Toronto offers some great arts and cultural festivals all year-round. Luminto Festival is one of these many festivals, and this year, its list of events is quite diverse as well as intriguing.
The lineup is quite extensive, with events spanning from literature, to opera, to performance art. There is pretty much something for everyone. I have taken the liberty of choosing a few events to suggest to you, all of which are FREE. I am always a supporter of making the arts accessible to anyone, hence my choice of free events to highlight for you.
June 14-22, 11AM-7PM: Stockpile
Allen Lamber Galleria, Brookfield Place
Free to observe; $2 to Play
Stockpile is an interactive performance spectacle in the heart of Toronto’s financial district. Come one, come all to a life-sized arcade-style claw machine filled with useful objects donated by the community along with special surprises. As the artists themselves become the claw, see if you can manipulate them into delivering the prize you desire while contemplating this carnivalesque exchange of value and examining what winning and losing means to the collective.
Friday, June 14, 12PM: Lunchtime Illumination: Kid Koala, Buck 65 & Elan Mastai
David Pecaut Square, Festival Hub
Kid Koala, the mastermind behind Space Cadet, along with author and musician Buck 65 and screenwriter Elan Mastai join together for an interdisciplinary conversation about space, the art of collaboration, and mixing so-called high and low culture.
**I’ve seen Buck 65 perform live; his music and the performances are quite interesting.
Saturday, June 15, 8PM: Long Shen Dao, Maxi Priest
David Pecaut Square, Festival Hub
Long Shen Dao come together to embrace the reggae spirit in a distinctly vibr ant way that draws on rock, hip hop and ska, combined with traditional Chinese instruments like the guzheng (zither). Aptly, the group’s name translates as The Way of the Dragon God, for they are ferociously talented and heavenly sounding.
Maxi Priest makes his Luminato Festival debut with an intoxicating mix of hits and new material. He has seven gold albums and groundbreaking collaborations with Roberta Flack, Shaggy, Sly & Robbie, Bennie Man and Beres Hammond.
Sunday, June 16, 3PM: Amadou and Mariam
David Pecaut Square, Festival Hub
Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, known as “the blind couple from Mali,” are beyond category, serving up a mix of traditional Malian sounds, electric guitar, Cuban brass, Indian tablas, gutsy blues-soaked vocals, dense African rhythms and pointed lyrics. After meeting as teenagers and marrying 32 years ago, the duo has circled the globe sharing their gift of music.
Wednesday, June 19, 7PM: L’Allegro Movement Project
Daniels Spectrum – Ada Sleaight Hall
Using thematic and structural elements from L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato as the basis for the movement creation, participants will explore the choreographic, poetic, and musical elements of Mark Morris’s signature work. Through this collaborative, intergenerational initiative, young students and participants with Parkinson’s disease will be empowered to explore and celebrate the expressive possibilities of movement through dance and music.
A select team of youth filmmakers will document L’Allegro Movement Project, highlighting the creative process. Video excerpts will be available on luminatofestival.com throughout this period and the completed short film will premiere as part of the Regent Park Film Festival in the fall of 2013. The performance of L’Allegro Movement Project will feature the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir and soloists. Conducted by Jane Glover
Thursday, June 20, 6PM: Evening Illumination: A Gala Reading
Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library
Join Claire Messud and three of Canada’s best-loved authors, Lisa Moore, Sheila Heti and Miranda Hill, for a reading, Luminato-style.
Tickets available from Toronto Public Library.
Thursday, June 20, 8PM: H’Sao, Patrick Watson
David Pecaut Square, Festival Hub
H’Sao is composed of Chadian siblings Caleb, Mossbass and Israel Rimtobaye and their childhood friends, brothers Charles and Service Ledjebgue, began making music nearly two decades ago. Relocating to Montreal in 2001, the richly gifted vocal group, drawing inspiration from gospel and traditional African music to shape its a cappella artistry.
Polaris Prize winner Patrick Watson is a genre-blurring Quebecer whose dazzling work as a singer-songwriter, pianist, bandleader and film composer has earned comparisons to Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright.
Friday, June 21, 8PM: A Symphonic Birthday Party
David Pecaut Square, Festival Hub
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) bring us a vibrant musical party in celebration of the 200th birthdays of composers Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi. Highlights will include several of the Wagner gems we all first learned from classic Bugs Bunny cartoons. In the magnificent Verdi and Wagner choruses, the TSO is joined by the glorious voices of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, conducted by the chorus master Noel Edison. The concert will also include an energetic work by the great Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer.
Saturday, June 22, 12PM: A Literary Picnic
Trinity Bellwoods Park
On the theme of “Beginnings” over 60 authors will take to three stages to share selections from their work and offer insight into where a story begins, and how writers confront the blank page. Many of the participating authors will also be setting up their own picnic blankets backstage for one-on-one exchanges with the public throughout the day.
In the spirit of literary exchange, Luminato Festival also invites you to bring in their pre-loved books to be offered in trade to other book lovers at a special table. Bring your picnic basket, your favourite used books and your own beginnings to A Literary Picnic.
Thursday, June 20 and Saturday, June 22, 11PM: Gob Squad – Super Night Shot
David Pecaut Square, Festival Hub
Super Night Shot is a magical journey through the night time streets of a not too distant city. Full of unexpected surprises, the public become co-stars in a movie that celebrates unplanned meetings with strangers and delights in the randomness of urban existence.
The film begins exactly one hour before you come to watch it when the four performer/activists meet, arm themselves with their video cameras and start them simultaneously. 60 minutes later they will meet again and present what they have filmed to the waiting audience. Performers and audience watch the results together. The sound is mixed live and scored with elements from film soundtracks.
There are, of course, more events that you can attend. This is but a short sample of what you can take in for free. Ticketed events also include a variety of options. Luminato Festival takes over Toronto from June 14th to the 23rd. For more information on all festival events, go to luminatofestival.com.
