Flooding forced them off Toronto Island — now Camp Wavelength is bringing 'camp vibes' to the city

After a water-logged summer — where, at its worst, 40 per cent of the land was flooded — Toronto Island finally opened to the public July 31. The ferries are packed with urban beach bums again, and summer camps are back in session — with one notable exception. Camp Wavelength, one of the city's youngest music festivals and the only one within city limits to offer actual overnight camping, was forced to pack up their pup tents and leave their original island home at Artscape Gibraltar Point this year. (The site is still recovering from this year's flood damage.) But Camp Wavelength's found a way to live on, and this weekend they'll put down stakes at not one but three locations on the mainland, offering two days and three nights of music, art — and arts and crafts.

Basically, we had to deconstruct the festival.- Jonny Dovercourt, Camp Wavelength's artistic director

In the evening — or "Night Camp" — west end concert venues The Garrison and Longboat Hall will host shows from the likes of Deerhoof, Dilly Dally and Rich Aucoin. Those are ticketed events, not altogether unlike the Wavelength concerts that run monthly in the city. But from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, it's time for "Day Camp" at Sherbourne Common, a public park along the waterfront. There's music there, too, and also an expanded arts offering boasting multimedia installations, indie video games, an artist-run flea market...and a fortune-telling mermaid. Unlike the evening shows, daytime events are all ages and pay what you can.

Jonny Dovercourt (Jonathan Bunce) is Camp Wavelength's artistic director, and co-founder of the Wavelength Music Series, which launched Camp Wavelength in 2015. When the island was flooded in late May — "about 10 days after we announced the lineup" — organizers immediately began plotting their Plan B. "And that then turned into a Plan C, D, E and F," he laughs.

"Basically, we had to deconstruct the festival," he says. Overnight camping, one of the selling features of past Camp Wavelengths, was nixed. "There was nowhere else where you can do overnight camping and do a festival within city limits," he explains, and moving it beyond Toronto would be a financial risk for the small, indie operation. Jokes Dovercourt: "The indie rock crowd is kind of laid back, and maybe not the best advance planners." As for running an outdoor festival, Toronto's only suitable venues for a gated event of that nature, Fort York and Woodbine Park, were unavailable. Camp Wavelength had to plot a new strategy: bring the summer camp vibes to the mainland — and bring them so hard you can practically smell the DEET.

With the help of Mike Tanner, Toronto's Music Sector Development Officer, Dovercourt says they secured Sherbourne Common, a city park looking onto Lake Ontario. The space can accommodate as many music fans as their former spot at Gibraltar Point, he says — roughly 1,000 over the full weekend. And finding a green, waterfront setting was key. With their original music lineup still confirmed, "an outdoor component, something ideally near the water, was the most important thing."

"In some ways we have more opportunities to play up the camp element because we didn't have the natural environment of the island — we had to work a bit harder to create the feeling of being at summer camp," says Dovercourt. As for how they'll be bringing those "camp vibes," here's a taste of what's planned...

Camp bus!

"You can make a day of it, if you want to fully embrace day camp," says Dovercourt — and that goes right down to your method of transportation. A school bus shuttle will be taking people to and from the Day Camp site Saturday and Sunday. The meet-up spot is Trinity-Bellwoods Park, and the bus leaves for Sherbourne Common at noon, so get your butt there early if you want to sit in the back with the cool kids. Fare is free, but rides are first come first served — and the same goes for the return trip. The bus will take Day Campers to the evening concert venues, too. Rides from Sherbourne Common to Longboat Hall leave at 7 and 8 p.m. (More info here.)

Campfire!

To be clear, we're talking about an "artist-made campfire" which will, most likely, involve absolutely no actual fire. But it's made by local textile wizard Roxanne Ignatius, and even if it can't toast a smore, you'll want to gather 'round nonetheless — especially because that's where you'll find comedians Camille Cote, Jackie Pirico, Harpreet Sehmbi and Carol Zoccoli. They're all doing "Campfire Comedy" sets Saturday and Sunday as part of the Day Camp program. And because simulated, dyed-silk flames can't keep you warm, there'll be whisky tastings happening around the bonfire, courtesy of festival sponsor Gibson's. (More info here.)

Nap zone!

Ignatius is building an enormous blanket fort for the Day Camp, too. You can't sleep over at Sherbourne Common, but you can still catch some z's. This one's especially recommended if you plan on keeping the party going through to "Night Camp."

Virtual island vibes!

Several site-specific artworks were initially planned for the island, so as Dovercourt explains, when the festival was forced to dry ground, much of Camp Wavelength's art offering had to be overhauled. Some artists have "reconfigured their pieces for the new location," he says. "So we really are playing on the 'simulated camp environment.'" And on the topic of "simulated camp," there's perhaps no better example than "Manimal Sanctuary," a VR game that's actually set on Toronto Island — albeit in some distant and decaying future. Featuring music by indie pop artist Laura Barrett, the visuals are designed by Mathew Borrett, an artist who's well known for his hyper-detailed scenes of overgrown future Toronto. 

Camp Wavelength 2017: Day Camp in the City. Aug. 18-20 at The Garrison, Longboat Hall and Sherbourne Common, Toronto.

Find full festival info, including artist schedules and ticket prices, at www.wavelengthmusic.ca.