THUNDER BAY – The lineup won’t be released until sometime in the spring, but the Wake the Giant Musical Festival is coming back for a second year.
And tickets are on sale just in time for Christmas.
Organizers of the event, which drew about 4,000 fans this past September to Marina Park to listen to the musical offerings of Wolf Saga, Coleman Hell, July Talk and Metric, said it’s that success that convinced them to try it again.
The festival was created as a way to show Indigenous teens from remote northern communities they are welcome in Thunder Bay and will be embraced once they arrive in the city to go to school.
“The message we wanted to get across was amplified on that one day,” said festival co-founder Greg Chomut, speaking on Friday to students at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School.
“We reached so many people with the message of inclusiveness, and most importantly that Thunder Bay needs to be a more welcoming place for Indigenous people, but also for us specifically, the youth that are in this room today. They travel so far and sacrifice so much to get an education.”
The 2020 version of the Wake the Giant Music Festival will take place on Saturday, Sept. 19, with Chomut and his fellow organizers promising epic new acts atop the bill.
Sean Spenrath, who also helped start the festival – which arose out of the Wake the Giant movement – said the crowd size was a huge surprise to everyone involved.
“We were super jacked about it,” Spenrath said. “Seeing the kids in the crowd that day, or even on stage, you could tell by their smiles how much they enjoyed it, so to be able to announce that we’re doing it again, I think they’re super excited about it.”
More than 300 businesses have committed to the Wake the Giant movement, placing decals on their storefronts, a sign of welcoming for all, especially Indigenous youth.
Next year’s Wake the Giant Festival will also include an Indigenous craft market, a wellness tent, cultural performers and local food vendors.
Early bird tickets are on sale now at www.wakethegiant.ca for $50. For $80, through the Gift of Giving program, one can buy a ticket for themselves and also donate another ticket to an Indigenous youth in the community to attend.
