Coldplay and Jay-Z closed this year's edition of the Pemberton festival yesterday (July 27th) – an event which had been plagued by travel chaos.

The headline acts both performed on the main stage at the three day festival in B.C. Mountain, which was in its first year.

Their appearances came at the end of an event which had been dominated by talk of long queues, inadequate parking facilities and dusty campsites.

One festivalgoer told the Canadian Press that "at times it didn't seem like they (organisers) had complete control”.

But most seemed accepted that the event would learn from its mistakes and return in 2009.

While Jay-Z stuck to a set packed with his greatest hits, including '99 Problems', Coldplay treated fans to a number of new songs from their latest record 'Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends'.

During a rendition of 'Fix You', frontman Chris Martin changed the lyrics in reference to the event's travel problems, singing: "When the festival traffic moves at a snail's pace.”

Other acts who performed over the course of the three days included Death Cab For Cutie, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Nine Inch Nails.

(by Jason Gregory)