By Will McGuirk
The third annual Four Winds Music Fest takes place north of the Town of Durham, at Riverstone Retreat Friday July 13 through to Sunday July 13 2025. This year the headline acts include The Strumbellas and the Sadies. Other acts on the bill are The Weather Station, Cat Clyde, Skye Wallace, Melissa Payne, and Stephen Stanley plus so many more. The festival, it would seem to me would appeal to those familiar with Mariposa, Hillside, Elora River Fest, Cultivate, or Tall Pines, and as that includes me I said to myself, self lets reach out to the Four Winds folks and find out whats the what and the first thing I found out was there’s actually three behind the Four.
CEO Ariana Dalie, originally from Nicaragua and Executive Creative Director Craig Smith of the band ONTARIANS, met in Collingwood at a house concert. That meet resulted in the formation of the The Happiness Mafia, a live music production company.
“The initial idea for Four Winds Music Fest grew organically from The Happiness Mafia,” says Dalie by email.
Friend and now FW partner, Jeremy Rhodes, Executive Director of Elephant Thoughts *, offered the location: Riverstone Retreat in the Town of Durham.
“Craig, a seasoned musician, producer, and singer-songwriter, had firsthand experience with the difficulties talented bands faced in breaking into the festival scene. Since we were already producing shows at various venues, Jeremy's offer to use Riverstone was our green light to move forward with Four Winds,” says Dalie
Moving forward from dream to reality did present challenges of course for the trio but with their connections already in the music community, lining up bands wasn’t, as one might think one of those challenges. No, letting people know there were bands on a stage in the resort was and is the biggie.
“Curating the lineup is the most exciting part of this job, especially with the wealth of Canadian talent available,” says Dalie. “Since we'd been producing shows for about a year before putting together our first Four Winds lineup, most major artists' agencies were already familiar with our work. The biggest hurdle for any new festival is securing production funding and letting people know we exist.”
Four Winds have existed for three years now and past line-ups have included Bahamas, Joel Plaskett, Great Lake Swimmers, Sarah Harmer, and Elliott Brood. The focus is on rockin’ roots music. The festival has only grown from those roots but there’s no reason to rest on their maple-tinged laurels. Every day is an education, and the lessons are stacking up. Daile offers this advice for anyone contemplating getting into the biz of fests.
“We've learned that we are always learning,” she says. “Be open to pivoting, and gather a team of people who also care about live music. Know your audience, know your music. Build relationships with all stakeholders.”
So my lesson for you all out there in the slowcity is the same; build relationships, and you can start building one with this festival. See where the Four Winds may carry you.
*. Elephant Thoughts is an organisation which works with primarily Indigenous, new Canadian, homeless, Inner City, and LGBTQ2S youth to guide them towards their full potential as global citizens and leaders.