Toronto is getting a new music festival taking over an entire neighbourhood
Toronto's west end has a new reason to spend the last weekend of September hopping from venue to venue: the Second Summer Music Festival. The event, a new music festival focused on discovering emerging and established artists, is taking over 12 venues across Toronto's west end.
Second Summer Music Festival is less a traditional single-site event and more like a city-wide music crawl, giving you the chance to catch artists across a wide range of genres while exploring some of the neighbourhood's favourite spots.
Second Summer Music Festival co-founder, Artistic Director and Toronto-native Brendan McCarney says the idea grew out of years of attending festivals around the world, particularly The Great Escape in Brighton, U.K.
"[The Great Escape] is consistently a bellwether for amazing new artists. It's impeccably run, and the experience is never anything but overwhelmingly positive. As best we can, we're trying to evoke the same things at Second Summer," he tells blogTO.
But even then, rather than being inspired by one particular show or festival, Second Summer Music Festival grew out of years of experiences coming together into a single idea.
"It's really the culmination of decades of attending festivals that swirled around in my head until it became a concrete blueprint for what the vision for Second Summer would be," the co-founder confirms.
That vision, he says, is centred on discovery.
McCarney strongly believes there is room in Toronto for a festival where stumbling upon an unfamiliar artist is just as important as seeing a favourite act. "I feel there's space in the festival landscape in Toronto for a festival that caters to discovery," he says.
The festival's multi-venue format also lets Second Summer Music Festival make the western side of the city itself part of the experience, essentially taking over the entire area. With 12 venues across a series of neighbourhoods participating in the event, attendees can move between bars and private spaces throughout the three-day-long attraction rather than staying in one festival footprint.
"The west end has an amazing selection of venues, amazing food, amazing bars and nightlife, and it's our [myself and festival director, Claire Rosenbaum] home," McCarney admits.
"I love all the neighbourhoods in Toronto, but I'd be lying if I said the west end didn't hold a very, very special place in our collective heart, and we wanted nothing more than to celebrate the rich and diverse neighbourhoods within it."
Festival-goers will be able to catch live performances courtesy of Second Summer Music Festival at Lee's Palace, The Dance Cave, The Mod Club, Sneaky Dee's, Baby G, Wavelength @ St. Anne's, The Garrison, Monarch Tavern, Collective Arts, Drake Underground, Bovine Sex Club, and Horseshoe Tavern.
The festival is also deliberately broad in its musical programming. Rather than focusing on a single genre or scene, the organizers have booked across "as many genres (and sub-genres) as possible," aiming to make Second Summer Music Festival a place where different kinds of music fans can find something worth checking out.
That emphasis on variety is part of a larger ambition for Toronto's festival landscape. "Toronto is a massive city that is sorely lacking a festival that can appeal to everyone," McCarney says.
McCarney says one of the festival's biggest goals is giving audiences the opportunity to see artists in intimate rooms they might not otherwise play. "Creating those special memories is paramount for us," he adds.
And then there's the possibility of walking into a venue without knowing what to expect and walking out with a new favourite band.
Second Summer Music Festival is set to take place from Sept. 24 to 26, throughout various locations across Toronto's west end. Attendees will see performances by both domestic and international talents, including Toronto-based band Absolute Treat, Adriance Yonge — who has produced for music legends like Snoop Dogg —, singing duo Cartel Madras, and others.
General admission starts at $71.37 and goes up to $147.77, plus applicable taxes and fees. You can see the full list of performers, the schedule, and purchase your tickets on the festival’s official website.
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