How to Choose a Summer Music Festival: Toronto

It seems that within the past couple years music festivals in Canada have been popping up all over the place. Our neighbours down south are used to the privilege of summer music festivals, what with Coachella, Lollapalooza, and The Governor's Ball to mention a few.

Coachella, L.A. 2012

But last year Toronto was bestowed with the great honor of hosting several summer concerts performed by world renound DJs and bands. NXNE, Toronto Jazz Festival, Digital Dreams, VELD, and the Identity Fest at Echo Beach were some of the lot hosted in T.O. From The Flaming Lips to Steve Aoki, Toronto was bumping and shakingn all summer long to the beat of some fantastic jams.

VELD, Toronto 2012

That was last year. The bar has been raised. The ante is up. What kind of musical festivals can we look forward to this summer?

Well,

• VELD is coming back along with Digital Dreams, and although the lineups have not been disclosed, it can be guaranteed that after the success of last years' events, they will be rolling in bigger and badder.

• The Canadian Music Festival featuring over 800 new local and international artists is being  showcased in 55 venues throughout Toronto's city centre (April)

• Waterfront Blues is back for round eight in its celebration of blues, jazz and R&B (June)

• NXNE, in it's 16th year is back for the killing - rock, indy, grunge, you want to hear it and they'll deliver. (June)

• Osheaga is being hosted in Montreal once again for the vagabonds and wanderous souls who love to travel and explore the vast realms and fellow cities within Canada. (August)

For complete lists of Canadian music festivals check this out:

www.musicfestivaljunkies.com

For events tending more to families, skim through this:

www.hotoronto.com/festivals


Now, on to choosing one, or some, for those who have the pocket change.

1. Decipher your chosen genre of music. Jazz? Soca? Reggae? House and Techno? Rock?
2. Give yourself an expenditure limit. These festivals do not come cheap. Be prepared to dish out $80 minimum. Depending on the length of the festival (some last up to 3 days) and the number of popular headliners will alter the cost of tickets/wristbands.
3. Browse through the links I have posted. Check out the individual websites for each music festival. On them the lineups will be released as well as the starting dates.
4. Lineups, lineups, lineups. Check them out and figure out where your favourite bands or DJs are performing!
5. Consider accomodations, commute time and accessibility.
6. GET. EXCITED.

This might just make your summer the most memorable one yet. Good luck choosing. Sometimes it becomes excrutiatingly difficult trying to decide between two or three festivals because several of your favourite artists are performing at each. Don't forget, there is always next summer!

Peace. Love.

Europa

About a week ago my best friend and I decided to travel to Europe this summer.

We are graduating from university this year, she from Ryerson and I from U of T, and therefore decided it would be best to embark on our journey in the sweltering summer month of July.

Having some travel background, however, being the furthest things from travel novices, this will be the first time for the both of us in planning our own trip start to finish. By ourselves. On our own. Together.

Her travel experience consits of spending about a month in her homeland of El Salvador, and about the same amount of time spent in the Philipenes for a volunteer program. Mine consists of traveling to Italy and France with my family at the age of thirteen and spending a week in Egypt when I was eighteen.

Both these trips were planned by organized leaders, teachers, or parents. Perhaps the magnanimity that is planning a three week vacation has not phased us. We feel no fear or hesitation, but only the sheer vivacity that accompanies an excited mind while in the midst of imagining sitting on the soft pebbled beaches of Capri.

So far, this is the list I have come up with.

1. Arrive in Roma, Italy
2. Italy to Paris,
3. Paris to Spain
4. Spain to Portugal

To tantalize you a bit, check these out:

Capri, Italy

Ibiza, Spain

Paris, France

We're damn excited.

Summer 2011

My sincerest of apologies for the current lack of the written word on my blog. I've been busy taking advantage of my summer holiday which, sadly, is over in about two weeks. Yes. Two weeks.

Where did it go? What did I do with my time? I will now attempt, to the best of my abilities, to recall how I spent my summer. For no other reason, really, than for my personal satisfaction, and to remember.

May-June 2011

- Summer School: Contemporary Poety (did marginally well...)
- spent time with an old friend, recently-turned-mother
- watched some Hot Doc productions
- found places to hang out at night with great views of the city
- went out to Century Room with some friends
- attended the launch of In Toronto Magazine at Roosevelt Room
- attended the UTICA gala
- attended Pero Expo at VoX International party
- attended cousins' First Communion...spoken entirely in Hungarian...
- went to good friend's house party for her boyfriend's birthday
- landed new job working at psychological centre...for a month.
- BierMarkt for friend's going away party... although she never did end up leaving...
- spent the day at Cherry Beach with the girlfriends
- continued my piano lessons!
- smoked the green and ordered a pizza to the top of a parking lot then headed over to the dirty Brunny (sweet random night)
- LEVENDES FC SAGAPO POLI!
- bike trip from home down to Lakeshore Blvd!
- Kensington Market with the bestie
- lunch at Vivoli's with the ladies!
- Brunny night...and green, oh the green.
- Gullo's birthday at This is London
- read under a tree all day at Trinity Bellwood's Park
- Prostate Cancer Walk for Papa Silva!
- Bike ride to Centre Island with the Bestie
- more casual baby visiting
- Visited the Nonna in Windsor for a week...joy.
- my special broke his wrist and I truly couldn't believe it

