Thunder Bay’s annual music festival Wake The Giant will take place this year on September 12, 2026, with a lineup that features the following musicians:

• Flo Rida
• The Wallflowers
• Plain White T’s
• Tia Wood
• Sebastian Gaskin
• Shawnee Kish
• LOV

From its inception, Wake The Giant has been envisioned as a way to welcome Thunder Bay’s Indigenous student population, who arrive each September from remote northern communities to attend school in the city.

Eric Gray, a student ambassador for the festival, came to Thunder Bay from Sandy Lake First Nation — his experience echoes that of many Indigenous teens who left their homes at a young age for schooling.

He says the festival “really does help the students feel more intertwined with the community.”

“When I first came to Thunder Bay, I was really scared,” he says. “But then I went to Wake the Giant for the first time in 2024. Being there, I felt like I don’t have to be afraid of Thunder Bay, you know? It isn’t that scary, I guess.”

Greg Chomut is a music teacher at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay, and one of Wake The Giant’s organizers.

He says proceeds from the festival are exclusively used to fund the event.

“Our goal every year is to keep ticket prices as low as possible for us to break even… If there is a little bit of extra, then that just allows us to book a bigger act next year,” he says.

This year’s event will be the last one for two years, as Thunder Bay’s marina will be undergoing construction over the course of 2027.

Tickets can be purchased from the Wake The Giant website.