Guess what happens when you have DIVINE, Haji Springer, Sunny Malton, Byg Byrd, PropheC, Manj Music, Amar Sandhu, Pranna, Roach Killa among several other talented musicians at 1 single festival venue? – A RIOT. A riot so big that the streets of downtown, Toronto, were shut down to accommodate this wonderful, musical riot in the heart of the city at the world-renowned Younge-Dundas Square.
DesiFEST made Toronto look like Diwali when these artists took center stage and proved that the world is indeed ready to resonate with the urban South Asian sound.
Founded in 2006, desiFEST Music Festival is one of Canada’s biggest celebrations of South Asian urban culture and beyond – a multi-disciplinary, world-class festival with a positive social and economic impact. Canadian Entrepreneur and DJ, Sats B, & his team at DesiFest perfected the craft of hosting this event every year for the past 12 years – no wonder, everything went like clockwork!
The non-profit, youth-powered platform designed show was staged in the heart of the city at Yonge-Dundas Sq. Usually all music festivals which are affiliated with such big names and have such an expected foot fall are prone to a few elements of mismanagement but not desiFEST. The 12th edition of desiFEST was one of the few festivals in which the artists had a time as good as the audience did. The festivals catered to plethora of genres ranging from RnB, Pop, EDM as well as Hip-Hop.
Sunny Malton and Byg Byrd had the crowd chanting, “I am a Brown Boy” with their electric set. Haji Springer lit up the crowd alongside DJayRaf and rapped his most popular singles and tracks – including Koi Ni Parwa, Sunjay Dutt, Gang Gang, and many more. This was also Slyck TwoshadeZ’s debut performance in North American soil and he killed it with a fast-paced rhythmic flow.
Divine was welcomed with #GullyGang chants and made Toronto natives bump to his unadulterated gully flows. As the Gully-rapper took to the stage, he had the Toronto-fans locked in! PropheC was another artist who stole the show at this year’s Desi Fest; & of course, he wowed the ladies with his hits and left them begging for more.
Roach Killa was one of the headlining artists who performed alongside his band and had the audiences swaying from left to right. The guys at DesiFest also had a dope surprise for their fans when they brought on Manj Musik. And, Manj did what he does best – he shut down the spot with his intense energy on stage!
Besides all the sick artists on stage, the DJs who spun throughout the day deserves a lot of credit as well. XD Pro’s DJ DMS, DJ Prodigy, DJayRaf, and A-Slam rocked the stage alongside the performers and made sure the crowd got what they came for!
desiFEST is going to be remembered as one of the biggest nights in the South Asian Music scene and a testimony to the fact that it music can indeed be a powerful source of fostering unity. Exclusive videos and compilations of the performances are coming soon, but until then, enjoy our exclusive gallery below, and social media posts about #DesiFest.
DesiFest on Social Media