Sommo Festival

In 2024, HAFILAX made the trek over the Confederation Bridge en route to Cavendish to attend the sophomore edition of Sommo Festival.  Last year, we were a team of one, with your friendly neighbourhood concert photographer also handling writing duties.  For that trek, my oldest tagged along, and she spent the weekend hanging out with some family members who were also in attendance.  Noah Kahan was headlining, and as one of the biggest artists in the world, his show brought one of the wildest crowds I’ve experienced in my concert-going years.  That intensity was evident from the moment we reached the festival grounds, and during Noah’s set, it caused a great deal of parental stress, being separated and all

The packed Sommo Festival grounds

For 2025, HAFILAX made the trek back to PEI and the bright red mud to once again attend the 3rd edition of the food and music festival, but this time, HAFILAX was a 2-person team, with my oldest joining the ranks as a fledgling concert photographer.  She has become something of a music junkie over the past few years, delving into my music collection while branching out with her own individual tastes and has started to amass her own music collection of CDs and vinyl.   For this trip, I armed her with a trusty Canon point and shoot, which would allow her to capture some b-roll coverage, and the telephoto zoom would enable her to capture some shots of the on-stage action.    She would also be tasked with writing a review of her experiences.    While the initial plan focused on her capturing b-roll footage and writing a review, she was lucky enough to get her first taste of the photo pit to boot. 

Here are her thoughts on Day 1 of the 2025 edition of the Sommo Festival, as well as a gallery of shots she captured during the opening day.   Without further ado, here are Claire’s unadulterated thoughts (and shots from Saturday):

And just like that, the first day of Sommo fest 2025 comes to a close, and with it, I believe, was one of, if not the best, weathered festival days I have ever seen. This is the first festival I’ve ever been a part of the media team for, and Sommo is the best place to start. I’ve had my father’s old camera since I was maybe seven, though I never really took to photography. Once Hozier was announced for Sommo, I figured maybe I could go and try my hand at taking concert photos, and if it ended up not being my thing, at least I would still have a killer weekend. I never really thought I would be any good at taking photos, especially on a camera significantly older than I am, but once I was on festival grounds, with a camera in my hand, and photo pit access, things sort of changed. My photos aren’t great, not even by a landslide, but I put in the effort, and maybe one day I could size up to the photos the people who inspire me, like my father, take. This might have been the first concert I’m photographing, but I really hope it isn’t my last. Day one’s artists all went together so well, and even though a lot of them weren’t to my personal taste, I still found the day so perfect. The people on PEI are so kind and unlike any other concert crowds I have ever seen. A real stand out to me was a woman who was helping people find the exit during Alanis’ set. She spoke with a couple and took a photo of them in the crowd, and shared that she was looking for her cousin, and decided to wait and help others. The whole crowd was full of such kind people, and I found myself in awe of how respectful the thousands of people in the audience were. The grace this whole organization has is out of this world, and plays a huge part in why I adore Sommo the way I do.

I only saw the tail end of Gizmo, but I don’t regret it. The band is made up of a very talented bunch of people, but nothing about their set really stood out to me. They had a very limited stage presence, but in their defence, a very limited crowd as well. They make good music, but they aren’t anything one of a kind.

Campbell & Johnston

Campbell & Johnston are so talented, and they had some amazing energy for the first main stage set of the day, but once again, there wasn’t anything crazy that really stood out to me, as they didn’t have many remarkable qualities to them, or their overall set. I loved their sound, and I saw the band out and about around the grounds for the rest of the day. The whole band are such a sweet people, & they had great energy and a decent stage presence. I would love to see them in a smaller venue, but they were a pretty cool start to the day, although I would’ve preferred to see them later on in the afternoon.

Goodnight Sunrise is one of those groups that have so much energy they could be playing a dead, empty room and still have the best time. The band’s lead singer, Vanessa, had the most phenomenal energy out of anyone; she was constantly interactive with the crowd, and her overall vibe was amazing. The whole group combined so well, and I think that they were by far my favourite set of the day. They were the only band with a keytar included, and it was very cool to see. I hope to catch more of their talent in the future.

Ducks Ltd. wasn’t anything special; their sound is pretty typical, and there wasn’t anything really eye-catching happening on stage. Even though I went in expecting Ducks to be one of my favourite sets of the weekend, I was sadly let down. They have a disappointingly limited stage presence, and nothing really pulled me into the set. The band was just as talented as I was expecting, but other than that, there wasn’t anything really enticing about it. Once photos were done, I didn’t stick around to watch the rest of the set, and as I could hear everything from across the grounds, I didn’t feel as though I was missing anything. The band has a great sound and is all around talented, but I didn’t feel as though there was much to see.

