Lee's Palace on June 12, Sickick at SOUNDSTAGE on June 13, and Yot Club at The Mod Club on June 13. Featured emerging acts include Loviet, Sophie Powers, Tim Hicks, Puma June, The Sarandons, Accelerant, BBQ Pope, Lex Leosis, and Lila Gray. The full lineup is still rolling out — check nxne.com/2026-artists.

How do I get from North York to NXNE venues by transit?

Start at North York Centre or Sheppard-Yonge station on Line 1. For Lee's Palace (529 Bloor West), ride south to Bathurst — about 22 minutes door-to-door. For The Rivoli (334 Queen West) or Horseshoe Tavern, exit at Osgoode and walk west on Queen — about 32 minutes. For The Mod Club (722 College), exit at Spadina and take the 510 streetcar south. For SOUNDSTAGE at the W Toronto (90 Bloor East), exit at Bloor-Yonge station and walk one minute east.

What time do NXNE shows end and how do I get back to North York?

Most NXNE venues run 8 PM to 1 AM — first set on the hour, 40-minute sets, 20-minute changeovers. The last northbound Line 1 train arrives at Finch around 2:20 AM Saturday and 2:00 AM other nights. If you stay for a 1 AM set, you have a tight window. After service ends, the 320 Yonge Blue Night bus runs every 15 minutes between roughly 2 AM and 5 AM along the Yonge corridor, getting you back to Sheppard and Finch. Bringing a buffer of $30 for a rideshare home is the safest backup.

Is NXNE 2026 all-ages or 19+?

NXNE is strictly 19+ at every venue. Valid government-issued photo ID is required for entry regardless of pass tier. There is no all-ages programming inside the ticketed club-hopping circuit. Any free outdoor programming, if announced for 2026, would be all-ages — historically the festival has hosted free shows at Sankofa Square (Yonge & Dundas), but the 2026 free outdoor lineup has not been publicly confirmed as of late May.

What is Billboard Canada LIVE @ NXNE?

Billboard Canada LIVE @ NXNE is a curated subset of the festival programmed in partnership with Billboard Canada. For 2026, the announced lineup includes Fionn (Vancouver twin sisters whose "Blow" hit #1 on the Billboard Canada Modern Rock Airplay chart), Frank Walker (intimate DJ set and Q&A), Covet, Sickick (Toronto's masked LED electronic act), and Yot Club. These shows have dedicated ticketing alongside the festival wristband and are programmed at premium rooms — The Rivoli, Lee's Palace, The Mod Club, and SOUNDSTAGE at the W Toronto.

Can I see multiple bands in one night on a wristband?

Yes — that is the central NXNE design. Sets are 40 minutes followed by 20-minute changeovers, and venues are deliberately clustered along Queen West, College, Bloor West and Kensington Market so a determined attendee can walk between three to five rooms in a single evening. Wristband holders enter on a first-come basis up to venue capacity; some shows reach capacity and stop wristband entry mid-night, so the strategy is to anchor your night on a single must-see act and treat the rest as discovery.

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