There are nine summer weekends left and if you plan to spend as many of them as possible getting baked at outdoor rock shows, you live in the right town. This weekend alone, you can catch over 25 bands including the Deftones and De La Soul over three days at Wakestock or play hacky sack for 10 hours debating the merits of Bedouin Soundclash at the Rogers Picnic. Unless of course you're saving your spare change and your days off for the Vans Warped Tour Aug. 11 at Barrie's Park Place or Virgin Fest in September on Olympic Island, or you've already blown the bank on merch at the many day-long New Punk Rock™ or metal gigs that have rolled through town since it got warm enough to flaunt your tattoos in Playdead tank tops.

At first glance, Toronto's summer festival lineup seems like an embarrassment of riches, but in terms of a can't-miss landmark event of our own that will draw music fans from far and wide, we still can't hold a cellphone up to places such as Seattle, Chicago or even Guelph. Why not? What will it take for our city to host a world-class rock festival?

MONEY

While we all like the international hit parade, to make a great Toronto festival we need our great Toronto talent playing it. And increasingly, that local talent is getting better offers elsewhere. Canada Day came and went without Edgefest, and, unlike in recent years when the fest had been bumped back to August, for the first time in 20 years, it won't be coming at all. According to Alan Cross, Edge program director and executive producer of Edgefest, it came down to economics.

“We simply couldn't secure the bands we wanted because a lot of Canadian bands are doing too well not to be paid in Euros,” he says, “and since bands aren't making money from CD sales, to make ends meet they have to tour, tour, tour. So we can't get, say, Billy Talent to be here for Canada Day if they're playing a huge gig in Germany that weekend. In some ways, Canadian music is a victim of its own success.”

Or perhaps we local music fans are victims of our own cheapness? Spoiled with corporate-subsidized festivals such as Wakestock (where a four-day pass costs only $55, which works out to less than $2 per band, but you have to put up with deodorant-company kiosks) and Virgin Fest ($140 for two days), are we willing to pay $85 per day and up – like Glastonbury-- and Coachella-goers – for a more excellent adventure?

RISKY PROGRAMMING

Time was, Toronto did have a summer concert of international import. It was the early '80s when local promoter Gary Topp brought together lineups of new wave when it was still new, attracting up to 30,000 for The Police Picnics, which featured such diverse programming as The Fixx, King Sunny Ade and locals Blue Peter alongside The Police. He's doubtful such a gig can happen in 2007. “Creativity is the prime ingredient of a great rock festival,” says Topp. “James Brown was booed at Police Picnic. The kids didn't like him but we put together shows that we thought were killer, that we thought would be a great day out. Now an agent puts it together. I think all of the festivals today are like travelling road shows; people grab whoever is on tour. It's the same every year.”

While it's true that too many festivals feature acts that have been through town just weeks before, Toronto is fortunate to have a healthy variety of promoters trying to break the mould. Jacob Smid of Emerge, who is presenting VirginFest, rejects the idea that their programming lacks risk.

“What makes Virgin special is that the programming is not tied to any one radio format, which is the exception in North America,” he explains. “Many of the artists we're dealing with are not high on the Edge spin count, and we're programming them next to Smashing Pumpkins.”

Four years ago it was Emerge that presented Björk on the Toronto Islands. Now, the island is a semi-regular venue treasured by many locals. (Not the ones who live on the island, mind.) Shows there certainly feel special. If we could add camping, we'd be on our way to solving Toronto's biggest challenge, which is....

VENUES

Alan Cross is convinced Toronto could have the best festival anywhere in the world if we just had a place to put it. His dream site: Downsview. “The concept of a giant Canada Day concert in the middle of the city, on a subway line, good lord!” he exclaims. “You could get bands so excited about playing. Everyone wants to play Glastonbury or Coachella, not necessarily because it's the most comfortable gig but it's an event. Toronto can do a signature event; we just need a venue.”

Jacob Smid of Emerge claims shows at Downsview might not be far away, and he's got an eye on several new venues. “Outside of the bands, which is very personal, there are three things you really need for a good festival,” he says. “Nice grass, shade and a breeze. We can control two of those things, so we're trying.”

NAMES

Ideally, Toronto festivals would have a name of their own, one that doesn't have to be attached to a mobile-phone provider. This is starting to seem like a tall order. While last year's Metric-curated festival at Fort York didn't do big business under the name “Dog Day Afternoon,” was that a reason to switch to an equally undistinguished one?

“Rogers Picnic? Where did they get that name?” quips Gary Topp. “The Police Picnic [name] was a play on the actual Police [force's Community] Picnics in Toronto. Luckily, we had the right band!”

Of course, it's not just Rogers and Virgin who are putting big money behind rock shows. There's a Telus stage at Wakestock. In the US, AT&T is all over Warped this year. But what happens when the cellphone wars end? By depending totally on their money, will we have put all of our eggs into a basket that doesn't really belong to our city?

“Being tagged as the ‘cellphone festival' had some negative connotations,” admits Smid. “But Virgin fest is part of the Virgin business. They've done this for 11 years in the UK, now two years in Canada. If they stop selling cellphones, the fest will not go away.”

And what about Smid's first festivals on Toronto Islands, the Broken Social Scene gigs in 2005 and 2006? “We never came up with a name we loved,” he says. “And no name is better than something totally lame like ‘Lake Band Slam.' That said, if we had a name, it would probably be our third year this year.”

By that logic, no festivals are better than ill-conceived ones. But isn't it time for Toronto to create one great music festival that capitalizes on the excitement our bands are generating worldwide, our history of bringing in the next big things before they hit every touring circuit and the unique Toronto Islands location? With the right combination of commitment and cash, we could grow something as Torontonian as Glastonbury is English. And if we can design one that draws people from around the world, those cellphone companies will still reap the benefits from people phoning home to say, “You've gotta come to Toronto for this next year!”