Summer weekends and holidays at Harbourfront Centre

Here are the descriptions for the rest of the summer weekends at Harbourfront Centre. More information on their website

The Hot Spot (July 3 to July 5)
This new festival explores culturally innovative trends from around the world with hot Nigerian music and much more.

Beats, Breaks & Culture (July 10 to July 12) - Presented by NOW Magazine
The sixth edition of one of North America's top electronic music and culture festivals plugs into powerful currents of urban dance and modern musical expression.

Mexico: Beyond Your Expectations (July 17 to July 19)
In the 100 years since the Revolution, and in the 200 years of the Independence, Mexico has emerged as a fertile crossroads of North and South American culture with its own ancient and renewed identity. Mexico's artistic vitality is celebrated at this new festival with a contemporary multidisciplinary showcase of the country's numerous regions and traditions.

Canadian Voices (July 24 to July 26)
Canada has a rich history producing some of the world's best singer-songwriters. This new festival highlights emerging Folk, Hip-Hop and Rock musicians.

Island Soul (July 31 to August 3)
A kaleidoscope of Pan-Caribbean culture represented through food demonstrations, dance and music from renowned Reggae, Creole and Calypso artists.

Zaika: A South Asian Food Festival (August 7 to August 9) - Coproduced with The Weekly Voice
Experience the diversity and regional specialties in South Asian cuisine today alongside the song, dance and films that make South Asian culture a sensory delight.

Planet IndigenUs (August 14 to August 23) - Coproduced with the Woodland Cultural Centre
The planet's largest contemporary Indigenous arts festival features exhibitions and events at organizations across Toronto and Brantford all summer long - culminating with two weekends of music, film and performing arts events by international and Canadian artists at Harbourfront Centre (August 14 to 16 and August 21 to 23).

TELUS TAIWANfest: A New Journey (August 28 to August 30)
Explore the evolving Taiwanese concept of marriage through multicultural and cross-generational perspectives. Artists directly from Taiwan and Canadian artists of Taiwanese heritage are showcased in music, visual arts, culinary arts and fashion events.

Hot and Spicy Food Festival (September 4 to September 7) - Presented by NOW Magazine
The 12th edition of this festival features local and international chefs dishing up hot, sweet and spicy cuisine in demonstrations and workshops. Live music and dance enrich the smorgasbord of events which include the International Iron Chef Competition, the Red Hot Market and Toronto International Firefighter calendar chefs!

Cirque de Soleil's Luminato Show: The details and a map

Thanks to some reports out there we have a little more information on this weekend's huge Cirque the Soleil show on Queens Quay. All we can say for the neighbourhood is BRACE YOURSELVES. You're about to see crowds you never see on the 'western' edge of Queens Quay.


View Luminato's Cirque de Soleil show on Queens Quay Toronto waterfront in a larger map

THE THEME
The show has been described as an improvisation. It's also said to be unique, not a rehashing of past Cirque shows. From reports we've read, there will be some interaction between the performers. The theme is going to be rural setting versus the urban setting, and the coming together of the two. There will be two tribes, the "Ban" and the "Na." To pull this off, there will be three venues where they will be based out of and eventually mingle. (See Luminato site for more details on the weekend. See our past Luminato posts)

THE TIMING: WHEN IT'LL HAPPEN
Friday: The weekend kicks off at 7 p.m. when the communities enter their habitats. It'll go until about 9 p.m.

Saturday: The events are to kick off at 1:30 until 8 p.m. and there will be "interactions" every half hour. What this tells us is there will be different types of performances that will let anyone who arrives in the early afternoon to the evening an understanding of the theme.

Here's what the Star says about Saturday

Saturday is a day of adjustment, starting in the afternoon, with the two groups venturing cautiously outside of their habitations to the world of Queens Quay. The street itself has been colourfully transformed, and during the weekend, the eastbound lanes will be pedestrian-only.

Sunday: 1:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Looks like there will be much the same type of performances happening through the day, the two groups will converge on the HTO Park (near the fire house) for the finale.

9 p.m. to 11 p.m.: Don't know about the ending but safe to say that the big stage and speakers mean that there'll be a big cirque show. We've seen guys suspended on wires at the main stage and it looks like all 60 performers will converge on this. We've heard some of the soundcheck music (very pop rock but in a good way).

THE SITES
There will be three sites for the weekend Cirque performers. The Harbourfront Centre rink, the HTO Park and the Music Garden

Harbourfront Centre: The "na" or nature tribe will be based in the Harbourfront Centre area, focused on what in the winter is the Natrel Rink. Funny it's nature as the site is surrounded by our concrete jungle. They've put up a series of stages and torches which has since been filled with water. So expect FIRE and WATER there. The rink isn't deep enough for swimming but we expect some pretty good things to happen there. Here are some pictures we snapped from the venue a few days ago.



And a picture from HarbourfrontTO



Music Garden: This will be the urban or "Ban" (Get it, urBAN). There is a ship at the western part of the park but the big venue is the eastern side of the park where there are two domes set up. So we expect, as you would, some aerial stuff going on there.



HTO Park: This is will the main concert will be where the two tribes will intermingle (will they do it before Sunday at 9 p.m.?) but they've a lot of huge speaker towers, a big stage which we've seen suspend performers. It'll be loud and you'll hear it block away so we guess they're expecting Queens Quay to be packed.



Other venues: Queens Quay itself, we're sure, will be used as the two tribes converge on each other so expect to come across Cirque performers. Also, the Simcoe Wavedeck opens Friday and there will be Cirque performers there so maybe they'll integrate it and the Spadina Wavedeck into the performance. On Queens Quay, there will be family activity area and the food festival will be RIGHT ON THE STREET all the way from Spadina down east. This will be a huge food festival.

