Way Home, the Canadian music festival akin to Coachella, with its top-notch curated programming, art installations, Ferris wheel and choice cuisine, won't be returning in 2018. "This isn't goodbye, just see you later," organizers said on the fest's Facebook page.
The message on social media about the hiatus is followed by this sentiment: "A sense of calm comes from a PAUSE. It can be a simple moment to take a much needed breath or an opportunity to reflect, reassess and reimagine. A PAUSE is equal parts necessary & important."
In a statement, Eva Dunford, co-founder and partner of Republic Live, said, "After much consideration, we have made the difficult decision to push pause on the 2018 edition, to allow us to reflect, re-assess and re-imagine the event. We want to thank all of our fans, artists, staff, vendors, sponsors, suppliers, partners, and community members. We sincerely appreciate your support and participation over the last three years to create a truly special festival."
Way Home was founded by Stan and Eva Dunford in 2015, making a spectacular debut at their 585-acre Burl's Creek Event Grounds with headliners Neil Young, Sam Smith and Kendrick Lamar and dozens more on multiple stages; the venue north of Toronto also accommodated on-site camping. The second year featured LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire and The Killers and drew 35,000 people, according to the release.
This summer's edition included Frank Ocean, Solange, Imagine Dragons and Flume.
WayHome Music and Arts was awarded a Live Music Industry Award for major festival of the year during 2017 Canadian Music Week, as well as the 2016 New Kid on the Block (best new festival) award.
Founded in 2011 in Toronto, Republic Live will continue to produce concerts and events next summer and "expand on the functionality" of Burl's Creek Event Grounds venue, owned by Stan Dunford. The three day country-focused Boots and Hearts Music Festival is also staged there annually.
"The custom-designed 600+ acre site is beyond comparison to others in this area. We have a huge opportunity to develop music and other events at Burl's Creek and will focus on these prospects over the next year and into the future," says David Cuddy, CFO, Republic Live.