How do I pick up my passes / single day tickets at the festival?
Festival pass & single day ticket pickups will be done at our hub based near The Annex Hotel. The Annex Hotel is located at 296 Brunswick Ave and the ticket pickup will be in the adjacent parking lot or, in the event of inclement weather, in their lobby. You will see a signage directing you to pass pickup. Pass pickup days and times will be announced closer to the festival.
In order to pick up your passes you will need your scannable QR code sent to you from the DICE App and/or a photo ID.
Who is behind Prepare the Ground?
The team behind PtG is quite small. The festival was founded by Denholm Whale & KW Campol. They had discussed the concept as far back as 2020 together but starting planning and preparing for it in earnest in early 2023. Both wanted to utilize their experiences on both sides of the music industry, as musicians & behind the scenes workers, to provide a comfortable platform for heavy artists to share their creations & for festival goers to have as great of a weekend as possible.
Where did the name Prepare the Ground come from?
Prepare the Ground is the title of the first song on Yob’s 2011 masterpiece Atma. We could go on about how this band, this album, and this song have inspired us musically and personally, but we will let you take a listen if you haven’t yet, or revisit if you have, and meditate on how it’s mantra can inspire the ethos of a music festival.
Loosen the noose, release the bonds.
Breathe in the power held in this moment.
Prepare the Ground.
Where & when will Prepare the Ground take place?
Our second annual festival is taking place May 29 - 31, 2026 in the Annex neighborhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. PtG will be held in Trinity St. Paul Church, Lee’s Palace, the Cave, and Tranzac, as well as an outdoor arts market & other side programming in the area. From farthest points the festival is walkable within 5 minutes.
Are the venues used accessible?
Trinity St. Paul Church is accessible & has an accessible washroom.
Lee’s Palace is accessible & has an accessible washroom.
the Cave is located up two flights of stairs and unfortunately may be inaccessible to those with mobility issues.
Tranzac is accessible & has an accessible washroom.
How do I buy tickets?
Our tickets are available exclusively through the dice.fm app, you can view and purchase them by clicking the TICKETS link in the menu at the top of the page.
Is Prepare the Ground All Ages?
The festival as a whole is not all ages due to legal restrictions around venues selling alcohol, but two of our venues ( Trinity St. Paul Church & Tranzac) are open to festival goers of any age. Due to the smaller amount of shows attenable, we offer a reduced price U-19 Ticket for those under the age of 19. This guarantees access to the two venues.
Can I pay for my ticket in installments?
We are thrilled that our ticketing partner, DICE.fm, has engaged with Afterpay to offer an installment plan for ticketing. Afterpay charges no interest or extra as long as the payments are made on time, and breaks your ticket into 4 even payments over 6 weeks. You can select Afterpay as a payment type at check out when purchasing your ticket.
Am I guaranteed to get into every show I want to go to?
In short, no. We are doing our best to offer a schedule that has something for everyone, but we are at the mercy of legal capacities in venues. If there is an act you absolutely HAVE to see, we recommend checking out that show an act or two early so you can save your spot. If you don’t make it in to see someone, we hope you’ll go and check out on of the other amazing acts playing in a similar time frame… we are confident you will find a new favourite artist in the process. We can confirm that we are selling the festival to just shy of ALL venue’s capacities, so you will be able to get into A show at any time without question.
Can I submit my band to play the festival this or in future years?
We take pride in our curation of this festival in all aspects, and that includes paying attention to what is new & exciting in many different genres of music. With that, we ask that you don’t e-mail us about playing, we promise we are listening and will do our best to find you for future editions.
Can I volunteer for the festival?
We will send out a call for volunteers in early 2026.