Rain What? 15,000 Unite In FREEDOM!

For those of you that missed it, the second annual Toronto Freedom Festival was a huge sucess!

Despite the rain, we had a great turnout. Over 15,000 people showed their dedication and braved the stormy weather, sending a clear message to the world - We are unstoppable!

Click here for our image/video galleries and messageboard! - SmashMyiPhone Video and Photos Are Up!

The “Live Free” main stage cracked under the action yesterday, with lots of local acts like live hip-hop crew Down With Webster, reggae collective House of David Gang, Ko Kapches, God Made Me Funky, disco revivalists King Sunshine, instrumentalists Chameleon Project, deadheads Gratefully Dedicated Soundsystem and the incomparable Whitey Don, as well as U.S.S. (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker, our surprise special guest). Our SonicBids.com winners, indie rockers Robotman from Scarborough, were unfortunately cancelled due to the lightning storm.

The crew at Smash Our Stuff started our 4:20pm countdown with a bang, destroying an i-Phone on the main stage! While hammering the iphone into oblivion a dedicated fan actually threw their ipod onto the stage taking things to a whole new level! I can’t think of a truer tribute of our freedom of expression. The video is coming soon, check back often for the first version!

If live bands weren’t your thing, you may have gravitated over to the “Dance Free” stage, which featured electronic artists from a variety of genres. Artists like DJs Manzone and Strong, Mario J., Kenny Glasgow, Spence Diamonds, My Favorite Robot, The Roaches (not to be bogarted, rumour has it) kept the vibes going all day. Sydney Blu and Simon Jain were also cancelled due to the lightning activity.

Like your electronics with a bit more of an edge? Then perhaps the “DnB Soldier” stage was for you. Artists like Junglist Movement, F.T.S., Hustlin Beats, On Point, Future Sound, Ruff Plate Militia and Front Left all dropped beats.

Click for a complete schedule of our Artists and Speakers.

Click for a complete listing of our Vendors.

What does freedom mean to you? In six words, it seems like such a simple question. The answer becomes more elusive as we search closer for its meaning. Put simply, the Toronto Freedom Festival believes that “freedom” entails an individual’s right to choose for oneself. However, in order to accurately make any decision – in any area of our lives - we must be responsible as human beings and know all of the facts. It is with this notion in mind that I welcome you to the 2nd Annual Toronto Freedom Festival and encourage you to enjoy an idea-provoking experience, offering thoughtful and passionate groups a forum to expose their ideas, and facts, of how they express their ideas to thousands of other forward-thinking individuals.

So what do we have in store for you? In maintaining the TFF vision of Freedom, an explosion of talent, awareness, innovation and passion will scatter across Queen’s Park on Saturday, May 3rd. Our ‘Speak Free’ stage will present the words and wisdom of important figures in our community including Canada’s renowned ‘Prince of Pot’, Mark Emery, CHRY ‘News Now’ host and spoken word artist, Lady Loxx, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition’s Alison Mryden, Nora Wolf, Reiki Master, meditation leader and many more. Waxing philosophic on topics such as the freedom to not be extricated, freedom of expression, freedom from bad prohibition, freedom to party responsibly and the freedom ‘to be’, our presenters will encourage festival goers to respect one’s right to speak — freely.

I am incredibly proud to announce that TFF has partnered with the iconic Tommy Chong to express some of his ideas about freedom. TFF will be screening Tommy’s engaging documentary a/k/a Tommy Chong, which tells his enraging story of being targeted during the U.S. “War on Drugs” and how and why he was arrested and ultimately put in jail for nine months.

Tommy’s story is symbolic of our struggle for that ever-elusive state of being: freedom. If you are not outraged at something, you’re doing something wrong.

Now for the fun stuff, we are thrilled to bring to the table, yet again, a line-up of some of our community’s best musical acts. Celebrating the SOUND of Freedom and the freedom of MOVEMENT, TFF is bringing three music stages to the festival: the ‘Live Free’ Main Stage, the ‘Dance Free’ Stage and the Solid Apparel DnB Stage. The Global Marijuana March, will take its 10th annual tour around the city at 2:00 p.m. With over 200 cities across the globe in participation, Toronto boasted the highest rated attendance last year, with over 12,000 peaceful marchers celebrating cannabis and cannabis culture.

As Clarence Darrow once said, “You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the another’s freedom. You can only be free if I am free”. And so, I encourage you to take part in our festivities Saturday, May 3rd – making a statement that while a person’s choice may not be the same as yours, their freedom to choose should be.

Sincerely,

Neev - Toronto Freedom Festival Co-Founder

Welcome to the official website for the 2nd annual Toronto Freedom Festival, the city’s most progressive one-day outdoor Festival. Our 100% free festival kicks off May 3rd, 2008 in beautiful Queen’s Park. The goal of the Toronto Freedom Festival is to showcase the innovative ways Canadians are expanding freedoms while celebrating an explosion of new ideas. The spectacular event will be complimented by a unique collection of musicians, speakers and artists showcased throughout the day. For almost a decade Queen’s Park North has welcomed peaceful events, parades, and gatherings. The Toronto Freedom Festival has been developed to offer thoughtful, passionate groups a forum to expose themselves to thousands of forward thinking individuals. Several groups have already registered to take part this year and we welcome others to get involved by filling out an application in the Get Involved section.

The Toronto Freedom Festival will have various vendors and exhibitors reflecting several cultures. Music will be a large component with multiple stages showcasing several established live bands and DJs from the local Toronto scene. Visit the festival section for full details and schedules. The park will also feature special Innovation Stage with several community organizations representing local and global interests. The Toronto Freedom festival will be occurring the same day as the 10th Annual Global Marijuana March leaving Queen’s Park at 2pm along its traditional Bloor, Yonge, and College route. Last year almost 20,000 people attended the parade and numbers are expected to grow once again this year.

There are amazing vendor booth and sponsorship opportunities available and we invite you to visit the Sponsors section for more information. The Toronto Freedom Festival is looking for unique vendors and sponsors who will earn the benefit of thousands of brand conscious individuals gathered together in the heart of downtown Toronto.

Make sure to check the website regularly for updated artist, speaker, vendor and sponsor information. We also invite you to be heard by leaving a comment on the Freedom Forum.

Be progressive, be innovative, Toronto welcomes the world to share their passionate ideas and experience the special energy that our Freedom Festival celebrates. Make your ideas heard here!