Vlog: Joe Fresh x WayHome 2015

welcome to the longest post you will see on here to date. i can’t promise it won’t happen again but hopefully it’ll inspire that wanderlust you’ve been waiting for. sometimes what we need is a little bit of inspiration to get up and go.

my inspiration came in the form of an invite to join joe fresh at this years first annual wayhome music festival. it was so much more than just an opportunity to travel. we get to go to toronto at least a couple times a year for work and welcome every chance we get to visit with friends while we are there. this time around it was a little different. it was a trip of a lot of firsts. it was my first time to a music festival, it was tyler’s first time to toronto with time to spare for exploring and it was both of our first times there during the summer. we quickly fell in love. and ok, we can totally see why the world is in love with it too. its perfect location (right between the west coast and europe) allows it to get the best of both continents. it’s so open to the rest of the world and you can spot the differences straight away. there just is so much more of everything. in the two days we were there we felt a little overwhelmed with how much was going on. let’s face it, winter in canada isn’t an attractive prospect no matter where you are. but summer is a whole other ball game it seems.

the first two days we spent kicking around the city and doing meetings. we finally made our way to ossington, checked out bang bang ice cream, mamaka’s and crafted. we ate our way through barton snacks and of course shopped. we got to see the beautifully set up nathan phillips square during the pan am games and visit the toronto island. all first experiences and already we can’t wait to do them again.

renting a car and driving around toronto is definately a must but is it ever a challenge to park. the whole two days we were there we managed to rack up three parking tickets. in the grand scheme of things it probably ended up costing us less than actually paying for parking to begin with. the tiny chevy spark we rented at times felt like a clown car but it got us from a to b with no additional drama (if you follow on snapchat @ania_boniecka you will remember those comical moments).

we were on our way to the wayhome grounds, about an hour and a half away from toronto in oro-medonte, to a substantial sized field reminiscent of woodstock and coachella. it’s super weird navigating your way through a new place, especially where you don’t know anyone (yet!). after a couple of hiccups upon arrival we finally made our way through crowded camp grounds to our little oasis, the vip glamping area! another first! we were blown away by how adorable everything waiting for us was. president’s choice decked out our living quarters with robes, snacks and festival survival supplies (totally like they read my blog!). it was like being in a scene from a wes anderson movie! pure magic.

i packed my suitcase full of joe fresh. there were endless pairs of shorts, tops and shoes. i ended up wearing my rubber boots almost the entire time because it was quite dusty (with a chance of rain) and feet freshly after a pedicure don’t need all that extra stress. we ended up brining a little too much, but that is rarely ever a problem. what is better than going to a music festival is going to a music festival as a blogger. the amount of photo ops and backdrops are endless. in a way a real challenge. see how many shots you manage to get in the span of only three days. yikes!

we ended up shooting something every day and having so much fun doing it. we ran into many familiar faces and the adventure of getting there seemed like a million miles away. drake hotel pimped out the vip barn and provided some mouth watering food for those with access. the experience was beyond perfect! the bar was raised so high that to experience any festival without all these perks is out of the question.

joe fresh provided all in attendance an oasis away from the stage to recharge + refresh. a charging station with some comfy seating was all that was needed to fill the place with festival goers dying for some juice. it quickly became a popular spot and my favourite at the festival… because wi-fi. another one of my fave spots that weekend was the silent disco, yes you read that right. a quiet, fenced off area for people to come and dance their hearts desires as they listen, through a set of headphones to the dj playing just a few feet away. it’s a really bizarre experience when you first stumble on it. i think they limited the party to night time hours but the djs were so good it could have easily been a 24 hour type of situation.

with acts like neil young, modest mouse, sloan, the sheepdogs, kendrick lamar and a surprise concert from the broken social scene, wayhome is on it’s way to becoming one of canada’s top music festivals. thanks to joe fresh our experience was unforgettable, and stylish. we walked away with so many great memories we are already counting down the days till next year.

of course it wouldn’t be a trip without making a video for you guys and sharing the experience first hand, with sound, inside out and front to back. hopefully we covered everything + more pics below. enjoy. xoxo

wearing: joe fresh

all photos by tyler stalman, ania boniecka + phil crozier