Arts & Culture

Canadian Music Week relaunches as Departure Festival + Conference

Long-time music festival adds food, comedy and more with name change

By: NEXT Magazine

From left to right: Jackie Dean, Chief Operating Officer of Loft Entertainment; Tom Pistore President of OVG Canada; Kevin Barton, Executive Producer, Loft Entertainment and Randy Lennox, co-founder and CEO of Loft Entertainment Photo credit: George Pimentel

The new owners of Canadian Music Week (CMW), Toronto’s Loft Entertainment and the U.S.-based Oak View Group (OVG), announced on Tuesday a major rebranding of the festival and expansion of its mandate with the relaunch of the event as Departure Festival + Conference to be held May 6 to 11, 2025, at Hotel X.

The expanded event will now include comedy, food and technology in addition to music, with other programming to be added in future years.

The Denver-based OVG and Loft Exertainment bought CMW from founder Neill Dixon earlier this year. Dixon launched the festival in 1982 with a music and radio industry conference a key element in addition to the music festival. Dixon will be honoured at the 2025 event. OVG was launched by U.S. industry heavy-hitters Irving Azoff and Tim Leiweke in 2015.

“Departure honours where we’ve come from and celebrates where we are going,” said Kevin Barton, executive producer at Loft Entertainment, at the launch event held at Hotel X Tuesday. “We’re creating a launchpad that opens doors to deeper, more inclusive conversations and showcases the richness of Toronto’s cultural scene, celebrates Canadian creatives and welcomes global artists. We invite industry professionals, music and arts lovers and festival-goers to experience the event in a whole new way.”

In addition to Barton, key Departure team members at the launch event included: Randy Lennox, co-founder and CEO of Loft Entertainment; Tom Pistore, president of OVG Canada; and Jackie Dean, chief operating officer of Loft Entertainment. The launch event also welcomed Comedian Russell Peters as a special guest.

Artist applications open on Fri., Nov. 22, and, new this year, there is no fee to apply. Bands will also now receive paid honorariums for showcase performances. Passes will go on early-bird sale on Fri., Nov. 22.

The new festival dates in early May are a change from CMW’s previous spot — the first week of June, one week before North by Northeast (NXNE). NXNE’s 2025 dates are June 11 to 15 as the festival celebrates its 30th anniversary.