The History of WEMF : Plus your memories! 4 days TO GO!!!

[Toxic]

Since 1995 in Toronto, few events have had the ability to evoke such emotion and create memories that people still hold fondly today as much as "The 3 day"

No matter what its name, the festival now known as WEMF has captured the minds of tens of thousands of party goers for over a decade, and is now less than 20 days away from a return to its most requested location.

With a lineup that rivals any festival of its kind in Canada, and the collective anticipation of thousands of ticket buyers from across the continent, WEMF is set to once again become the biggest and best party weekend of what has already been an incredible Summer.

Here we take a brief journey through its beginnings. Thank you once again to Sigma, Smooth Operator and the crew at the The Vault Forum for some of the pictures.


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July 14, 15, 16 - 1995 - First Annual World Trance Festival

Now referred to as "The Tornado Rave", the first Destiny 3 day event was held at Mosport Racetrack and was tested with a small Tornado on the Friday night that brought down the soundsystems and literately sent ravers flying.
The sound was put back together to form one stage and the party continued the rest of the weekend.



While its name suggested a strict music policy, The World Trance Festival, (or WTF for short) still played host to some of Toronto's best Jungle / Drum n Bass talent, including Sniper and Mystical Influence.



Short on rules and guidelines, (you could park wherever you wanted etc) the experience was unique to most, and it was instantly a weekend few would forget.

Destiny maintained that "underground" and special element by providing partial directions in the weeks leading up to the event on the infoline, eventually leaving anyone with the flyer with the full map.





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Fast Forward a few years, and a name change, the festival now known as the World Electronic Music Festival steps up to its most ambitious, and arguably most talked about location...

July 17, 18, 19 - 1998 - WEMF - Christian Island



Using "Actual Site Photo" on the flyer, Destiny spun ravers into heavy anticipation.
The arduous trek involved a 2.5 hour drive, parking on an opportunistic locals lawn, carrying all your gear onto a ferry, and then once arriving on the island, jumping in the back of one of the local's pick up trucks, flying down a dirt road until you were met by this...



A perfect weekend weather wise, a crystal clear beach and some amazing music.
TorontoJungle was there and documented the Jungle / Hardcore tent. You can see those pictures here.

Another epic 3day to add to Destiny's legacy, and still today one of the most talked about events in Toronto history.




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As the years passed and the attendance grew, WEMF'ers experienced the 3 Day in a variety of venues, from Sauble Beach, Wasaga Beach, Dunnville Aiport and Niagara Regional Exhibition in Welland to name a few.

WEMF 1996 - Oro Medonte Township


With massive production values, and an artist roster history that reads as a who's who of Electronic Music, WEMF has always maintained a fine balance between large music festival and outdoor experience.

WEMF 2007 - Welland



WEMF 2001 - Bobcaygeon Ed Rush & Optical LIVE - WEMF 2001







This year, the triumphant return of WEMF includes: Skrillex, Andy C, Rusko, Pendulum, Noisia LIVE, Digitalism LIVE, Infected Mushroom, Calvin Harris, Stanton Warriors, Flux Pavillion, Jack Beats, Caspa and many many many more!

Share your WEMF memories with us in this thread, and join us August 12th, 13th and 14th as we once again make history, and return to beautiful South Algonquin, site of WEMF 2008: BYOB, Camping, and 5000 of your closest friends!

WEMF 2008 - Early Saturday Morning



Tickets are on sale now, and are 75% sold. We are less than 20 days away!
WEMF 2011 Tickets Grab them online or through one of our official ticket reps, no service charges.

Not a weekend to be missed.

I look forward to once again raving under the stars, lets do this!

[The Beef]

Rick,

I've been trying to remember the year the Derrick Carter played WEMF. It was 2 big outdoor stages with another major headliner - who was that?? Derrick May?

Neil mc'd in the morning as well.

[Hypariah]

great work bro!

[ashlee]

I'm looking for some cds I have of old wemf pics .. maybe then I can post more ..

But I'm really hoping to see something like this again this year


sooo pretty!

[eleventh]

Nice writeup, I could go on and on about memories.

[admin]

Rick,

I've been trying to remember the year the Derrick Carter played WEMF. It was 2 big outdoor stages with another major headliner - who was that?? Derrick May?

Neil mc'd in the morning as well.

Im pretty sure that was 97 cuz they had a FutureShock stage.. and i can only imagine they would bring down Carter.

[rhing rhoing]

Christian Island and Sauble Beach were my favorite WEMF's. 2003 (forgot the location) was jokes mainly because it was a good crew. Falling asleep in a chair for 7 hours was epic.

i've only gone to 3 WEMF's in my life, followed by 1 short visit on a Sunday morning to the 4th one in 2004.

1998, 1999, 2003, 2004.......2011???

13 years since my first WEMF. Wow!

[aXion]

Best Memory,

Sun rise at wemf 08 on sunday morning has got to be the top memory for me.....so beautiful.

Ed Rush dropping voodoo remix to a bunch of virgin ears at wemf 05 was pretty stellar along with the RITM performance from that weekend.

Driving around the town of bobcaygeon with a small town over run by ravers was pretty special. Alex from tribe wearing wife beater and cut off shorts asking for a ride back to the rave.."uhhh we arent going back to the rave"* slowly roll up the window*

[aXion]

what year was dunneville?

[Toxic]

Best Memory,

Sun rise at wemf 08 on sunday morning has got to be the top memory for me.....so beautiful.

Alex from tribe wearing wife beater and cut off shorts asking for a ride back to the rave.."uhhh we arent going back to the rave"* slowly roll up the window*