July-August 2011

- Dave and Buster's night...now that was some really awesome fun
- Oro Beach for Angela's birthday
- Drove the sister to the airport so as to begin her trip to Halifax...and never finish it
- "A Midnight in Paris"
- attempt number one in making Fettucini Alfredo...#hugefail
- K.O. after Century Room with the girls. The night ended way too late, or is 5:30 am considered early?
- Vivid's Pizzeria with my special (arguably best pizzeria in Toronto)
- Salsa on St.Clair with baby mama & Co.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt.2 !!!!!!!
- house party at Cheech's
- Breaking Bad. Seriously got into Breaking Bad. So much Breaking Bad.
- last night before the Greek boys headed off to Greece
- Skybar/The Guvernment
- Katrina's annual Taste of the Danforth Party (I got him back...best time spent all summer)
- My special gets a cleat in the knee and loses a chunk of it. Six stiches later and no summer championship he lost but was undefeated
- St. Lawrence Market with my special!
- Swimming with my special :)
- The CNE with friends and my special
- The Paramount
- The Brunny
- SMC Frosh Leader Retreat 2011
- Ana gets her wisdom teeth removed...again
- 'Pasta and Pizza' and Chinatown with my special!!

And there is it. The most sequentially accurate recollection of my summer's events. I mean, hey, I might've not had the most extravagent summer, but I spent it with him. And I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Ferris Wheels, Poutine, Cotton Candy

Get Up and Eat!

Not sure what to do with your Thursday afternoon? Well, here are some ideas:

Travel down to Little Italy on College Street. Walk around, take it all in. The desserts looks sumptuous, the smells are divine. The boutiques are full of wonderful artistic pieces. Really, you gotta check it out.

Once you've arrived on College, step into Vivoli's, a small Italian restaurant with great sidewalk and rooftop patios (and exquisite Sangria). Order a Margherita. Why? Just trust me on this one.

You're going to want to order that Sangria now, c'mon, it's hot out; you know you want something refreshing. This is the picture in the dictionary beside the definition of refreshing. You'll even find some fresh blueberries, raspberries and diced strawberries floating around in there.

Then you're going to want to take some pictures of your special person. Or not. That's optional. But I did.

Once you're finished your delightful shenanigans, pay off that bill and head on out to find the best gelato and desserts at the Sicilian Cafe! Your tastebuds will have never had it better. Wow.

And to top off the afternoon, go look for those benches (that aren't benches because they're not made of wood) but they're benches because they look like benches and you can lie down on them like you can on a bench...

Mangiare bene!!

Visually Appealing

I learned a few things today. Interested?

1) Stimulating conversation is only achievable if both parties are both as adament in answer-finding and both as curious as each other.

2) Eating too much sushi makes you both sick and sleepy.

3) At an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant they make you pay for the food you do not finish....#what

4) Some people power-trip at every moment of the day. All we wanted was to visit my old dance studio. What were we told when we asked if we could take a look around? "Scheduled tours, only." #bullshit

5) Cloudy days make for astounding sunsets

You Must Experience!

Seeing as the summer break is finally here for all those college and university-goers, many of us have tons of time on our hands and no idea where to begin to make the most of it. Well, may I provide you with a few suggestions?

Go out for a night on the town with your best friends or your loved one, and catch a flick! Specifically make a mental reminder of "Water for Elephants". Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson (although not a personal fan of either) really shine as it appears they are in their element in this movie as circus performers. I mean not to say they are clowns in any way, just that their partnership in creativity under a circus tent is phenomenal. Definitely a must-see this summer.

Go for a bike ride! Biking is an awesome way to work your muscles and get out there and catch some rays. Ride through a part of town you are unfamiliar with and stop by the local bakery for a pastery or milkshake! You really can't go wrong.

Catch some local theatrical talent! Tomorrow night I will be watching "Forrests" at the Terragon Theatre in downtown Toronto! The talent is supposed to be mind-blowing, so I'm uber excited. Check out what kind of plays are being produced around you!

Spend the day at the spa. If you live in Toronto, you might want to check out The Elmwood Spa and venture out to visit a masseuse. Apparently they really know how to get right in their and mend your broken mind and body! If you're like me and trying to mend a broken heart, a spa and massage might be just the way to go.

Need more suggestions? Check out What's On Toronto.com for a great list of restaurants, free gigs, best jazz bars and local shows to catch!

Enjoy!!