Our 25th year! We rang in our silver anniversary with three incredible nights of programming at St. Anne’s Parish, which is now the home base for our programming. It’s surreal to see how we’ve grown from weekly Sunday night club-show series to the non-profit multi-format platform we have today. It was truly a celebration to remember!
Night 1
Photo by Kurtis Watson
Cadence Weapon played his first Wavelength show 20 years ago, in 2005. He even got his first booking agent at a weekly Wavelength show at Sneaky Dee’s! It’s only fitting that Rollie came back and DJ’d throughout the first night of Winter Fest.
Photo by Orlando da Silva
Opening the night was a cross-cultural collaboration between Gurpreet Chana and Truss. The intersection of tradition and technology built an atmospheric framework for the night, with a playful approach to improvisation.
BTS Photo by Kurtis Watson
Don’t be fooled by these smiling faces. Guelph drone-rock group Bonnie Trash stared into our souls with every lyric uttered.
Photo by Green Yang
Photo by Green Yang
pHoenix Pagliacci’s energy could fill the room as a solo act, but she shared the love and brought guest after guest for her performance of Dichotomy.
Photos by Green Yang
Album collaborators Bonnie Trash, Shad, Truss, Tamir, and The OBGMs joined pHoenix on stage for an epic family reunion.
Photo by Green Yang
Poster illustrator Steph Avery recreated our favourite creatures during Night 1, with live drawing for all to see.
Photos by Green Yang
Texture extraordinaire Roxanne Ignatius gave the Lower Hall layers and colour. Just wait until you see her work in the Upper Hall!
Photos by Green Yang
The OBGMs ended the night with a BANG! Moshing, screaming, and pogoing ensued!
Night 2
Photo by Green Yang
TikTok-buzzy crooner Alex Nicol christened the Upper Hall on Night 2 with Montreal inspired indie-folk sweetness – and a memorable Ian & Sylvia cover.
Photos by Green Yang
Impressive, right? Roxanne’s serpent slithered above the audience, in between the rays of General Chaos’ projections.
Photo by Green Yang
Longtime Wavelength collaborator General Chaos brought the Liquid Crystal Display to the Upper Hall, with the analog abstract projections that we have all come to love.
Photos by Green Yang
Essie Watts brought new-wave tinged sounds to the Lower Hall, complete with a full band and a trio of dancers.
Photo by Green Yang
Shimmery, jangly Toronto pop outfit Tallies played us into their dream world, and we didn’t want to wake up.
Photo by Green Yang
Toronto’s most morbid tattoo artist SadStab took a break from stabbing their favourite bands to spin their all-vinyl DJ set during Night 2 of Winter Fest.
Photos by Green Yang and Kurtis Watson
With serendipitous circumstances, dance-punk pioneers controller.controller reunited for the second time to celebrate our 25th anniversary. The prolific group previously got back together for our 15th anniversary, making them our unofficial mascots.
Photo by Green Yang
Happy Birthday Nirmala! Talk about serendipity!
Photo by Kurtis Watson
Toronto band Ducks Ltd. played their indie-pop tunes to our sold-out crowd, bringing all the energy and all the fun.
Photo by Green Yang
Independent brewery Great Lakes Brewery set up shop in the Upper and Lower hall, keeping us refreshed as we made our way up and down the stairs.
Photo by Green Yang
Watch out, Good Farken might steal your shirt and make a bag!
Photos by Green Yang
It looks like Good Farken got to Chance Hutchison of Priors’ shirt! The tambourine was entirely self-inflicted, however.
Photo by Green Yang
This is how we felt after this jam-packed night of performances!
Night 3
Photo by Green Yang
This photo really captures the effervescent ambience of Erika Angell’s opening set on Night 3.
Photos by Green Yang
Jane Inc. returned to the Wavelength stage as her titular and angular self, after appearing on stage in Geordie Gordon’s band in November.
Photo by Green Yang
Mothland’s Anthony Piazza brought our poster to life, animating the lower hall all evening with experimental visual effects.
Photo by Green Yang
Plant medicine vendors Morel Support brought joy to Winter Fest!
Photos by Green Yang
Montreal shoegaze outfit Bodywash had us looking up and down, swaying the night away.
Photos by Green Yang
Queer dancefloor lover Precious Jewel DJ’d the evening, welcoming UK visitor Mui Zyu to St. Anne’s!
Photo by Green Yang
From all the way across the pond, Mui Zyu dove through her phantasmagorical portal to join us for Night 3 of Winter Fest. She treated us to Canto-pop with traditional Chinese instruments and drum machines.
Photos by Green Yang
Emmy Award winning composer and Toronto music icon Owen Pallett packed the Upper Hall for the closing performance of Winter Fest. Their cinematic, career-spanning set left us all cheering for an encore to an amazing weekend.
Photo by Green Yang
Thank you to everyone who made Winter Fest 25 possible!