What it’s all about: Hillside is a literal oasis on the Southern Ontario summer-concert circuit. July 22 to 24 at the Guelph Lake Conservation Area. Once centred in the expansive concrete environs of Nathan Phillips Square, the Toronto Jazz Fest has built a much cozier homebase in Yorkville in recent years, transforming the hoity-toity ’hood into a bustling multi-stage free street party that’s open to everybody.ĭon’t miss: Les Filles de Illighadad, a Nigerien ensemble from a remote village in the Sahara that specializes in an ecstatic, trance-inducing brand of Tuareg folk-blues. Why you need to go:While this year’s line-up features headlining performances from Motown legend Smokey Robinson at Meridian Hall and soulful crooner Gregory Porter at Koerner Hall, the real festival happens in the streets. And don’t be fooled by the moniker-the festival has embraced an increasingly elastic definition of jazz that spans soul, funk, blues, experimental rock and EDM. What it’s all about: For 35 years, Jazz Fest has been a pillar of the summer concert season, bringing in A-list acts for big-ticket events at the city’s most prestigious concert halls. It’s also the rare festival that allows in-and-out access, for guests who want to duck out before sunset to drop the tykes off at grandma’s and make it back down for the headliners.ĭon’t miss: Pierre Kwenders, the Montreal dynamo bringing Congolese rumba into the digital age. Why you need to go: With its eclectic mixtape-like array of rising rappers ( Mighty), CanRock veterans ( Rheostatics), Indigenous EDM trailblazers ( The Halluci Nation) and rowdy roots-rockers ( Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats), Field Trip truly has something for everyone. On hiatus since the summer of 2019, it returns with its winning formula intact: indie rock and craft brews for the parents a dogs-on-skateboards show and hula-hooping for the kids. What it’s all about: Field Trip started in 2013 with free admission for children and enjoyed a six-year run catering to a very specific demographic of aging hipsters who’d sooner drag their kids to a day-long concert than fork out for a sitter. And if you don’t have several hundred dollars in the bank for passes at the moment, the festival is offering affordable layaway plans.ĭon’t miss: Haviah Mighty, the Brampton-bred dynamo whose fiery 2021 mixtape Stock Exchange recently made her the first woman to win the Juno Award for rap album of the year. Why you need to go: Since Drake’s star-studded OVO Fest is just a rumour at the moment, we’ll have to make do with a three-day party featuring Atlanta trap god Future, British breakout star Dave, Afrobeats phenom Wizkid and a hundred other notable names in hip-hop right now. And now, in recognition of Toronto’s outsized presence on the global rap stage, the festival is coming north for the first time. What it’s all about: Launched in Miami in 2015, before expanding to other cities, Rolling Loud is America’s premier rapalooza, its massive weekend gatherings attracting the world’s elite MCs. And we’re happy to report that Toronto’s festival calendar is stacked once again, with many of the city’s flagship events returning alongside some new gatherings that we hope become annual traditions. But after two pandemic-plagued years that forced clubs to shut down and kept us all cooped up at home, outdoor concerts have become evermore essential to staying sane. Once upon a time, summer music festivals were a convenient way to get day-drunk, work on your sunburn and listen to your favourite band while waiting in an endless line for the porta-potties.
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