Toronto’s Departure Festival and Conference Unveils Full Schedule With Additional Speakers And Awards

Three weeks shy of its launch, Toronto’s inaugural Departure Festival + Conference, May 6-11, has unveiled its full schedule, which includes newly added speakers Omar Al-Joulani, president of touring for Live Nation Concerts; Canadian Live Music Association CEO Erin Benjamin; Erik Hoffman, president of music at Live Nation Canada; and Julie Adam, the recently appointed president/CEO of Universal Music Canada.

The conference is the evolution of the 42-year-old Canadian Music Week (CMW), which Oak View Group (Pollstar’s parent company) and Toronto’s Loft Entertainment purchased last year from Neill Dixon. The program has been reimagined with additional verticals covering art, comedy and tech.  

The conference takes place on the grounds of Exhibition Place, across the street from Lake Ontario, at the upscale Hotel X, while the music and comedy festival is happening at dozens of venues throughout the city. Earlier this week, Departure announced a major get, Dave Chappelle, May 7, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, which is on the Exhibition grounds. 

There will also be a panel on The Tragically Hip’s 40th anniversary campaign with manager Jake Gold — who has been creatively mining the band’s legacy since singer Gord Downie’s 2017 passing — and others from The Hip’s team. 

ArtHaus will oversee a panel on the Renaissance of South Asian Music, and Catherine Harrison, founder & president of Revelios [Mental Health Works] will present early findings from the first-ever Canadian music industry survey on mental health. 

Departure will also present two sessions, in partnership with Music Publishers Canada, Co-writing: The Key To International Success, and Meet The Music Supervisors.

Also on May 7, The Departure Honours — an awards show — has also added two more special presentations, the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Award, which will go to Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez, an outspoken social justice advocate; and the Cultural Innovator Award to restauranteur and actor ​​Matty Matheson (The Bear).

Previously announced speakers include Bryan Adams, musician Dallas Green, Oak View Group chairman & CEO Tim Leiweke, The Bear actor/restauranteur Matty Matheson, Shaggy, R&B singer Jully Black,  Hipgnosis Songs Fund CEO Merck Mercuriadis in conversation with industry pundit and CMW regular Bob Lefsetz; Insomniac Events talent buyer Simon Kessler; United Talent Agency Music agent Perry Gilman; Live Nation Canada’s head of industry relations Joey “Vendetta” Scoleri; Grammy-nominated Juno-winning twins Tegan and Sara; multi-platinum rock singer Fefe Dobson; Arkells frontman Max Kerman, who will present his first book, Try Hard; record producer Murda Beatz (Travis Scott, Drake), multidisciplinary artist Vivek Shraya; Toronto publicist and author Dalton Higgins; Indigenous rights and water activist, Autumn Peltier; acrylic artist Julia Brevetti;  TVO’s The Agenda cohost Nam Kiwanuka; vegan chef Lauren Toyota; and Revelios founder/president Catherine Harrison. 

Radiodays North America (May 6-8), the conference for radio, podcasting and digital audio professionals, which was also a part of CMW,  continues during Departure. Adams is part of that lineup, in addition to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert host Bobby Carter. 

The music festival has added shows by America’s Got Talent winner Grace Vanderwaal and award-winning artist Lindsay Ell to a lineup that includes Canadian Folk Music’s emerging artist of the year Noah Derksen, UK tech house DJ Chapter & Verse, rapper DijahSB, country artist Sully Burrows, and EDM DJ Felix Cartal, who will headline a set outside Hotel X. Former Migos rapper/singer Quavo and Murda Beatz will close the festival.

For the comedy lineup, Elvira Kurt, host of the game show Spin Off, will perform at the Comedy Bar, and actor/comedian Jamie Kennedy (Scream) The Jamie Kennedy Experiment will join Harland Williams for his two shows at The Royal Theatre.

The music festival is being booked by festival director Pat Murphy and comedy festival by Bruce Hills, former president of Just For Laughs.