Oshawa Music Week is five months away but Durham College’s Music Business students are already organizing the event.
The annual celebration of local music is a year-long culminating project involving students across the Music Business program.
The festival, which started 27 years ago, typically runs for close to a week, featuring live concerts, a songwriting competition, a World Music Festival and a music industry summit.
From booking performers and securing venues to managing budgets and promoting concerts, students are responsible for much of the behind-the-scenes planning that brings the event to life.
Rania Watts, who served as the administration and sponsorship team lead for Oshawa Music Week last April, said organizing the event requires months of preparation.
“It takes about 4-5 months to gather all the required contracts and licenses and that’s before any of the acts are signed,” she said.
Watts said securing sponsors and donors is one of the most important parts of organizing the event, as funding is essential to making Oshawa Music Week possible.
Second-year student Parker Bright expects to take on a lead administrative role for the upcoming event, overseeing finances and coordinating with different planning teams.
“We got to find venues, local venues,” said Bright. “Last year, we used Bond Street, the Atria, and actually Durham College is one of the venues.”
However, organizing live music events does not always go according to plan.
Bright recalled an incident during last year’s Oshawa Music Week when a band cancelled approximately 15 minutes before doors opened, forcing organizers to adjust their plans.
For second-year student Matthew Doyle, one of the biggest lessons from last year was the importance of communication between students.
“I think communication between us and the first years [students] is probably the main thing,” said Doyle. “Last year, the second years [students] kind of ran with their own ideas, and they kind of pushed our ideas to the side.”
The students behind Oshawa Music Week are also hoping to improve the festival’s promotion and attract more attention from the Durham College community.
Tyson Steacy, who worked on photography and videography during last year’s event, plans to continue producing visual content while helping increase awareness of the festival.
Meanwhile, Amrit Gill plans to use the Framed Frequency Podcast to promote performers and encourage ticket sales.
“I’m definitely going to be using that to promote whatever artists we have performing for Oshawa Music Week,” said Gill.
Balancing event planning with schoolwork and employment can also be challenging.
Watts said staying organized helped her manage her responsibilities during last year’s event.
“My lists have lists. Each week, I would write a new one to make sure nothing falls through the cracks,” said Watts.
Despite the challenges, students see Oshawa Music Week as an opportunity to gain practical experience while supporting emerging artists and local music venues.
“The whole point is to highlight the music industry with emerging artists and that it’s important to support live music venues,” said Watts.
Oshawa Music Week is expected to run from April 5-11 next year but this date is not yet confirmed, according to Doyle.