THUNDER BAY – The Arkells are knocking at the Wake the Giant Music Festival doors and organizers are leaping to their feet to invite them in.
The Hamilton rockers are the first name on this year’s festival poster, a lineup that includes EDM giants, Galantis, and Walk off the Earth, along with a mystery band on line No. 2 that is expected to be unveiled next week, a marketing ploy to build interest in the fifth anniversary of the popular event.
Also on the bill are returning favourite, D.J. Shub, Drives the Common Man, Chester Knight, the Ira Johnson Band and Thunder Spirit.
Festival co-founder Sean Spenrath said it’s a balancing act trying to build a lineup that will appeal to a broad swath of the community, including the Indigenous youth the festival was created for to welcome them to Thunder Bay.
“The reason we go for the diverse audience is we’re also using the festival to educate people. We’re trying to get different age groups to attend the festival so we can educate them about First Nation issues in this country and the challenges that our students face,” said Spenrath, the student success program coordinator at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, an Indigenous school that educates students from remote communities across Northwestern Ontario.
Fellow organizer A.J. Haapa said the goal each year is to include at least 50 per cent Indigenous content on the bill.
“It kind of puts the spotlight on them and lifts them up. We use the festival as a vehicle to help educate the community at large about First Nations' history and culture and traditions.
"There’s a lot of sides to Wake the Giant, but another super important part is acting as an orientation and kind of as a welcoming party for our kids to make sure that they do have a soft landing when they’re here for school and that they’re welcomed in a really good way,” Haapa said.
Student artist Tessa Harper, a 19-year-old from Sandy Lake First Nation, said she’s attended two Wake the Giant Music Festivals and helped design the poster for this year’s event, scheduled for Sept. 14 at the Marina Park festival grounds.
It’s so much more than the music, she said.
“The whole message of Wake the Giant is to create a space that sends a message to youth coming into Thunder Bay that we welcome you here and you have a place here. I think that message is welcoming to the youth who come into the city from their home community, where they have no clue where they are,” Harper said.
“They’re just here to get an education. I’ve been to Wake the Giant two times and it does send that message. I do feel great whenever I go to the festival. I feel like I have a place there. I feel like I don’t stick out like a sore thumb. Wake the Giant is more than just the music and the headliners.”
That said, she’s looking forward to watching all the performances at the late summer festival.
“The music is cool. The music is really diverse and it just keeps getting better and better with the artists that they bring in. I’m really excited to see all of them perform and I’m excited to see the whole lineup in person the day of Wake the Giant.”
Tickets are on sale now at www.wakethegiant.ca. Tier 1 tickets are $125 and limited VIP tickets are going for $180. Children 11 and under are free for general admission, but still require a ticket to attend, available via the ticket sale.
More than 20,500 people have attended Wake the Giant in its first four years.
