History was made as the first ever Rolling Loud made its debut in Toronto Canada. Many artists from Canada performed at the three-day festival, including several artists from Drakes record label, OVO Sound. The festival was held at Ontario Place, September 9th-11th.
Day one started off with a ton of excitement, with attendees lined up hours before the doors opened. They were greeted by several activation sets, food trucks, merchandise and of course, three stages with back to back sets throughout the day. Whether you had a general admission ticket or were in VIP, everyone had the option to try different festivities on-site. Play some hoops to win prizes, cool down at the SiriusXM Oasis, join the beer garden for Zen vibes, get unique rap snacks at the trap market, or hangout at the cereal bar! In the VIP sections, there were FREE hair and beauty treatments, barber cuts, and tattoos.
Some featured artist on day one included A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Rae Sremmurd, Roy Wood$, Lil Skies, Kaash Paige, and Dave.
Back for day two, fans continued to line outside the gates. Many were hyped for Future’s performance with the hope of Drake making a special appearance. Once the doors open, people flooded to the main staged to try and get the best spot. Several fans held their spot for over 7 hours. While waiting for the final set, Canada’s very own Smiley, Pressa, and Tory Lanez kept the fans on their feet. Roddy Ricch, and Skepta also took the main stage. And although Drake did not show up, Future delivered, and iconicity rose from beneath the stage and had the crowd jumping the entire time.
One the last and final day, more Canadian artist such Nav, Pengz, and Killy all came out to party with Toronto. Being the last day, it was only right to make day three a movie. If you were brave enough to squeeze in with the majority of the crowds, you encountered mosh pits, friendly water fights and chanting. Although mosh pits were encouraged, the artist also spoke to fans about the safety of everyone around them. Some artist even stopped the show to check up on fans. Wizkid, who is internationally known for his hit single “One Dance” ft Drake, closed out the festival and set the tone for potentially a year two!
Rolling Loud’s Co-Founders, Matt Zingler and Tariq Cherif, wanted Rolling Loud to be the Disneyland of hip hop…and I’d say…they did just that! Fans from all over came to Toronto rocking the exclusive merch and vibing out to their favorite artist. The experience was like no other. At the end of it all, fans were already saying they were looking forward to coming back next year.
For more info, visit their official website at RollingLoud.com.
Words & photos by Felisha Carrasco
