Bestival has made it official: The U.K. festival will be coming to North America in 2015. The festival, founded by Rob da Bank, will be headed to Toronto June 12 to 13, 2015, according to the New York Times.
Joining the crowded North American festival market, Bestival hopes its prestigious brand in the U.K. will translate to success in North America. It will take place on the Toronto Islands, a park area in Lake Ontario, just offshore from the city's downtown. Bestival has teamed up with dance music conglomerate SFX Entertainment and local promoter Embrace to bring the festival to Toronto.
Much like other major festivals on the other side of the Atlantic in the style of Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonaroo, Bestival brings together a variety of different genres under one roof. The 2015 edition calls upon big-name legacy dance acts like The Chemical Brothers and Underworld while also calling upon acts like Action Bronson and Rae Morris to round out the lineup.
Past acts who have joined the festivities on the Isle of Wight include OutKast, Beck, Disclosure, Sam Smith and Jenny Lewis.
The U.K. edition, which takes place at the beginning of September on the Isle Of Wight off southern England, has a lineup that is distinctly British. It will be interesting to see how they shape the lineup for 2015 in Toronto, which is not ready to be announced as of yet.
Rob da Bank is confident he will be able to forge a path in the North American festival scene and be successful.
"No disrespect to the festivals in North America, but a lot of them are very much stages, bars, food tents," Rob da Bank said. "This festival will look very different. It will have theatricality, ambition."
