A decade in the music industry is similar to a century in many other fields.

British Columbians have seen many festivals like Squamish, BoonStock, and Pemberton (twice) fold after only a few years.

Meanwhile, Kelowna based production company WetApe and its flagship festival Center of Gravity are preparing to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

Photo Credit: Center of Gravity.

Established in 2007 by founder Scott Emslie, WetApe is responsible for bringing the likes of Skrillex, Steve Aoki, DeadMau5, Calvin Harris and many more of the biggest names in music to the shores of Lake Okanagan.

“I was at a crossroads in my life where I had been playing professional beach volleyball and I have an undergraduate degree in engineering. I was considering pursuing my MBA and it just happened instead of that I decided to explore this entrepreneurial journey WetApe has taken me on,” said Scott Emslie.

Photo Credit: Teegan Mcginnis.

It’s a journey that has seen WetApe’s chief production Center of Gravity, grow from being a simple beach volleyball tournament to attracting 30,000 people to Kelowna’s City Park.

“Center of Gravity wasn't really a festival in that first year, it was just a very grass roots organized volleyball tournament,” remembered Emslie.

"After that initial year in 2007 we began this multi-sport festival concept, and started bringing in athletes from different sports and then decided to try layering music on top.”

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.

According to Emslie, the initial Center of Gravity events were successful in their own right, drawing around 2000 attendees. But it wasn’t until the festival booked then rising star Steve Aoki in 2010 that Center of Gravity took off.

“It was definitely a timing thing where Wakefest was the big Okanagan festival before us, but that ended in 2007 and we started in 2008 so there was certainly demand in the market,” explained Emslie.

“I remember in 2010 up until Sunday we were a little bit low on attendance and that was the day Steve Aoki headlined. Early on that Sunday, there was this lineup going right out of City Park to see Aoki. That’s definitely one show that changed the direction of COG, and we realized electronic music was becoming extremely popular.”

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.

WetApe’s ability to spot the growing trend of EDM and bring the likes of Diplo, Afrojack and Kaskade to Kelowna has been integral to the company's success in the festival world.

Kelowna’s beautiful City Park has also been a key component to COG’s popularity over the years.

“COG was created specifically for Kelowna and City Park, from the beach stage right on the lake, the beach volleyball courts and the urban zone that utilizes the bleachers,” said Emslie.

“It’s not like the formula we’re using at COG would make sense in a lot of other cities, this festival is specifically created for Kelowna City Park.”

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.

In recent years, WetApe has branched out from producing just concerts to bringing in events such as the Great Okanagan Beer Fest to Kelowna.

“We're beginning to expand the types of events WetApe produces. A lot of events we've done in the past have been music or sports-focused, now we're starting to create concepts that target a broader audience,” explained Emslie.

“We want to start building family focused events, maybe that’s just me getting old but it’s good to always innovate and work on broadening our audience.”