Which music fest is right for you?
WayHome and Hillside face off on the same weekend this year
The summer of 2015 imposed an unfortunate rivalry upon the seasonal concert calendar in south-central Ontario, as upstart mega-festival WayHome rode into Oro-Medonte for the first time on exactly the same weekend that Guelph’s beloved Hillside Festival had claimed for itself for years.
The overlap has, sadly, ended the 33-year-old Hillside’s long streak of sellouts, and organizers are already publicly musing about switching weekends next year to avoid competing with the WayHome behemoth.
That’s good news for music fans, who would no longer have to choose between one or the other, but Hillside and WayHome — which both run this weekend from Friday to Sunday — are dissimilar enough that they should be able to coexist peacefully. Perhaps a little primer on each might help you decide which fest is the best option for you.
Hillside Festival Location: Guelph Lake Island
The vibe: Chilled-out, family-friendly, endearingly homespun weekend campout with folk-festival roots, but which has, since the 1990s, become a tastemaking venue for next-wave indie sounds. The crowd: An amiable mix of families, hippies, hipsters, Hillside lifers and musicians mingling freely with the fans. The very definition of “all ages.” No one will object if you light up a joint and, oh yes, there will be a drum circle once the music from the stages dies down.
The lineup: The Sadies with Buffy Sainte-Marie, Holy F---, TUNS, Andy Shauf, Jennifer Castle, Evening Hymns, Suuns, PUP, Northcote, Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Caveboy, Chloe Charles, Kid Koala and lots more.
Not to be missed: Liz Powell’s resurrected Land of Talk, now with added firepower supplied by Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas of Besnard Lakes.
Bonuses: You can take a dip in Guelph Lake between sets. A good selection of locally made arts and crafts. And the best damn food you’ll ever find at any festival, anywhere. Seriously, you might want to fast for a day or two before you head to this thing just so you’ve got extra room to try all the goodies on offer.
Weekend pass: $146; Friday passes are $57; Saturday and Sunday passes $85 apiece.
WayHome Location: Burl’s Creek Event Grounds, Oro-Medonte
The vibe: Big-budget blowout with walloping production values that might finally have given Ontario its own answer to hugely popular American rock ’n’ roll camp-outs such as Coachella and Bonnaroo, with which WayHome was originally affiliated.
It was tremendously well run for a first-year festival in 2015. The crowd: Definitely skewed toward the early-20-something end of the spectrum last year, but there’s plenty of room for the old folks, too.
The party in the camping area goes on pretty much 24 hours a day, but it’s a friendly one and refreshingly low on “bros” and attitude. The lineup: LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, the Killers, Metric, Major Lazer, M83, Arkells, Wolf Parade, Stars, Foals, Bahamas, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Savages, White Lung, Black Mountain, Haim, FKA Twigs, Dilly Dally and lots more.
The Hillside Festival is the definition of “all ages,” and while WayHome skews early-20s, there’s plenty for old folks, too
Not to be missed: Patrick Watson. Watson and the band that bears his name have scaled new heights in per- formance since going thoroughly “prog” on 2014’s Love Songs for Robots. They can easily slay a festival crowd. Bonuses: Cool art installations all over the sprawling Burl’s Creek property.
A decent selection of food trucks offering more than just burgers ’n’ fries.
And while the luxury yurts from last year’s $2,500 “glamping” package are a thing of the past, the camping-averse can still pick up a Way- Camp package for $499.99, which gives them a branded WayHome tent — already set up for them when they arrive — along with two sleeping bags and two air mattresses they get to take home at the end of the festival.
A victory for the lazy. Weekend pass: $279.99, not including camping, which are sold out. Single-day passes are still available for $109.99.