What: Cumberland Wild featuring Elliott Brood, Jesse Roper, Freestylers, Defunk, Five Alarm Funk and more
When: Saturday and Sunday
Where: Cumberland Village Park, Cumberland
Tickets: $75 (single day) or $149 (weekend pass)
Cumberland Village Park is still home to a high-profile summer music festival, but it will operate under a new name this weekend.
Cumberland Wild, which gets underway Saturday, has replaced the former Atmosphere Gathering, which began in 2014.
There’s a greater focus on live music at Cumberland Wild, whereas Atmosphere Gathering favoured electronic acts and dance-happy programming.
A noticeable omission is the former festival’s big top circus tent — which had become synonymous with the Atmosphere Gathering. The absence of the tent means the site will feel differently for some, but Ben Howells, executive producer of Cumberland Wild, likes the new feeling of freedom.
“The big top was a colourful item, and without it being there it changes the overall view. But we gain intimacy by having everyone focused around the same sound source.”
The new and improved festival still takes its dance music seriously, as the popular silent disco will remain. Fourteen DJs and producers will perform late-night and early-morning sets under the silent disco banner, and without the aid of speakers. Instead, attendees will participate with audio piped wirelessly into headphones.
“We took elements that worked really well for Atmosphere and condensed them down, and crystallized our production,” Howells said.
“But the changes were too big of a change to have the same branding.”
Headliners on the Cumberland Wild main stages include Elliott Brood, Jesse Roper, Freestylers, Defunk and Five Alarm Funk, among others. Attendees now can enjoy a site-wide liquor licence, which gives the site a less-cramped feel, Howells said.
“We know a lot of the folks in Cumberland will appreciate being able to come down and have a drink, and not have to worry about a beer garden.”
The popular Atmosphere Gathering, which appealed to the inner hippie of its supporters, will continue next year, albeit in a revamped capacity, according to Howells.
Cumberland Wild is a much better fit for the Cumberland Village Park location.
“Atmosphere needed to be in a space where it could expand. I’m always working on locations, so we’ll see how the next year goes. We’d like to bring it back.”
Howells expects the two-day Cumberland Wild festival to draw 1,500 people, no small feat for this or any other festival on Vancouver Island.
Competition in the festival world is fierce, and the new changes reflect the difficulties Howells and his producing partner, Vig Schulman, have endured.
“We wanted to bring things down a bit, but tighten the vibe,” Howells said. “We all know it’s a tricky business, especially as a presenter. Certain things — like the U.S. dollar — make it difficult, especially with our population [fewer than 4,000 people live in the village, according to Census data]. We definitely have the cards stacked against us, in lots of ways, so we’re definitely adjusting. But we’re surviving.”
Rebranding a festival that was making inroads from an artistic standpoint felt like a risky proposition at first, Howells said.
Previous headliners at the Atmosphere Gathering includes acts such as Half Moon Run, Frazey Ford, and Nahko and the Medicine People, whose presence brought thousands to the village of Cumberland each summer. But at the end of the day, Howells and Schulman knew they had created a festival with cultural capital in the community.
“Good music, good food, good tunes — it’s not a complex equation.”