Chill’s Guy’d To The Summer Musical Festival

TD CANADA TRUST TORONTO JAZZ FESTIVAL: TORONTO JUNE 25-JULY 4 Within its 20-year existence, the Toronto Jazz Festival has featured more than 20,000 artists – 85 per cent of them being homegrown here in Canada. This year promises 350 jazz and blues performers – with many of these concerts being completely free.

Even if jazz isn’t your thing – this is a great way to spend a night on the town for close to nothing. And hey, you never know – you just might fi nd the next big band to chill out to.

CISCO OTTAWA BLUESFEST: OTTAWA JULY 7-18 The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest is an annual summertime outdoors music festival held in the beautiful city of Ottawa. But please, don’t let the name fool you – it may say blues, but this festival has everything.

Iron Maiden, Great Big Sea, Matthew Good, The Flaming Lips, and even Weezer are on the bill. This massive festival runs for 11 days – so I hope you’ve got friends in Ottawa, or a comfortable tent to camp out in.

Start thinking of excuses to skip work, lots of them – you can’t miss this.

WARPED TOUR: TORONTO, MONTREAL & EDMONTON JUNE 25-AUGUST 15 What’s really impressive about Warped Tour is its production. This summer music festival travels across Canada and the U.S.A. To move all those bands, along with six different stages, the convoy is an entire fl eet of trucks speeding down the highway. You have to see it to believe it.

But this is where you will catch more than 60 bands playing in one single day. Metal, punk, ska, rock and pop – it is all here. At Warped Tour you can see fi ve of your favorite bands in one day, and get hooked on some new ones while you’re at it.

This festival is open to all ages, starts at noon and runs all the way into the night. Bring your sunscreen.

S. C.E.N.E MUSIC FEST: ST. CATHERINES JUNE 27 There’s something special about the S.C.E.N.E Music Fest. Is it the girls? The summer air? Maybe the incredible music?

For one day – downtown St. Catharines is over-run with over 160 local, and international bands. Now into its 15th year, the event started out with only 20 bands and has grown into a huge all-day music extravaganza.

This is where you need to be to catch the best Canadian music available today. This event features everything – funk, rock, country, reggae, hip-hop and punk bands, many of them Canadian. This is Canadian music at its fi nest. It mixes summer, live music, and partying in one day and literally takes over a city.

FESTIVAL OF FRIENDS: HAMILTON AUGUST 6-8 First, you need to know that this is a free music festival. Free – that’s right, so come on over. This year the Festival of Friends is expected to draw over 300, 000 people to the city of Hamilton. Gord Downie is set to headline, with more artists added to the bill every day.

What more can you ask for? Fun – for free. Come and chill out with thousands of music lovers of all different ages.

WAKESTOCK: COLLINGWOOD AUGUST 6-8 Wakestock has gotten a bad rap for how rowdy things can get sometimes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give this Collingwood music fest another chance. Things are changing with this event featuring skate and wakeboarding competitions that are sure to provide some serious summer fun.

Headlining this year is Alexisonfi re alongside a slew of great hip-hop and rock bands.

BAYFEST: SARNIA JULY 8-10, 16-18 Sarnia is the host of Bayfest 2010 with artists like Rush, The Black Eyed Peas, and Alan Jackson. This concert series is held outdoors, so you’re going to need blankets, water, and maybe a nice lawn chair to keep you comfy.

This will be the perfect way to chill and take in some big-name bands from across North America.

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