MUSIC

Thunder Bay’s biggest music festival returned for its seventh year. This year’s Wake the Giant brought in some millennial heavy hitters, including Flo Rida, The Wallflowers, and Plain White T’s, plus Tia Wood, Shawnee Kish, Lov, and Juno Award winner Sebastian Gaskin. Check out the photos below for a feel of the day from the music, culture and tradition, and fun times in the crowd.

A festival that was never actually intended to become a festival at all, originating as a ragtag family-and-friend pig roast that took on a mind of its own and snowballed into something widely beloved and inconceivably extravagant: Tumblestone Music & Art Festival.

Deep in the heart of Thunder Bay’s downtown, you’ll find brothers Ryan and Nic MacDonald’s recording studio and jam space, the place where The Honest Heart Collective has spent over a decade making music. Now, the Thunder Bay based band is returning with their newest album Sheer Will, scheduled to release on September 18. 

There was nothing “blue” about last weekend.

Blues in the Ballpark came to Port Arthur Stadium, bringing two unforgettable days of world-class blues and blues rock to one of Thunder Bay’s most unique concert venues. Previously held as Bluesfest at Marina Park, it had been seven years since the city hosted an event of this scale dedicated to the genre.

When we talked to Killswitch Engage lead singer Jesse Leach last month ahead of their Thunder Bay tour stop, he said he’s only heard “legends and stories” about how rowdy a Thunder Bay metal show gets.

We think it’s safe to say he found out firsthand just how legendary a Thunder Bay crowd is.

Killswitch Engage is spending plenty of time on Canadian highways this month, but for lead singer Jesse Leach, it’s not long enough. The American metal band is on a two-month tour, with the first couple of weeks seeing them hit stages across Canada (including a return to the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium).

red flag flowers was recorded with a team of musicians in Thunder Bay and Sudbury from September 2025 to March 2026. The EP is a tribute to the breakups Houston has had in their 20s, with each song telling the story of a “different type of relationship” or “situation” they went through.

For singer/songwriter Kris Tonkens, the creative act is a political one. Their newest EP Predators, which was released back in March, is a political and personal introspection, reflecting on their private life, the struggles of living in a femme-presenting body, and rising political tensions in North America.

Hicks is scheduled to release a new album, the follow-up to 2022’s Talk to Time, this month. And he’ll be bringing his new music on the tour that will see him return to Thunder Bay in a few weeks.

After spending years working within the traditional music industry, Juno Award nominee Bazini has stepped into a more independent path—a path that has given him space to slow down and reconnect with how he actually likes to write and perform.

The snow in the forecast might have you down, but a sunny concert led by vocalist and producer Carly Martin in the tropical atmosphere of the Centennial Botanical Conservatory promises a much needed afternoon of warmth and community.