Organizers of the annual NXNE music festival are aiming to relocate a portion of the fest’s music component to a site up the street from Sound Academy in the Port Lands.
A February 10 letter from Ward 30 (Toronto-Danforth) councillor Paula Fletcher and Ward 15 councillor Josh Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence) to the Economic Development Committee asked for municipal support for the festival, which in part plans to transform 155 Cherry into a concert facility with two stages that will be used for two days of shows on June 17 and 18 and draw 10,000 people.
In response, the EDC adopted the motion last Friday, February 26, that city council “assist North by Northeast (NXNE) as much as possible to help ensure its next stage of development be realized.” It also recommended that the EDC’s general manager report back to the EDC about the various ways the city of Austin supports South by Southwest, after which NXNE was modelled. City council will consider the item on March 30.
NXNE president/managing director Michael Hollett praised the committee’s support and spoke excitedly about the Port Lands site.
“From my experience of going to festivals, people are looking for an immersive experience,” says Hollett, who also co-founded NOW. “People want to go to a site and have an experience. Obviously music is a key component, but so is the setting, the art, the activation. Port Lands gives us that opportunity.”
Though Toronto Island has been a go-to spot for several recent summer music festivals, Hollett says that the transportation difficulties involved with getting back to the mainland made the Port Lands a better option.
“When people are leaving before the headliner has finished their set, there’s something wrong,” he says. “[The Port Lands] achieves that feeling of being down by the water, and with the skyline behind it, it’s going to be a postcard shot.”
Hollett stresses that NXNE is not downsizing, and will offer the most inexpensive festival pass in the city this summer. Running for five days between June 15-19, the fest will offer music in clubs from Wednesday to Sunday, a conference on Wednesday and Thursday, Yonge-Dundas Square events Thursday to Saturday, and Port Lands events on Friday and Saturday.
He says Yonge-Dundas Square will still be used for some music programming – “we won’t be running Iggy and the Stooges, but the top club bands will be there” – but also for the festival’s newfound video gaming focus. YDS will be the setting for the largest video gaming event in Canada, featuring video game premieres and live gaming events that will give fans a chance to play against rock stars and athletes.
“NXNE is, among other things, about creating a great fan experience,” Hollett says. “But we’ve also always been about trying to help musicians have careers. That used to mean connecting them to record labels, but frankly that’s not exactly the golden ticket it used to be. So we’re looking into other ways. We’re amping up our conference, and new technologies and merging industries are part of it, especially where gaming and music come together.”
Despite Toronto concertgoers’ vocal complaints about the difficulty of getting to Sound Academy shows, Hollett says the festival is working closely with the city to ensure the Port Lands offers plenty of transportation options. The site has a large parking facility, the TTC will have lots of busses running, the north-south and east-west routes make it one of the “best-served spots in Toronto for bikes,” and there will be water taxis travelling from the Port Lands to the Hearn Generating Station for Luminato events.
As for programming, expect details to roll out in the next two weeks.
“We’re not quite ready to announce,” says Hollett, “but [the plans] are very cool and will reflect, among other things, this incredible moment in time for hip-hop in Toronto. When I look around at other events being booked this summer, I don’t see that being represented, despite all the great festivals.
“That’s one of the things we’re definitely committed to doing at the Port Lands, which is one of the city’s hidden treasures. I love going there. It’s a cool space that’s, in many ways, the future of the city. And we intend to be there for years to come.”
carlag@nowtoronto.com | @carlagillis
