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Jonathan Bunce, director of the annual Camp Wavelength music festival.Danielle Burton

For Jonathan Bunce, the director of the annual Camp Wavelength music festival, when it rains, it floods. In its previous incarnation as the All Caps! Festival, the annual Wavelength Music summer concert and camping event had its share of weather issues. This year, because of flooding, the event has been pushed right off its idyllic spot at Artscape Gibraltar Point on the Toronto Islands altogether.

The beloved indie-music event goes ahead this weekend, but without the one component that separated it from every other festival in the city – overnight camping.

Camp Wavelength (with a line-up that includes Jessy Lanza, Dilly Dally, Rich Aucoin, She-Devils, the Luyas and Deerhoof) has been moved to Sherbourne Common for outdoor concerts during the day and indoor venues the Garrison and the Great Hall for night-time shows. The Globe and Mail spoke to Bunce (a.k.a. Jonny Dovercourt) about Camp Wavelength's move to the mainland.

An article in 2013 about the All Caps! Festival, which was the previous incarnation of Camp Wavelength, carried the headline "learn to adapt or die." I guess that's more true than ever this year, isn't it?

I would agree with that. We're playing a lot of catch-up, because we were planning two festivals in parallel. We knew in mid-May we were potentially in trouble on the island. Plan A was for the festival out there. Plan B turned into C, D, E and F before we came up with a workable solution. But it's going great.

Was finding another camping site not an option?

Recreating the overnight camping element we had on the island would have involved moving it out of the city. We viewed that as too risky, financially. A lot of our audience doesn't own cars. And a lot of them are a little laid-back when it comes to planning their social lives. But, in a way, we are recreating the island experience at Sherbourne Common. It's just a daytime experience rather than a night-time one.

We wanted to keep the outdoor, green experience, and not just move it all into the clubs. We wanted to be close to the water, which is very therapeutic. Sherbourne Common manages to satisfy a lot of that criteria.

What was the impact of moving Camp Wavelength, financially?

It's going to end up being a lateral move for us. We'll lose the revenue from camping passes, but we're also saving a lot of expenses. It's cheaper to do the festival off the island. So, it balances out.

Assuming the creeks don't rise, as they say, do you expect to be back on the island next year?

It's difficult to say, but it's our first choice. This may or may not be related to climate change. It probably is. No one knows whether this was a fluke summer or if this is the new normal. But we have every intention to be back at Artscape Gibraltar Point next summer.

The original All Caps! Festival had weather issues. Are you guys cursed?

I don't think so. I'm not superstitious. I don't take weather personally. All Caps! had some bad luck with weather, but we've had a nice run lately. The weather has been great for Camp Wavelength. I think it rained once in the middle of the night. There was a tiny rain shower last year, but it resulted in a gorgeous double rainbow. So, based on that, I feel that somebody up there likes us.

Camp Wavelength happens Aug. 18 to 20 (Aug. 18, at the Garrison, at night; Aug. 19 and 20, at Sherbourne Common, during the day; Aug. 19 and 20, at Longboat Hall at the Great Hall, at night). Night concerts, $24.99; day concerts, PWYC; weekend pass, $64.99. wavelengthmusic.ca.

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