Last weekend in Toronto, Bestival touched down for the debut edition of the award winning festival outside of the UK. Presented by Embrace and inspired by fantasy, the festival delivered an escapist paradise on the Toronto Island, and despite ferry issues at the end of the night (it's not easy to move 10,000 people off an island), was one of the most well rounded festival experiences we have been a part of. Already posting to their Facebook page, Bestival Toronto appears to be back next year and we couldn't be more excited to see the festival grow.
Highlights of the weekend included the Sunday Best Balearic Beach Club stage (pictured above), as well as the entire Bollywood stage, who's programming and venue design was unlike anything we've seen in Toronto before. Skream provided one of our favourite sets of the day as he continues to get darker and move into the techno realm, making a perfect warmup for Nicole Moudaber who came through as always to close.
By the time the sunshine opened up on Saturday, Hanlan's Point was flooded with a sea of electronic music fans embracing an incredible diverse lineup. Local talent City Kid Soul livened up the Perrier Greenhouse (the 5th stage!) while Daphni (Caribou's Dan Snaith) played an eclectic set at Bollywood prior to his headlining performance as Caribou on mainstage and DJ Tennis continued the vibe into the afternoon. As if the night couldn't get any more perfect, we walked from away from Caribou to catch Hot Creations boss Jamie Jones blowing up the Bollywood temple.
As with any first time festival, there were ups and downs, and one of our EARMILK Toronto fam captured it best with a Sunday wrap-up while we were all still trying to make sense of the past two days.
Things we learned this weekend at Bestival:
1. No matter how drunk you are, everyone still knows the lyrics to "Faded"
2. The Power Rangers dig techno
3. Indian tacos are a thing
4. There are an absurd amount of Irish people in Toronto
5. I never want to stand in another line for as long as I live
6. Tequila is the devil
7. I should invest in a jet ski
8. Cabana has some pretty dope rave boats
9. Boat law is infallible
10. If you have a crowd of a couple hundred drunk people with nowhere to go, you WILL eventually hear the worst rendition of Wonderwall and Bohemian Rhapsody
11. Every time someone asks if you're going to Coda after your chances of actually going to Coda after decrease by 15%
12. There's an Irish dude named Andy who has at least twelve different nicknames and no phone
13. Skream gets better every time I see him play
14. I should invest in a house on the island
15. Thanks Obama
16. Justin Martin is sitting on an amazing unreleased remix of Function that's capable of bringing people back from the dead
17. Pyrotechnics are really cool
18. Should have tried those Indian tacos
19. Mikey's hat looks really good on me
20. Sangria is the devil
21. That camelback was the smartest purchase I've ever made
22. When in doubt, head to the techno stage
23. I'm too old for this shit
Provided by Scott Martens @iamcoleburns
Photos by Stevie Gedge (Bestival)
