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Fort York residents say it's the wrong venue for an electronic music
festival
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Some residents of the Fort York area downtown are asking the City of
Toronto to reconsider allowing a large scale electronic music festival
to be held on the historic grounds this summer.
Citing a number of concerns from noise levels to crowd capacity, they
say the area park, Garrison Commons, is not suited for the Electric
Island music festival, that last took place in the area in September
2023. It's set to return on the May and September long weekends this
year.
"The noise from the festival is so loud, the sound waves actually
crash against the windows of the building and then bounce off the
other buildings so that the glass shakes while you are in your unit,"
says Genia Elkind who lives in a ground floor unit that overlooks the
venue.
"There's lots of festivals here, so we are definitely used to it … you
can hear pretty much all the festivals. However, this particular
festival I found was much louder," says area resident Eli Monfared.
The City of Toronto tells CityNews that all concerts held at Fort York
must acquire a noise exemption permit, allowing levels to go beyond
the 55 decibel (dBA) limit stipulated in the city's noise bylaw.
"With a noise exemption permit, sound shall not exceed a sound level,
expressed in terms of Leq (the energy equivalent sound level or the
continuous sound level that would result in the same total sound
energy being produced over a given period of time) for a ten-minute
period, of 85 dBA when measured 20 metres from the source. Where the
sound level exceeds 85dBA, the applicant shall comply with any request
made by police or a Bylaw Enforcement Officer with respect to the
volume of sound from the equipment to ensure compliance," explains
Communications Coordinator Jaclyn Cossarini.
"During the festival, the City will have sound level monitoring in
place for the event and will have bylaw enforcement officers on-site
to ensure agreed upon sound levels are adhered to."
Noise exemption permits are issued with approval from the local ward
councillor - in this case, Ausma Malik. The permits were granted to
Electric Island last year, and have been granted again this year.
"This is a blatant disregard of the residents living so close to Fort
York," says Elkind.
Genia Elkind looks out over the Fort York area from her front porch
that faces Garrison Commons. CITYNEWS/Dilshad Burman
In a statement to CityNews, Malik says she is taking the concerns of
community members seriously.
"My office and I have been in ongoing contact with both residents and
City staff to make sure we are proactively addressing issues
identified and lessons learned from last year's event for a successful
event for attendees and for residents this year. This includes
ensuring noise limits … are followed," she says.
Monfared remains unconvinced.
"After seeing what had happened [last year] … I reached out to her
office. They did get back to me, but I didn't feel like they took the
issue very seriously," she says.
"They listened, but that was it. They were not dismissive, but they
were not helpful. That's not good enough in this situation," adds
Elkind.
When asked why an exemption was granted in a largely residential area,
Cossarini says in a large and vibrant city like Toronto, "certain
levels of noise are reasonable and reflect life in a densely populated
city."
"The Noise Bylaw balances the city's vibrancy with the needs of
residents and visitors and provides time restrictions and sound level
limits for various types of noise," she adds.
Community members also feel that the vast number of people the
festival hosts is inappropriate for the venue.
"I work in the music industry. I want to see festivals doing well and
artists getting those spots to entertain," says area resident Sara
Franczyk. "But this electronic music festival specifically is just, I
think, not the right [fit] for this park. This is definitely not the
right venue for a festival that large."
"It was twice as big as any other festival I've ever seen in this
location," adds Monfared. "I can say maybe it was three times as many
people than I'd ever seen at any other festival here."
The City of Toronto tells CityNews that Fort York has a capacity limit
of 6,800 people. This year's festival is being jointly hosted at Fort
York and The Bentway, with a combined capacity of 9,000.
"This is a huge number of people for that small area of land and the
washroom facilities for that number is impossible to be supplied,"
says Elkind. "No number of portable toilets can work. Last Labour Day,
people were urinating and defecating in the [area]. I was shocked to
witness this behavior."
"The area for Electric Island will be fenced off with security guards
at all entry points to ensure capacity limits are adhered to," says
Cossarini.
Monfared says that creates another problem — given the footprint of
the festival, the fenced off area reduces access to the park
considerably for several days.
"[Last year] for their setup, it was actually twice as long as any
other festival that sets up. So they took about two days to set up,
two days for the event and two days to tear down. So that's almost a
week that the park was closed … and I don't think that's fair," she
says.
"There's only so much green space in downtown Toronto. I think it's
definitely unfair to the tens of thousands of residents around this
park that they can't enjoy local green space on major weekends," adds
Franczyk.
Elkind and Monfared also believe the large crowds damaged the
greenspace and grounds.
"Because of the numbers of people, the grass was ruined and it has
never grown back [in some areas]," says Elkind.
"[The large crowd] contributed to the grass being completely
destroyed. It took until now, eight months later and some intervention
from the grounds people to fertilize to get the grass back," adds
Monfared.
In addition, they say the area was left a mess in the aftermath of the
festival.
"We noticed that compared to other festivals, there was a more amount
of garbage left over after the event," says Franczyk.
"I believe that there wasn't even an attempt to clean up. There were
cigarette butts and bottle caps everywhere," says Monfared. "There was
a sign from the event that was left basically in the park across the
bridge for three weeks that a neighbourhood resident had to remove. So
I just think that their lack of consideration for the environment and
for the residents, it kind of left more of a sour taste in everyone's
mouth."
"While waste management is the responsibility of the third-party
organizer, City staff will support with site clean-up following large-
scale events, including filling in holes, removing remaining garbage
and conducting any damage assessments," says Cossarini.
"As organizers, we work closely with the City to ensure we are
operating in accordance with the guidelines set," says Platform
Entertainment, the organizers of Electric Island.
Malik says they will ensure that "cleanup and remediation of Fort York
are promptly completed."
But Monfared has little faith in those assurances and says that zip
ties that held the festival fencing together last September can still
be found on the grounds today.
"You can find them going into a circle of where the fence was set up,"
she says.
Zip ties found in May 2024, where festival fencing was installed in
September 2023. CITYNEWS/Dilshad Burman
As the May long weekend approaches, Elkind says she's dreading the
return of the festival.
"[Last year] the noise level was deafening … it was pounding and it
was impossible to get any rest," she says. "I would like them to move
it. I think that the number of residents and the demographics here has
changed tremendously. I think they have to move these type of
festivals to other locations."
Cossarini says if the proper permits and mitigation plans are in
place, "Fort York remains a desirable location for organizers looking
to host outdoor events in downtown Toronto."
"Festivals of all kinds are critical to the cultural vibrancy and
economic prosperity of Toronto and Fort York is a gathering place for
the many diverse people who call Toronto home and those who come to
visit our city," she says.
Monfared says she, Elkind and other residents are now putting together
a petition to present their concerns to the City of Toronto and
Councillor Malik collectively in the near future.
"I'm not against events … there's been events here for years, [but] I
think that it's a beautiful space. It's a national historic site … and
I think it should be respected."
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