Festivals in Ontario

In Ontario, Canada's most populous province, everything pulls toward two cities that could not be more different. In Toronto, the economic capital perched on the shores of Lake Ontario, Veld Music Festival turns a city park into an electro cathedral over a late-July weekend, while North by Northeast (NXNE) spreads through downtown clubs to uncover the next wave of indie and rock. Some 400 km to the northeast, Ottawa plays an entirely different tune: on the LeBreton Flats lawns, facing the Rideau Canal, Ottawa Bluesfest lines up ten days of international headliners, carried each June by the late-night sets of the Ottawa Jazz Festival.

Yet Ontario's festival soul also lives in its small lakeside towns. In Orillia, on the banks of Lake Couchiching, the Mariposa Folk Festival has kept North American folk alive since the early 1960s — a living heritage echoed by acoustic stages across the region. FestT computes your FestiScore — how closely a line-up matches your favourite artists — and keeps dates, headliners and ticketing up to date, from Toronto's big-stage machines to the folk gatherings on the water's edge.