THUNDER BAY – Wake the Giant was back in action for its fifth year on Saturday.
Sean Spenrath, an organizer of Wake the Giant, said the fifth-year mark will be a big celebration with a lot of great artists.
“This is one part of a three-day orientation for the First Nation youth coming from up north to attend DFC high school. Of course, this being the third day, the big celebration.
“I think the overall image is a little bit better up north. When you go up there, you hear a lot of better things stemming from this. The biggest improvement that we've seen is there's been a huge confidence boost for a lot of our students that perform and partake in these events."
Spenrath said students feel more comfortable in Thunder Bay because the orientation is put on every year for them.
“One of the biggest things for us is to always have at least 50 per cent of the lineup being Indigenous. That's just an idea, there are big artists out there and we can use them to draw them in and promote Indigenous artists and musicians from across Canada,” he said.
Anything to support these students as a community is great, Spenrath said.
“Our students, they come from up north and when they leave home, they're leaving home. Their friends, their families, their whole support system and for a lot of these kids, this is their first taste of a big city.
“To do that at such a young age, 12 or 13, I could never imagine it. It's a huge challenge for those kids.”
Wake the Giant’s fifth year had great artists, Spenrath said.
“We had our very own Elder performing, which was really cool. We had our jingle dress dancers up with the drum group, Thunder Spirit. They'll be up later today again with DJ Shub performing an original song.
“Before DJ Shub, we have Coleman Hell, the local legend. And then following that, we have Walk off the Earth, Galantis and Arkells closing the night.”
Tessa Harper, this years Wake the Giant poster designer and emcee, said the day is filled with things going on from noon up until midnight.
“I am a graduate from DFC. This whole festival is an orientation for the students who come in there. The whole message of the festival is giving the students some familiarity with the city in any way that they can, Wake the Giant isn't the only part of this orientation. It's just the final act.
“This festival and the orientation in of itself, I've seen a lot of positive reactions, from my fellow students, old classmates and a lot of them still want to come out, even after graduating, to be included.
“I would say it does do a good job of welcoming students into this kind of space. It also brings awareness to non-Indigenous people to the messages.
Harper said the event has helped her to come out of her shell.
“The first year I used to be one of the shy, quietest kids ever in the back.
“Now I'm an emcee this year and I'm the designer of the posters. From a student perspective, this festival, the more you let it help you, the more it does.”
Harper said the whole process of creating the poster was enjoyable.
“It was an assignment, but my teacher really liked it and he was like, ‘do you think you could turn it into this year's poster?’
“That was a process that I thoroughly enjoyed, talking to the people who work here and the people who operate the festival.
“Support our Indigenous youth, give them a space to be themselves and to celebrate,” she said.
