NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
This past Sunday saw the first Lavender Wild Festival, focused on the 2SLGBTQ+ community, comprised of a pure 2SLGBTQ+ lineup, and provided a safe space for queers and friends. I was privileged to attend and photograph the festival on a beautiful afternoon at Echo Beach in Toronto.
While there were two stages, I primarily focused on the Sun Stage, where the first performer, Mohawk singer/songwriter Shawnee Kish, took the stage right at 2:30pm. Interestingly, she identifies as “two-spirit”, which is has much more implications that just being gay and an Indian. Check out her self-titled debut EP if you get the chance.
Next up was eighteen year old Jade LeMac from Vancouver who told the crowd that it was her first live performance ever. Moving non-stop back and forth across the stage, she had a few jittery moments but her voice has a very interesting trill at times. She explained that a lot of her songs were about heartbreak but that she was all good because she’s “wifed up”. She closed out with “Constellations”, a “very gay” song she wrote when she was fifteen!
Kaleena Zanders, the next artist, was the only performer on the Sun Stage who’s music could be considered EDM. That being said, it’s hard to lock her down to one particular genre. With her deck and mic, her vocals and infectious smile and jam brought a party to Echo Beach. I’m not a fan of current EDM music, my being past the age of partying at clubs, but I couldn’t help but bouncing along with Zanders’ music!
One thing I noticed while walking the grounds was all the joy I saw in everyone’s faces all day. There were no conflicts or negativity, just lots of smiles, hugs, kisses and holding hands. What an incredible event and celebration!
How can you beat having a drum solo opening a set? You can’t and that’s exactly what G Flip (aka Georgia Claire Flipo) did. Immediate pandemonium! It was the first performance in Canada for the Australian musician and she made it a good one! Besides an amazing cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie”, she also debuted a new song “Worst Person Alive”!
The Aces gave us the one taste of indie rock on the schedule. Dressed in matching gray suits, the band played just two days after releasing their third studio album “I’ve Loved You For So Long”. Their set, while fun, probably received the largest crowd reaction during their cover of the Who’s “My Generation”. They’ll be back in Toronto in October as part of their US tour after their European tour.
Almost seeming like a break between the high energy of G Flip and the upcoming Hayley Kiyoko, singer/songwriter Daya took the stage and gave the crowd a chance the breathe. She elicited a very positive audience response but didn’t hit the right buttons for me personally. Interestingly, after the third song, she admitted that she had strep throat, making it harder for her to sing. That may have been something she could have let the fans at the barricade or the photographers in the pit know beforehand.
Hayley Kiyoko, while playing second to last, almost felt like the headliner. The “lesbian Jesus” (as dubbed by her fans), had been nominated for a 2023 GLAAD Media Award Outstanding Music Artist and had just completed her tour through Europe and North America. In fact, she had played at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto just the prior week! She played a high energy often times choreographed set, flanked by two dancers, making for an extremely enjoyable set. The biggest cheers and singalong came with, what else, “Girls Like Girls”. Oddly enough, it seems a number of audience members left after Kiyoko exited and before the final act of the night.
Dark lighting and smoke preceeded girl in red’s (aka Marie Ulven Ringheim) entrance. If Hayley Kiyoko’s set was high energy, girl in red came with two additional shots of adrenaline in each arm!! For much of the first two songs, she ran back and forth across the stage, allowing you to barely get a glimpse of her shadow before she moved away! Her band was much the same, headbanging almost in unison! She elicited much laughter as she indicated that she had just gotten her period so we would really be getting a “girl in red” this evening! She told a harrowing story about witnessing a car accident, apologizing for putting the crowd in a somber mood. She changed that right away by kicking it up a notch and brought the festival to an appropriate conclusion by crowd surfing amongst her many fans. The inaugural Lavender Wild Festival was a joy and so much fun to attend. I hope to be there again next year!
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