Wake the Giant grew from a Thunder Bay storefront decal campaign into an 8,000-person festival welcoming Indigenous students
THUNDER BAY — INDIGENOUS NEWS — Wake the Giant may look like a major outdoor music festival, but its purpose reaches well beyond the stage at Thunder Bay’s waterfront.
The project began with a serious question: How could Thunder Bay become safer and more welcoming for Indigenous students who leave remote First Nations to attend high school in the city?
What started as a decal in local store windows has grown into student-orientation programming, cultural-awareness training and one of Northern Ontario’s largest annual music events.
On Saturday, September 12, 2026, Wake the Giant returns to the Thunder Bay waterfront for its seventh festival. Organizers expect approximately 8,000 people, and the official festival website lists general admission and VIP tickets as sold out.
The 2026 lineup includes Flo Rida, The Wallflowers, Plain White T’s, Tia Wood, Shawnee Kish, Sebastian Gaskin and Lov. Traditional drums, dancing, Indigenous food, artwork and cultural activities remain central to the event.
Why Wake the Giant Was Needed
Each year, young people from northern First Nations travel hundreds of kilometres to Thunder Bay for secondary school. Many are leaving their families and home communities for the first time.
Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, operated by the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council, serves students from First Nations across Northern Ontario.
Going to school in Thunder Bay can bring new opportunities, but it can also bring isolation, homesickness, culture shock and encounters with racism.
Wake the Giant developed in the years following the Seven Youth Inquest. The inquest examined the deaths of Jethro Anderson, Curran Strang, Paul Panacheese, Robyn Harper, Reggie Bushie, Kyle Morrisseau and Jordan Wabasse.
All seven died while attending high school in Thunder Bay, far from their families and communities.
After hearing from 146 witnesses, the inquest jury issued 145 recommendations in June 2016. The recommendations were intended to improve safety, education and accountability for First Nations students attending school away from home.
The Nishnawbe Aski Nation Seven Youth Inquest record provides the recommendations and progress reports.
The inquest did not create Wake the Giant by itself. However, DFC administrator Norma Kejick said 2019 that the campaign was a response to the inquest’s call for a safer and more inclusive city.
It Started With a Decal
The first Wake the Giant initiative was straightforward. Participating businesses and public spaces placed a brightly coloured Wake the Giant decal in a visible location.
The decal told Indigenous students that they were welcome inside and could seek help there if they felt unsafe.
DFC teacher Greg Chomut explained at the project’s launch that students had reported being followed in stores or treated as suspected shoplifters. Parents in northern communities were also worried about sending their children to Thunder Bay because of racism and the city’s national reputation.
More than 100 businesses joined the program during its early launch in March 2019. Organizers initially hoped to reach 150.
By the time the first festival was held, more than 300 businesses had displayed the decal.
The project was developed by DFC educators Greg Chomut, Sean Spenrath and A.J. Haapa with guidance from students, school leadership and Elder John Gagnon. Their work received a Thunder Bay Community Safety Award in 2019.
The name draws on the Sleeping Giant—Nanabijou—which can be seen across Thunder Bay’s harbour. The message was that the wider community needed to wake up, recognize racism and take responsibility for creating change.
Turning the Message Into a Music Festival
Organizers realized a decal campaign could reach businesses and their customers, but a music festival could carry the message to thousands of people who might never attend a formal reconciliation meeting.
The first Wake the Giant Music Festival was held at Marina Park on September 14, 2019.
Its lineup brought Indigenous and non-Indigenous performers together. Metric headlined a bill that included July Talk, Ernest Monias, Coleman Hell, Wolf Saga, Ansley Simpson, Nick Ferrio and Luke Warm and the Cold Ones.
DFC students also performed, including a memorable appearance with July Talk.
Approximately 3,500 people attended the first festival.
The festival gave Indigenous performers access to a large mainstream audience. It also placed First Nations students at the centre of an event meant to welcome them—not at the edge of another discussion about problems and statistics.
The Pandemic Interrupted—but Did Not End—the Event
Wake the Giant was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival returned in September 2021 with health restrictions, including vaccination or testing requirements. The lineup included Jessie Reyez, Loud Luxury, Third Eye Blind, iskwē, DJ Shub with Northern Cree, William Prince and Nick Sherman.
In 2022, the festival expanded again with Our Lady Peace, Steve Aoki, Aqua, Digging Roots, Neon Dreams, Crown Lands, Aysanabee and the Young Spirit Singers.
Each year brought a larger mix of touring acts, Indigenous artists, local performers, cultural presentations, food vendors, an Indigenous craft market and family activities.
From 3,500 People to Crowds of 8,000
Attendance figures show how quickly Wake the Giant has grown.
The first festival attracted approximately 3,500 people in 2019. In 2025, it grew to attendance of more than 8,000.
For 2026, organizers prepared for another crowd of approximately 8,000. Only about 700 tickets remained at the beginning of May, and tickets were later listed as sold out.
That growth has made Wake the Giant an important tourism event as well as a cultural gathering. Visitors support hotels, restaurants, transportation services and other businesses during the festival weekend.
Ontario provided $55,000 through the Experience Ontario program for the 2025 event, describing Wake the Giant as a festival that attracts visitors, celebrates Indigenous culture and contributes to the local economy.
Attendance, however, is not the only measure of success. The more important test is whether Indigenous students feel safer, supported and welcome throughout the entire school year.
More Than One Day at the Waterfront
Wake the Giant describes itself as Canada’s largest student-focused cultural-awareness project.
Its work includes:
- The community decal program;
- Cultural-awareness training for businesses and organizations;
- Student-orientation activities;
- The DFC Experience and Amazing Race, which help students learn about Thunder Bay;
- Opportunities for DFC students to perform and participate; and
- The annual music and cultural festival.
The music draws people through the gates. Once inside, festivalgoers encounter traditional drums, jingle-dress dancers, a Round Dance, Indigenous artists, food, teachings and students from northern communities.
Tickets also help support Indigenous youth and the continuing work of the project, according to the official Wake the Giant website.
A Celebration With a Continuing Responsibility
Wake the Giant has helped Thunder Bay show a different side of itself: a city capable of gathering around Indigenous youth, celebrating their cultures and openly rejecting racism.
That achievement should be recognized. It should not, however, be mistaken for evidence that racism or the risks facing students have disappeared.
A festival cannot replace safe housing, responsible policing, dependable transportation, mental-health care, student supervision or accountability from governments and institutions.
A decal is meaningful only when the people behind the window are prepared to act when someone needs help.
The lasting value of Wake the Giant is that it gives Thunder Bay residents a role. Reconciliation is not left solely to First Nations, schools or governments. Businesses, musicians, volunteers, families and festivalgoers are asked to help create the welcome they say they support.
From approximately 300 storefront decals and 3,500 festivalgoers in 2019 to a sold-out 8,000-person event in 2026, Wake the Giant has clearly grown.
The next measure of progress is harder: whether every Indigenous student arriving in Thunder Bay can feel that same welcome on an ordinary winter evening, long after the waterfront stage has gone dark.
Wake the Giant 2026
Date: Saturday, September 12, 2026
Location: Thunder Bay waterfront
Expected attendance: Approximately 8,000
Ticket status: Listed as sold out
Presented by: Northern Nishnawbe Education Council
