World Electronic Music Festival, Canada

World Electronic Music Festival, Canada

20 July, 2007 | 2.22AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: wemf, world electronic music festival

This weekend over 8000 electronic music fans are expected to turn out for the World Electronic Music Festival in Toronto, Canada. Beatportal caught up with festival organiser Ryan Kruger to find out more about the event.

Why did you first decide to start the World Electronic Music Festival?

“As one of the originators of the scene in Canada we were always trying to innovate.

“We felt our second anniversary party back in 1995 had to be something special.

“Nobody had ever done a European style festival over here before so we decided it was time to shake things up.

“The only twist was we wanted to go three days instead of just one or two, why not?

“But we got hit by a tornado the first night and lost our shirts but the party became legendary and got bigger and bigger every year after that.”

Why did you call it the World Electronic Music Festival?

“It started out as the World Trance Festival but quickly became WEMF in year two as we added more musical styles and stages.

“Our goal was to create a world class event that would showcase the best in electronic music from around the world. It’s a catchy title that kinda sums that all up!”

So has the WEMF outgrown your initial aims?

“Our passion is creating memorable experiences. WEMF has definitely done that and more with almost 200,000 people attending since its inception.

“Since our initial aim was to bring the world to Toronto I guess we have met our initial aim but really it’s still the same goal.”

Is the festival growing each year?

“We should see about 8000 to 10,000 show up this year.

“The event, as with the electronic scene has seen its ups and downs with a peak of 15,000 in 2000 to a few lean years after that but growth has been constant for the past five years and there seems to be no end in sight.”

What’s Canada’s electronic music scene like?

“The days of the rave are long gone but the electronic scene is once again growing everywhere else.

“Clubs across the country see tens of thousands out every weekend and music downloads, sales and concerts seem to be very popular.

“I’d have to say its definitely on the up tick again.”

What artists and DJs are you looking forward to seeing at WEMF this year?

“WEMF is always a mixture of old favourites mixed with new and exciting premiers.

“Personally I am really looking forward to Pendulum, Donald Glaude, MSTRKRFT and MixMaster Mike from the Beastie Boys.

“We cover everything really. The two main stages cover trance, techno, house, electro, jungle, and breaks while secondary stages see hardcore and new talent.

“Add on about 50 renegade stages of all shapes and sizes throughout the camp grounds and you are pretty much guaranteed a little bit of everything.”

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