Photographer Kirk Lisaj’s upcoming zine depicts this year’s Best Out of Town – a utopian four-day festival for ‘dance music adorationists’
When he’s behind the lens, Kirk Lisaj gravitates towards life’s in-between moments. Subtle glances and gestures, and intimate, almost imperceptible, interactions that others might take for granted. “I love finding those cropped moments that give you a sense of the experience without giving you the entire picture,” the Montreal-based nightlife photographer tells Dazed. “It’s not about capturing high drama or trying to force a mood.”
His favourite image taken so far this year – two pairs of feet dangling from a hammock by a lakeside – was captured at this summer’s edition of Best Out of Town, a small, word-of-mouth festival held in Northern Ontario. Initiated in 2020, the campout is the creation of Best In Town Sound, a volunteer-run, community-focused party collective of “dance music adorationists” based between Toronto and Montreal. Growing from about 30 guests in its first edition to 250 this year, it has become a space for connection and reflection for its attendees, and Lisaj’s involved yet indirect approach to image-making proved perfect for documenting it.
“This festival holds a special place in my heart. It creates a small utopia for my community in Toronto and Montreal,” says the photographer, who first attended the festival in 2021. “Both cities lack access to nature and affordable spaces to throw parties. Rents are skyrocketing in town, and there’s so much privatised land outside of it, so being able to have this one weekend where everyone can go up north as a hoard and feel safe and protected is a really special thing.”
This year’s four-day festival took place around a lake on Labour Day weekend. On a medium format camera, Lisaj captured the languorous flow of life that took place between sunrise sets and sunset dips. His film photos frame the haze of sandy dancefloors, inflatables hanging to dry from branches, and revellers intertwined on beaches, their faces and bodies filtered with bonfire smoke and late-summer sunlight. Lacking phone signal, the attendees were “swallowed up by nature” as Palestinian Montreal-based DJ Mossy Mugler describes: “This was a place that emulated freedom at its purest form. It held a space for so much magic to happen, and so it did.”
“Everyone who goes genuinely cares. They’re dedicated to enjoying electronic music, to showing up with an open mind and open ears,” Lisaj adds. “And the line-up is mostly the organisers or up-and-coming acts from Toronto, Montreal, and New York, so there’s a real sense of familiarity. The DJs are there all weekend, setting up the space, welcoming you, and making sure you’re OK.”
For Montreal-based DJ Yemisi Adeleye (Digital Polyglot), “All pretension was left at the door, and everyone brought their own unique energy to the space.” They continue: “When going to music events in the city, I find that I will either encounter great music or a safe, engaged crowd – Best Out of Town was one of the rare times I experienced both.”
Another cherished aspect of the festival is its prominent queer and trans presence, without necessarily being labelled as such. “A lot of the time in explicitly queer nightlife spaces, there’s so much emphasis on sexuality and scanning the room, trying to find a hookup. That has its place for sure, but sometimes it gets tiring,” Lisaj says. “We feel safe at BOOT, at ease with the symbiosis of interaction going on. It’s also beautiful when there’s a uniting factor that isn’t just the queerness.” Frank Giggs, an attendee from Toronto, summarised that distinction, describing his pleasure and relief “at being seen, not watched, and revelling with calm abandon to lovingly selected songs and sounds.”
The festival’s lack of labels also extends to a lack of corporate sponsorship. A seasoned event and nightlife photographer, capturing everything from Ballroom conventions to techno parties, Lisaj has observed with frustration the commercialisation of Toronto and Montreal’s underground scenes. “Toronto, where I used to live, is a very business-oriented city. A cool new party will be happening, and then it gets the attention of some corporate entity, and they want to sponsor it, and it loses its subcultural roots really quickly,” he explains. “Best Out of Town has no affiliation, no one's profiting, it’s really grassroots.”
As a gift to the organisers and attendees, Lisaj is in the process of creating a zine to memorialise the event. He’s lacing together his photographs with testimonials from the weekend, and even souvenirs, like the small shark toy his boyfriend found on the beach. “I think the zine will be a beautiful artefact for anyone who attended – until the next one, when we can do it all over again.”
Visit the gallery above for a closer look through Lisaj’s pictures from this summer’s Best Out Of Town festival.
Join Dazed Club and be part of our world! You get exclusive access to events, parties, festivals and our editors, as well as a free subscription to Dazed for a year. Join for £5/month today.