The Wonderland That Was WayHome 2017 (Recap)

Credit: Karis Malszecki (Instagram)

When the lineup for the WayHome Music and Arts festival was first announced, there were two artists at the top of my list: Justice and Mura Masa. By the time the festival actually rolled around I had added a significant number of names to my list of must see acts (see here and here), but still there were two tracks from those first two artists that I essentially hung all my anticipation on: my #1 track of 2016 "Randy" (read here) and "Helpline" (read here). Unfortunately neither track was played, but that didn't stop this past weekend from being perhaps THE BEST WEEKEND EVER.

This being both my first WayHome, and my first overnight camping festival, I went in with very few expectations or even ideas about what I was getting myself into. I was also flying solo for the most part (bouncing between groups of friends, as I'm apt to do), which allowed for full freedom and discovery. I had a strong schedule of who I wanted to see, but that was more of guideline rather than a strict itinerary. And this is part of what I love about being a blogger/reviewer as opposed to a photographer/videographer/etc, it allows me to experience the festival as a whole, while still focusing on the music. From the camping, food, staff, fellow WayHomies and everything in between, WayHome was pure perfection. If you're reading for the music only, jump ahead to the break below.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Weather
Mother nature set the mood for the weekend right off the bat, clearing out the clouds, turning up the temperature and letting the sun shine full blast from Friday morning through Sunday evening. Even the grass was green, which I'm told was not the case in previous years. Check out the Friday night sunset.

Camping
The seemingly endless rows of camping played host to hundreds of little parties. It was absolutely mind-blowing walking from one corner to another, passing thousands of people all here for the same thing. Saturday morning I met up with 404, and we literally went back and forth between a half dozen different groups of people getting ready another full day of fun. This was tiring walking so far, but inspiring in that it brought so many people together. However the highlight of my camping came when I met Kyle (left) and his group from Barrie. Just take a look at this character (RIP those sunglasses, which fell into a porta-potty minutes after this picture).

Food
No matter your dietary restrictions or desires there was something for you. Poutines aplenty placated, staples like Pizza Pizza and Beaver Tails satisfied, while dozens of other delicacies tickled your taste buds. I had a wicked good (but ultimately bad choice due to time spent in the porta-potties afterwards) spicy chorizo burrito. However the most talked about foodstuff was The Colossal Onion, but beware it's not for the faint of heart, I barely made a dent in mine even though it was sinfully scrumptious.

------------------------------------------------------------------

My WayHome Plan Of Attack

As I'm sure you know by now, I'm headed to Burl's Creek for WayHome Music and Arts Festival. I had mentioned that you can make your own schedule on the WayHome site here. Unfortunately that custom schedule doesn't allow you to include the Perrier Greenhouse, where I'll be spending multiple hours each day. So I decided to make my own custom schedule. See each day below, make note of the/my start times, and the conflicts in red on Friday. I'll be live tweeting much of the weekend, and hope to do a bit of a live blog each day, here. Follow me @OggieJames and if you're there feel free to reach out.