The 10th Veld music festival has just unveiled their 2023 and it’s huge! Rezzmau5 (Rezz + Deadmau5) will be headlining which is sure to be a future classic. That massive combo will be joined by fellow headliners Above & Beyond, Illenium (live set), Tiesto, Zedd, and Loud Luxury. Set over 3 days in early August, Veld is bringing back the festival vibes in a big way.
Which festival reigns supreme?
The ever changing landscape of dance music continues to shape billings throughout the festival circuit, and 2019 has been no exception for the stable of Canadian electronic festivals. Over the past few years the Canadian festival market has taken a substantial hit—booking costs combined with a suffering Canadian dollar has resulted in the collapse of more than one juggernaut festival. While every 2019 Canadian festival has accomplished something simply by surviving to live another year the are undoubtedly standouts for the upcoming summer season.
The Cultural Mainstay:
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Starting off on the West Coast, Shambhala remains a pinnacle of what a boutique festival can offer. From its humble beginnings to 2019's unparalleled offering it has managed to stay faithful to it's core intentions of authenticity within the world of corporate dance music. Standouts include Diplo & Mark Ronson's collaborative project Silk City, a rare set by Chris Lake & Chris Lorenzo as Anti Up, and what is sure to be a unique set from Kaskade—but the heart of the festival remains with the Shambhala Favourites lineup; which, as always, is stacked with popular fan legacy artists. To this day the festival continues to be a truly singular experience curated for dance music purists, and those looking for a bucket list experience.
While Shambhala continues its reign as the preeminent celebration of dance culture within the Canadian (and global?) scene, those who can't make it out to Salmo BC, have Ever After. Over the past five years Ever After has been making a play for Shambhala vibes and offers heavy hitting headliners Excision, Illenium, and Kill The Snails (Kill the Noise & Snails).
The Hybrid:
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Over the past few years Toronto's Veld Festival has vied for the top spot in the hybrid category and for its 2019 edition it has successfully stepped up to the plate. Perhaps the most important factor here; although Veld has evolved in order to stay modern it has also remained as true as possible to its history as a purely dance music festival. Making his second Canadian appearance in year's Skrillex stands tall, and the undeniable draw of dance music juggernauts Tiesto and Kygo solidifies Veld's unbeatable stable of headliners. Add Cardi B, Kodak Black, Boogie, and a handful of other rappers to the mix and Veld's fusion of dance music and rap is perfect representation of what a hybrid festival can be.
While Veld has provided dance music festival-goers with a varied slate offering them a taste of the rap world this years FVDED lineup has veered heavily towards rap/r&b. For West Coast festival lovers unable to attend Veld, FVDED still provides dance music favourites like Zedd and RL Grime; but four of its top five billings herald from the rap/r&b world, of which over fifty percent of their lineup is comprised. View this year's iteration as a hip-hop festival for fans looking for a little dance with their rap.
The New King:
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Although Veld's lineup is so strong that it almost challenged Escapade for this year's Canadian dance music crown, it is impossible to ignore the power and diversity of Escapade's lineup—easily the closest a Canadian dance music event can come to achieving those Ultra/EDC feels. Bolstering four curated stages, including; Deadbeats from Canadian bass legends Zeds Dead, The House Party headlined by Danny Tenaglia-b2b-Tiga, and Ferry Corsten presents Unity...offering the best trance lineup of the year. From here you have two of the most sought after back-to-back collaborations currently booking festivals—the now fabled No Redemption from Tchami X Malaa, and the far more rare (but...oh,so-good) Zeds Dead-b2b-Jauz. With Martin Garrix and DJ Snake headlining the festival it truly offers festival-goers with an open mind a world class smattering of ever genre of dance music. House and trance legends, through bass maestros, and main stage titans—come prepared to be surprised; the talent across the board is world class.
Regardless of your personal taste this summer has something to offer dance music fans of all genres, it is just a matter of finding the festival that fits your personal tendencies.
EDM Canada had the pleasure of sitting down with DJ Duo Loud Luxury in Toronto last month during SPIN/CO's 4th anniversary celebration. The charity event celebrated at Rebel Nightclub raised money for Right to Play. Loud Luxury was happy to be a part of the charity event, live-DJing the spin class.
The duo's song "Body", which now, since the interview has surpassed 135 Million streams, is enjoyed in many ways- one of which is in Spin/Co's spin classes. We chatted with Joe and Andrew about their crazy schedule, their love for the 6ix, their experiences with the greats like Tiesto and Armin Van Buuren, the most interesting gig they have played so far and what fans should expect from their upcoming shows such as VELD and new music.
It's been a while since there's been an aftermovie worthy of showcasing on this blog, but this Veld 2017 aftermovie meets these expectations and more. There are a few goosebump moments in this 6 minute video and you may want to watch it twice, check it out:
Safety was priority #1 for every member of the security team at the festival. They were responsive and in tune with the crowds, and handled any issues that arose quickly. They were happy to spread some good vibes by encouraging people around them to jump and dance to the music. They anticipated the needs of individuals around them before they were needed and helped make sure the festival ran smoothly.
Having more activities on site was such a bonus for everyone involved. It was a happy distraction while walking from stage to stage and many enjoyed the view and music from the Ferris wheel and made bracelets with friends.
We all need a few minutes to recharge our batteries. The placement of the tents were perfect as you could see the main stage from most of the tents. This way, no one had to miss out on the excitement!
Throughout the whole weekend, I never once had to wait longer than a minute or two to access the water stations or bathrooms. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t care for port-a-potties. I did, however like the fact that if or when you needed one, it is a much more pleasant experience having access to one without having to wait in a long line!
Although the Canadian flag was a favourite (#Canada150!), many other countries flags were well represented. Not only were people celebrating their diverse backgrounds but their love of different foods, shops and brands. I saw many flags ranging from McDonald's to Home Depot, but my personal favourite flag of the weekend was the TACOS flag reminding me of my love for tacos every time the beat dropped.
Anyone who’s spent the majority of this summer in the GTA understands that it may rain randomly throughout any given day even if the weather forecast doesn’t say that it will. The team at Veld were ready to party rain or shine, but we as the audience enjoyed the great breezy weather with no random downpours to rain on our parade. The grounds were muddy in many areas on day 1 but got a lot better on day 2. The partially cloudy days also helped a lot of people avoid heat exhaustion which I believe significantly affected everyone’s mood and energy levels in a positive manner.
Review and photos by Sinejan Ozaydemir. You can follow her on Twitter by clicking here.