Valley was everything I was expecting and then some. They are so talented as a unit, and their vocals combine SO well. Their drummer came down and sang lead vocals, and I was so impressed at how talented she was. Valley is opening for the beaches in November, and after their set, I’m all the more excited to see more of them. Up until that point, the sandbar stage hadn’t seen any insane crowds, but when we arrived for Valley’s set, it was packed inside and overflowing out. They were clearly a hit, and that type of crowd held up for the rest of the evening.

Alice Merton is such a talented artist, and man, does she put on a show. She was constantly moving and putting on one of the best performances of the day. Her energy was unmatched, and I found myself starstruck at how she was able to vocally perform so exceptionally while dancing and interacting with her band. Her sound is amazing, and her crowd interaction is almost better. She got the whole audience dancing along to her music, and even traded merch with someone in the crowd. I, honestly, wasn’t expecting much from the set, but I find myself walking away a much bigger fan of Alice than I was before.

I wish I had gotten to Evan Honer’s set earlier than I had. Scheduling such a talented artist and such an amazing chef at the same time is the only thing I was disappointed by all day. Making it from Old-Time Hawkey’s culinary demo to the sandbar stage for Evan, I was shocked at just how many people wanted to see his set. The whole tent was packed full of people, and the crowd was almost just as crazy outside. I made it into the crowd and was so pleasantly surprised at how well Evan plays live. I made it just in time for a solo acoustic song, and it was everything I had hoped for. The band was amazing, but hearing Evan alone was so beautiful. I knew he was talented, but I was blown away at just how similar he sounded live compared to his studio production. I have no complaints, I just wish I could’ve been closer to the stage.

Michael Marcagi is an artist who I can see becoming so huge. He had a shockingly large crowd for a 6:00 set, and he deserves all of it. He has a very similar sound to Mt. Joy, and it really pulls me in. The crowd sang along to nearly every song, and I was shocked how loud the audience was. He performed a beautiful Oliva Rodrigo cover, and I find myself wanting to see a collaboration between the two one of these days. Michael is an amazing performer and an even better artist. I definitely didn’t know nearly as much of his music as I wanted to, but after seeing him perform, I definitely would like to see more of him. 

St Paul & the Broken Bones put on SUCH a phenomenal show. The crowd was SO hype, and the coordination they have is striking. The matching suits they came onto the stage in were so cool, and they are SUCH a talented bunch. The vocals of their lead singer can perform are so out of this world, and they were all so present. I couldn’t stay for all that much of their set, because I needed to make my way over to the sidebar stage in time for Rich Aucoin’s set. I wish I had heard more of their performance, but I’ll take what I can get, and maybe I’ll see a headlining show from them one of these days. Their music isn’t quite my cup of tea, but man, they can put on a show.

Rich Aucoin is an artist I’ve heard so much about, but have somehow never seen live before. My dad is such a fan of his, and I’ve heard everything I need to know from him, so I was very aware of the Parachute that Rich pulls into the crowd. This was its last show, and man, I wish I had experienced more of it. Rich pulls one end into the crowd, and it settles over everyone for one of his closing songs. He is so talented, and his visuals were such a cool part of the set. Rich interacts with his crowd the most by far out of the whole weekend, and I was so glad to have come in early to ensure I was front and center. Rich came down into the crowd maybe every other song, and it was so cool to see him uniting such a large crowd. He and his drummer, Joel, are both SO talented. Rich had one of the most fun sets of the weekend, and his whole crowd was bouncing from start to finish. Once his set wrapped, Rich stayed, spoke with, and hugged fans. It was so cool to see him out in the pit instead of going backstage along with his crew. I’m not usually into Rich Aucoin’s style of music, but his set was such a cool experience.

Alanis is so impressive, and even though I wouldn’t consider her anywhere near my favourite sommo headliner, I can still completely acknowledge that she puts on an amazing show. Her visuals are so gorgeous and only make me more excited for day two. I find myself on the fence about her stage presence, though. She was always clearly so grateful to the crowd, and stopped and spoke a few times, but maybe half of the show felt as though she was just singing the songs to get it over with. She is so insanely talented, and I almost understand not speaking so much to the crowd, because her vocal performance was so out of this world, it’s hard to believe her age.