Queen City mini fest features bands en route to Calgary’s Sled Island
Toboggan Island, a one day, multi-venue festival which takes place in Regina on June 18, has unveiled their line-up and full schedule.
Featuring bands from across Canada and the States, as well as a handful of Saskatoon groups, Toboggan Island is set to take place at three venues, including 11 Hooks Studio, The Club and The Exchange.
Burning Love
Code Orange Kids
Rehashed
La Luna (formerly Brain Fever)
Monomyth
Wizards
Pandas in Japan
Lords Kitchner
Severed Legion
White Women
The FAPS
Nap Eyes
Weak Ends
Black Thunder
The Jump Off
Bermuda Love
Birch Hills
FPG
Killer.
Ominocity caught up with Emily Ritenburg, Toboggan Island’s promoter, for a chat on bringing together a lot of bands in a short period of time among other things.
Ominocity: So what was the inspiration for starting up Toboggan Island? A fuck you to Sled Island or is it a way of bringing these bands closer to home?
Emily Ritenburg: I was being contacted by a lot of bands playing Sled Island looking for shows in other cities around the festival. At first I had to refuse a lot of the bands because it was too many shows to take on, but then I decided to to just embrace it. My main goal for this event is to get more bands to experience what the prairie music scene has to offer and hopefully come back again. Also, Toboggan Island is a great opportunity to showcase some talented bands from Saskatchewan, and also give people who aren’t attending Sled Island the opportunity to see some of the bands that are playing here in Regina.
The only reason I named it Toboggan Island is because of the number of bands that are playing Sled Island, so I suppose it’s more of a spin off than a “fuck you.”
OM: What can audiences expect from this festival?
ER: The main thing audiences can expect from this festival is variety. There a great range of musical genres such as punk/hardcore, folk, indie, surf, shoegaze and more. Audiences can also expect convenience because all three venues are within walking distance of each other (in fact, The Club and The Exchange are two venues located in the same building), and there is a solid schedule for when and where each band will be playing. Attendees also have the option to either buy individual tickets to the shows, or buy a three show pass to get a better deal.
OM: So does this mean you planning on making Toboggan Island an annual event?
ER: Yes and no. I’m certain I’ll be organizing a festival in similar fashion next summer, but I don’t know that it will be called “Toboggan Island.” So stay tuned.