This weekend’s Escapade Music Festival will be setting up at the Rideau-Carleton Raceway, rather than the former Nepean Equestrian Park, as originally planned.
The electronic and dance music festival was initially expected to be held at what is now known as Wesley Clover Parks on Corkstown Road but ended up announcing the venue change on June 13 — just 15 days before the June 28 and 29 festival was set to kick off. Performances on June 30 and July 1 that were scheduled for clubs and the ByWard Market are continuing as planned.
Maninder Virk, marketing director for concert promoter DNA Presents, said they chose the new site when it became apparent Wesley Clover Parks couldn’t meet all their logistical needs at this time.
“This is the first event of this type ever being held on those grounds,” said Virk. “We felt that it wasn’t going to be to the standards that would allow us to execute a world-class festival.”
Virk said the Wesley Clover site still has great potential and they intend to consider it again in the future once more infrastructure is added.
Virk said it was unfortunate DNA Presents couldn’t give more notice about the change in venue, but he said they didn’t want to create confusion about the concert site until the change was finalized.
It is not the first move for the festival. The original Escapade was held at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and it has also been held at Ottawa’s baseball stadium. Last year it was held at the RA Centre on Riverside Drive.
The move initially upset some concert goers who had already booked hotels or campsites near the original concert site, but DNA Presents is offering a free shuttle service to and from the venue from six or seven locations in the west end for people who are affected.
Organizers invite concert goers who find themselves in that situation to email the festival at shuttle@escapademf.com for more information.
