Toronto club scene invades Ryerson

by Andy Campbell

Sep 28, 2007

BURK’S FALLS – The home of artist Peter Camani was invaded by a multitude of art and music lovers who came to Midlothian Ridge to mark the autumn equinox on Sept. 22.

This is the ninth year for Harvest Festival, described by organizers as a celebration of self-expression and community.

“It’s a great little party,” said organizer Justin Martin.

A former club and rave security guard, Martin has been promoting events for over a decade. He founded the Harvest Festival on a farm north of Toronto in 1999, envisioning like-minded people getting out of the city to enjoy music in a more natural environment. And many have done so every year since.

This year was no exception, as the “party” faithful descended on Ryerson Township a short time before sunset, pitching their tents and preparing to enjoy themselves.

While the image of people gathering in the wilderness at night to celebrate the equinox around a giant bonfire might put one in mind of some neo-pagan festival, Martin said that the Harvest Festival is really just a last hurrah for summer.

“It’s the end of the summer,” he said. “It’s our last chance to get outside.”

Martin and his small-but-dedicated group of organizers spent a week at the Camani property prior to the event, and two to three days a week for a the month before that, just to get things ready. That was after months of planning in the city.

Martin first heard about the Midlothian Ridge, with its massive concrete sculptures, from friends who had visited. He did some research of his own and found the location to be everything he could ask for.

“When you come here, you see how fantastic this is,” he said.

Martin called Peter Camani, and explained what he had in mind. The two hit it off immediately.

“We actually have some mutual acquaintances,” said Martin. “It all sort of felt right, and in the end, we all ended up working well together.”

An event the size of the Harvest Festival requires discussions with police, emergency services and especially neighbours. People were informed and concerns were addressed.

You really need to warn the neighbours with the sort of sound system required for 1,000 people. And the Harvest Festival has not just one major source of music, but three. The festival features three musical zones: techno, downtempo/world beats and psy-trance/progressive. One of these is located inside a giant pyramid.

In addition to the music, festival-goers enjoyed a performance by Toronto-based Zero Gravity Circus, as well as a fireworks display. They feasted on corn on the cob and 320 litres of butternut squash soup.

With an estimated crowd of 1,000 people, attendance at Harvest Festival has doubled since the first event was held in 1999. Martin considers this number to be perfect.

“We make a fairly conscious effort not to grow any larger than we are,” he said, pointing out that events change once they pass a certain size. With 1,000 attendees, Harvest Festival is still small enough that many people know each other, and there is a sense of community.

And there is real community spirit in the group. Each year, a food drive is held to give something back to the host community. This year, approximately two tonnes of food was collected for the local food bank. It was the best drive yet.

“I’m so overly impressed with our members,” said Martin. “People were showing up with whole shopping bags full.”

Harvest Festival has moved a couple of times in nine years, but Martin hopes he has found a permanent location at Midlothian Ridge.

“We’d like to try to make a home, and we’d like to do that here,” he said.