IN CONCERT
What: Cumberland Wild featuring Too Many Zooz, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, The Sorority, The Reverend Peyton鈥檚 Big Damn Band and more
When: Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 17 and 18
Where: Cumberland Village Park, Cumberland
Tickets: $75 (single day) or $139 (weekend pass) from or Bop City Records (Courtenay), The Waverley Hotel (Cumberland) and The Little Village Store (Cumberland)
Organizers of Cumberland Wild put a strong focus on live music for the festival鈥檚 2018 coming-out party, with Elliott Brood, Jesse Roper and Five Alarm Funk booked as headliners.
It was an important distinction to make as part of the Cumberland festival鈥檚 official rebranding: Cumberland Wild debuted last year after four years as the dance-happy, rave-leaning Atmosphere Gathering, and a line needed to be drawn between the two events.
Roots and rock music and electronic music are shared priorities this year as the two-day festival comes into its own after a successful switch.
鈥淏ecause this is Round 2, we found that what worked for audiences last year is what we wanted to repeat this year,鈥� said Avigdor Schulman, the festival鈥檚 creative director.
鈥淚 think we were putting forward live acts last year a little bit more forcefully, just to make that transition. But we are heading in the right direction this year. What people in Cumberland really like to see is a mix of both.鈥�
Too Many Zooz (who are from New York), Snotty Nose Rez Kids (Vancouver), The Sorority (Toronto) and The Reverend Peyton鈥檚 Big Damn Band (Indiana) are the big draws this year, which gives Schulman and his producing partner, Ben Howells, plenty of optimism heading into Cumberland Wild鈥檚 second year. The festival is expected to draw 2,000 people to Cumberland Village Park for what amounts to the area鈥檚 biggest event of the summer.
Snotty Nose Rez Kids and The Sorority have been making waves on Vancouver Island in recent years, and are expected to draw a big response during their respective sets on Saturday.
The roots side of the equation cannot be underestimated, however. The Reverend Peyton鈥檚 Big Damn Band is Schulman鈥檚 sleeper pick of the weekend. 鈥淭hey typify what we are trying to do more than any act at this festival,鈥� he said.
One of the festival鈥檚 other big attractions is the nightly silent disco, where more than 20 DJs and producers will perform late-night and early-morning sets for approximately 1,000 dancers 鈥� without the aid of speakers. Attendees will participate with audio sent wirelessly into headphones from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Low noise means less headaches for everyone involved, Schulman said.
鈥淭here really is a lot of community engagement here,鈥� Schulman said.
鈥淧eople are so dialled-in to this event.鈥�
Howells and Schulman are well-established members of the community, and neither one wants to be at the helm of something that is going to cause problems for their peers. Cumberland Wild is always run with that mandate in mind.
鈥淭he sustainability factor is always going to be there for Ben and myself. We look at that side of it very much as we create this event.
鈥淭here are people who are going to be engaged no matter what we present down at the park, because they love the fact that we are taking that on. But it鈥檚 a very diverse festival, and in that way we are always trying to make that our programming.鈥�
