The first weekend in October is a good weekend to be in Toronto, with fun – and free – things to do for the whole family.
Nuit Blanche is on Saturday night, and over the years, this all night art party has shifted from a free-wheeling Toronto sprawl to a corporate event clustered around the downtown core. This year, the exhibits have expanded to Chinatown and Fort York, and there are some aligned activities even closer to home.
With 19 projects by over 150 artists, Artscape Youngplace is a great local hub for Nuit Blanche. Offering a whole range of exhibits, including music, video, and illustrations, there will even be opportunities for the public to paint. There’s also an installation including students from Givins/Shaw Public Jr. School, with a kid-friendly reception in the early evening. The list of offerings at Artscape for Nuit Blanche is here.
There are also a couple of outdoor projects from community groups happening at CAMH at Queen and Ossington, an interactive art-project called PATCH, and a building initiative called Bring to the Table.
With all this on offer, you can enjoy Nuit Blanche without travelling far.
Sunday marks the second annual Homegrown Park Crawl, a free outdoor event taking place in – and celebrating – neighborhood parks. This travelling festival has something for everyone, with a long list of local musicians parading with the people from Christie Pits to Bickford Park to Fred Hamilton, finishing in Trinity Bellwoods Park.
In addition to enjoying the fall weather in some nice local parks and listening to music, the Park Crawl will also include food from some of our city’s top restaurants. If you don’t want to (or can’t) walk from park to park, each of the parks will have musical performances from performers like Heavyweights Brass Band, Samba Squad, and more. Food from local restaurants like Pizzeria Libretto and Ursa will be for sale at the start at Christie Pits and at the end at Trinity Bellwoods. All proceeds will go to the David Suzuki Foundation’s Homegrown National Park Project.
To find out other local events, keep an eye on our calendar.
