Veld Music Festival is one of Toronto’s biggest outdoor music festivals and this year’s edition of the rap-electronic hybrid festival was no different. Thousands of eager festival-goers occupied nearly the entirety of Toronto’s Downsview Park for two whole days to witness performances from the likes of DJ Snake, Migos, Martin Garrix, A$AP Ferg and many more.
The first day of Veld 2018 saw a cancellation from upcoming rapper Lil Xan (due to stress and anxiety) but the issue was quickly resolved as hometown hero and upcoming R&B star Roy Woods took his place. The festival featured three unique stages set-ups – the main stage, Hennessy Artistry Sound Stage and Sirkus Tent – where a combination of prominent electronic and hip hop artists performed including Egyptian trance duo Aly & Fila, XO-signed Toronto rap artists 88Glam and NAV, American trap DJ NGHTMRE, New York rap sensation A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and more.
The night concluded with extremely loud and visually stimulating performances from DJ Snake and Migos – the latter arriving on stage just thirty minutes before the government-imposed sound curfew. It was not a long set from the American rap trio (they were cut off at 11:05 pm) but it was filled with banger after banger after banger including “Slippery,” “Bad and Boujee,” “Narcos,” “Motorsport” and “Stir Fry.”
Day 2 of Veld 2018 featured hotter temperatures, a doubling of the festival’s water resources (later a literal sprinkler) and another slew of artists like Toronto DJ Unimerce (and a surprise appearance from rapper Jazz Cartier), young rap sensations Lil Yachty and Smokepurpp, Norwegian house artist Alan Walker, Toronto’s own underground rap sensation Killy and American DJ (and human bobblehead) Marshmello.
As if anyone had any more energy after all that, the Hennessy Sound Stage welcomed Harlem’s own A$AP Ferg for ground shaking performances of hits like “Plain Jane,” “Work,” “Shabba,” “Trap and a Dream” and finished his set wearing a Canadian flag. The festivities were concluded with an epic set from Dutch DJ/producer Martin Garrix – and several rounds of fireworks and pyrotechnics. Garrix also treated the crowd to an emotional 1o minute-long tribute to his recently deceased friend and fellow DJ Avicii.
Photos by VisualBass Photography (Tobias Wang, Eddie Kha, Drew Yorke, Zach Macpherson, Wendy Wei, Will Selviz)