Digital Dreams Music Festival 2016

Digital Dreams Music Festival is a 2 day electronic music festival held in Toronto, Ontario at Ontario Place.  The 2016 edition is the 5th year in a row that it has taken place and starting in 2017, the event has been re-branded as Dreams Music Festival and is for ages 19+ where previously it was 16+.  I was in the middle of attending different music festivals out of my own city, as I was just at EDC Vegas 2 weeks ago and heading to Ultra Japan in 2 months.  At Digital Dreams, we got to see DJ’s like Armin van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Knife Party, Borgore, Infected Mushroom and many more.

Getting There

Since we were staying at The Chelsea Hotel on Gerrard Street, we thought about an hour walk to Ontario Place was doable.  We did not have to bother trying to get an accessible cab or transferring to a regular cab.  The weather was great and we got to see the sights of Toronto as we get to our destination.  Sidewalks and curb cuts were great and there were no issues with accessibility at all.  There is limited parking available at Ontario Place but you have to pay a flat rate.  Trains and buses lead to Exhibition station and then it is a 8 minute walk to Ontario Place.

about an 1 hour stroll from hotel to the music festival

Things To Bring

There is a full list of recommended items to bring to the festival on the Digital Dreams website like a sealed water bottle, sealed packaged foods etc.  I made sure to bring my medications that are blistered in a pack with my name attached on it.  Since general admission ticket holders are not allowed re-entry to this music festival, I made sure I am prepared to stay there for the day.  The event runs from 2pm to about 11pm both nights.  The weather gets pretty hot in the day, but by night it is best to have a hoodie in my wheelchair bag ready.

made it to Ontario Place

Banned Items

Again, there is a full list of banned items on their website.  Open medication is a banned item so if you have certain medications that are not blistered and sealed, it is best to contact someone from the festival to deal with that matter.  It is highly recommended you check out this list cause you will have to either confiscate your banned items or go back home to return the items.

Accessibility Of Ontario Place

Ontario Place is a park, an entertainment and exhibition venue and consists of 3 islands all connected by bridges.  This music festival consists of 3 stages.  The main stage called Dreams Stage, TD Echo Beach complete with a sand pit and an enclosed Bacardi House.  Dreams Stage and Echo Beach both had a wheelchair raised viewing platform.  Since Echo Beach had sand in front of the stage, my powerchair could not get up closer to the stage at all.  The accessible viewing platform was great, but I didn’t use this area much because their wasn’t really any DJ’s I wanted to see there.

accessible viewing platform at Echo Beach stage

I didn’t use the accessible viewing platform at Dreams Stage because I wanted to be with friends and other people around us.  Bacardi House was a smaller stage so there was no separate wheelchair area.  Luckily everyone was really nice and let me and my friends up a little closer to the stage.

hanging out at Bacardi House stage

There was a section where there were a bunch of porta-potties that included a wheelchair accessible one.  Yes, everybody uses that bathroom too but it doesn’t bother me cause I didn’t need to use the bathroom that often during the music festival.  I didn’t see any single accessible porta-potties by the wheelchair viewing platforms like other festivals.

the 3 of us

Again, it was another great time checking out a music festival with my 2 buddies and was happy to make new friends.  Ontario Place was a great place to hold this type of event and all 3 stages were easily accessible.  I would like to come back and see how this festival has changed since it has been re-branded as Dreams Festival.  Another big thumbs up from me.

such a great time with my 2 buddies