In a unanimous vote, Collingwood Council has voted in favour of hosting Wakestock 2009. Earlier, council had received a presentation from Wakestock organizers and learned that what is presented as the country's largest outdoor sports event could result in as much as 1 million dollars in tourism dollars being spent in Collingwood during the event. Council was told that problems experienced in Wasaga Beach when that community hosted the event until 2004 have not been experienced again at Wakestock's new venue at the Toronto islands. Wakestock representatives said that the Toronto location allowed for much better crowd control, as would the Collingwood harbour location at Millennium Park.

Collingwood Mayor Chris Carrier compared the positive growth of Wakestock to other festivals that the town has hosted. "I remember a few years ago when the first Ride for Sight program came, there were some incidents. They built upon that, recognized some of the deficiencies and they had several years of a more successful event afterwards, and when they left we were all disappointed" Carrier said. (The Ride for Sight is returning to Collingwood in June) Carrier said that the Wakestock event has had somewhat of a checkered past but feels organizers have built a successful event having overcome some of the unfortunate issues that took place when it was held in Wasaga Beach.

Deputy Mayor Sandra Cooper feels the arrival of Wakestock represents a major benefit to the economy of Collingwood. Cooper feels this event represents an opportunity for the town to offer something of significance to young people, under the age of 30. "I believe we can learn from the negative experiences of past events to improve on this" Cooper said.

Organizers feel that Wakestock will attract up to 10 thousand spectators from August 7th to 9th.