The worst music festival of the summer? How Kultureland 2022 went from one of the summer’s most anticipated events to a complete disaster
Kultureland 2022 gives you a lesson on what not to do when throwing an inaugural festival.
When Kultureland 2022 was announced in late May of this year, there was a wave of excitement amongst afrobeat fans across the country. It was marketed as one of Canada’s first afrobeat festivals and as we’ve seen similar festivals pop up around the world (Europe’s afronation and most recently California’s lost in riddim) it seemed like attendees were in for a treat.
The line up that eventually emerged seemed almost too good to be true (it was). Headliners Burna Boy and Jhene Aiko would lead the charge accompanied by genre favourites Fireboy DML, WSTRN, Lojay and many more. It seemed like there would be a sound for everyone.
Day 1
Thousands of excited festival goers would descend on to Markham Fairgrounds on Saturday August 7th for festival day 1. And despite a last minute announcement revealing that set times had been pushed back it seemed like the festival was off to a good start. After hearing impeccable sounds from some of Toronto’s favourite DJs, African Giant Burna Boy made his way onto the stage and he made sure not to disappoint. Performing everything from fan favourite Ye, to one of his first hits Like to Party, the Nigerian super star had the crowd enamoured from the time he first touched the stage to when he closed the show with the song of the summer Last Last.
After leaving Markham Fairgrounds on a live music high, myself and others were excited for what was to come, little did we know the second day of Kultureland would be even more memorable than the first- all for the wrong reasons.
Day 2
Day two of Kultureland began with a cryptic message being posted to their perfectly curated instagram page alerting concert goers that not only would doors be opening at 6PM but that festival goers should not go to the original location of Markham Fairgrounds, a new location to be announced later on. Eyebrows were raised and their instagram page began filling with curious attendees inquiring about the sudden venue relocation, and when Ajax Down Racetrack was revealed as the new location it was clear that something had gone amiss.
Even more bad news began to emerge when Kultureland took to their instagram page once again to announce that key performers Stoneybwoy, Fireboy, Lojay AND Kamo Mphela had pulled out from the festival. It seemed like things could not get any worse, however those of us who persevered were in for a rude awakening, as things went from unfortunate to fyre festival level of catastrophe.
When I arrived at the new location, what I expected to be a large open space filled with festival goers was really a barren field with two small stages haphazardly standing on opposite ends of the space. A few food trucks lined the back corner, along with a bar and decorations from Durham’s Carifest that no one had bothered to remove. The DJs played a random assortment of music, while confused attendees trickled in, many were visibly shocked and annoyed and festival organisers remained out of sight. As 6pm turned into 8pm and then 10pm not one of the artists had emerged on to stage. A crowd had gathered by it however and hosts Femi Lawson and Emcee Ebone did their best to entertain an increasingly impatient crowd. Jhene Aiko was still supposedly going to perform along with Bolu Ajibade, B Young and Wstrn, however as time went on I became skeptical that the pregnant star would make it on to stage. Still, there was no update from festival organisers as to when the show would actually start, who would be performing or why so many of the line up's biggest names had seemingly pulled out at the last minute.
When I made my way to the VIP section I searched feverishly for someone, anyone with a kultureland laminate, someone holding a clipboard or anything that resembled a team working tirelessly to put on a show. Instead I saw VIP guests walking around aimlessly, a few people wearing walkie talkies sitting on chairs near the stage and performers taking pictures with fans. This by no means looked like a festival in crisis. Finally, at almost 10:30 Juno winner TOME performed followed by Lola Bunz (who was not on the original performer list). Both women gave their all and put on an amazing performance. However there was still the question of when headliner Jhene Aiko would perform as the festival was now 4 hours behind. By the time B Young took the stage the crowd was thankful to see one of the more recognizable performers come out and there was a noticeable shift of energy. When two members of Wstrn took to the stage it looked like there was a small glimmer of hope on the horizon and the crowd was noticeably excited as fans sang along to some of the groups biggest songs. However, the excitement would be short lived as mid performance their mics were unceremoniously cut and the stage lights went dim. Now at almost midnight one of the hosts emerged on stage letting fans know that the event was over. There was no mention of Jhene’s absence, no apology for the disorganised mess that has transpired and instead festival attendees were told to make their way to the exits. 15 minutes after the show had concluded a sad excuse for an explanation was posted on to the festival’s Instagram page with a laughable sign off “we look forward to having you again”
All in all the festival organisers showed a deliberate and almost disrespectful lack of empathy for the time and money attendees had spent to attend. And even now over 12 hours after the festival has ended have refused to take any accountability in regards to what has transpired. Begging the question who is responsible for this festival, why would they think that this is acceptable behaviour and will they dare to attempt to “have us again”? For now these are all questions that have been left unanswered but there is one thing I know without a doubt - I will never attend Kultureland again.
