Digital Dreams Music Festival
Digital Dreams Music Festival is a two-day electronic music festival held in Toronto, Ontario at RBC Echo Beach at Ontario Place. The festival offers four stages and has around 25,000 attendees over two days.
History
Digital Dreams Music Festival began in 2012 on June 30 – July 1. The festival is annually in July, about the time of the Canada Day long weekend. This was the first outdoor electronic music festival in downtown Toronto and garnered much success. In 2012 the festival began with four stages: the Digital Stage, the Dream Stage, the Bass Stage and the Canada Stage. The 2013 festival will follow this same setup.
The festival operates with the support of corporate sponsorship.[1]
2012 Festival Lineup
The 2012 festival lineup featured the following artists: Duck Sauce, Richie Hawtin, Chuckie, R3hab, Steve Lawler, A-Trak, Guy Gerber, Autoerotique, Kaskade, Alesso, Dubfire, Nic Fanciulli, Mark Knight, Boris, Carlo Lio, Designer Drugs, Sydney Blu.[2] The festival was held at the Flats at The Molson Canadian Amphitheatre.
2013 Festival Lineup
The 2013 festival headliner was the DJ, Tiësto. Canadian electronic music pioneer, Richie Hawtin also returned in 2013 to headline the second main stage at Echo Beach.[3] Other performers were Junkies, LUSH, Marcus Visionary, Mord Fustan, Damn Kids and Flosstradamus.[4]
2014 Festival
In 2014 the festival was held at Ontario Place.[5] The crowd at the festival was estimated at 29,000, and the event was marred by some drug- and alcohol-related injuries.[6] This was one of several festivals held that summer on government property which resulted in serious injuries, causing local politicians to call for a ban on the use of public land for festivals and raves.[7] The festival received good reviews for its music,[8] but poor reviews for festival organization.[9]
Musicians performing at the festival included Tiesto, Jay Lumen, Fedde Le Grand, Luciano, Art Department, Eric Prydz, Justice, Claude Von Stroke, Deep Dish, Nicole Moudaber, Paul Oakenfold, Dash Berlin, Nervo, Andy C, Victor Calderone, Danny Tenaglia, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Carnage, the Chainsmokers, Guy Gerber, Sharam, TJR, Makj, Dj Sneak,
2015
Because of heavy rains the first day of the 2015 festival was cancelled.[10]
References
- Pioneers Of Electronic Music Vol. 1 – Richie Hawtin, Slices - The Electronic Music Magazine
- Digital Dreams Set For 2014, Pollstar
- "Digital Dreams And The Evolution Of Rave Into EDM Festivals". The Huffington Post Canada | By Benjamin Boles
- "Canada Day 2012 with R3HAB, AFROJACK & KASKADE – RECAP". The Guvernment, July 11, 2012.
- "REVIEW: Digital Dreams Music Festival 2013 – Echo Beach (Day 2) 30-06-13 by Greta Smithies".
- Magazine, Aesthetic (9 July 2013). "Photos: Digital Dreams Music Festival (Day 2)".
- "Walking Fine Lines". Toronto Star.
- "17 taken to hospital during electronic music festival". City News.
- "Mammoliti calls on councillors Layton & Perks to resign after VELD deaths". City News Toronto. 08/05/2014 Michael Talbot
- "FESTIVAL REVIEW: Digital Dreams – Toronto (June 28 & 29)". Into the Crowd Magazine Erin Holdbeck Jul 4, 2014
- "Digital Dreams Toronto Review: A Nightmare on the Outside". The Scene is Dead. Keith Wozniak Jul 2, 2014
- "Ribfest cancelled over weekend rain; Digital Dreams will open at later time". Toronto Star, Holly Honderich Staff Reporter, Jun 28 2015