Here's a handy map with the three venues

Summer camps on Queens Quay

We got a note from the folks at Harbourfront Centre about their summer camps, which start on June 29.

Harbourfront Centre offers a wide range of arts-based, speciality, marine and sports camps all summer long. Your child can learn to kayak, act in a theatre production, become a fashion designer or express him or herself through writing.

You can visit their website here.

You like comics? Toronto Comic Arts Festival

This weekend launches some events associated with the Toronto Comic Art Festival. There are lots of events but we're listing some of them happening at Harbourfront.

Graphic Novels: The Creation of Art and Narrative.
Gallery Showing at Harbourfront Centre
Friday May 8th - Sunday June 21st.
Opening Reception Friday May 8th, 6pm-10pm
York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay West
FREE

Featuring: Canada: Jeff Lemire, Kagan McLeod, Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki, Doug Wright (by Seth). Anke Feuchtenberger (Germany), Emmanuel Guibert (France), Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Japan), Adrian Tomine (USA).

Graphic Novels: The Creation of Art and Narrative. Harbourfront Centre will play host to a unique series of installations by top cartoonists from Canada and around the world as they attending the fourth Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 9-10. Illuminating the creation of “The Ninth Art,” Graphic Novels will include original artworks and process materials, as well as tools, sculpture, and photography to build an insightful portrait of the creators working in this popular medium. This exhibition is co-presented with The Beguiling and The Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Authors at Harbourfront Centre: Seth, Adrian Tomine, and Yoshihiro Tatsumi
In association with The Toronto Comic Arts Festival
Friday, May 8 at 7:30 pm
Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay West
Tickets $8.00, available at harbourfrontcentre.com

Authors at Harbourfront Centre helps jump start the 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival with an evening of world-renowned graphic artists/novelists: Seth, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and Adrian Tomine. Seth (George Sprott: (1894-1975)) and Tomine (Shortcomings) debut their latest graphic novels, followed by a discussion between Tomine and Tatsumi about Tatsumi’s latest work, A Drifting Life. All three authors appear courtesy of Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal).

This event, presented in partnership with The Beguiling, will also feature a corresponding visual art exhibition Graphic Novels: The Creation of Art and Narrative, located in Harbourfront Centre’s York Quay Centre.

Spring cleaning at Harbourfront Centre

One of our readers asked about the tearing down of the Toronto Star stage. We took a picture of this scene this fine Friday. Yes, the park area has been torn down. What's coming up?

The circus is coming! Cirque de Soleil to close out Luminato on the waterfront

Very cool news. The very successful Luminato (you may remember the light show at Harbourfront Centre last year), is again making its mark on Queens Quay area. It's going to be quite the show. And it's free. Internationally known and Canadian-born circus, Cirque de Soleil, is holding a major event to close out the June festival. (See details)

For our closing weekend, Canada’s international entertainment company Cirque du Soleil® presents a special event created especially for Luminato. This event is an inquiry into the very essence of human civilization.

Beginning Friday night, two “communities” will form on the Toronto waterfront: one representing the natural world in which we have our instinctual roots and the urban community, the world we have constructed around ourselves. They’ll make their homes at opposite ends of the site, each in an environment antithetical to their respective world-view.

What will happen as the weekend unfolds and the two communities encounter and interact with each other? You’ll have to join in the festivities to find out – but expect to be amazed. Be sure to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience Luminato and Cirque du Soleil as never before!

The National Post says it'll take place at the "Harbourfront Centre, the Toronto Music Garden, and HtO Park, Cirque du Soleil's waterfront visit is experiential with encounters happening"

We like the fact that HTO Park and the Music Garden will be part of this project, it takes it out of the central harbourfront and into the western part of the Queens Quay. Plus, Music Garden has interesting design that they could take advantage of.

Luminato runs from June 5 to June 14th, and this event is FREE and runs from the 12th to 14th.

Tonight: thinkTORONTO winners at Harbourfront Centre

Via event's Facebook event page

SPACING'S thinkTORONTO WINNERS DISCUSS DESIGNS AT HARBOURFRONT
When: Thursday March 26, 2009
Where: Harbourfront Centre 7pm
Admission: $5
Web: http://spacing.ca/thinktoronto/

thinkToronto winners Mike Wilson, Jason Mills and Springboard creators Amy Mamtura, Cristina Matei, and Esther Hung discuss their winning submissions during View Points at Harbourfront Centre on Thursday March 26 (7 pm, $5). This exclusive discussion gives an unique insight into the thinkToronto competition, which received more than 100 entries as well as mounting exhibitions at Toronto's City Hill and at 401 Richmond's Urban Space Gallery. thinkToronto's goal was to seek ideas from the next generation of city builders who want to challenge how we view Toronto’s public realm. The competition gave participants a platform to explore and experiment with Toronto’s urban landscape while generating a dialogue among Torontonians about creative and sustainable solutions in our shared common spaces. Winners will also take part in a discussion moderated by Shawn Micallef, Senior Editor of Spacing Magazine.

Reminder, class is resuming in a few days at Harbourfront Centre

Linda from the Harbourfront Centre kindly contacted us to remind us (as we posted recently) that there are classes about to start next week.

A very interesting mix of classes: glass blowing, website design, sewing and circus!

Here's a list of the courses, plus a pitch from the Centre:

Harbourfront Centre is pleased to offer a diverse and exciting line-up of contemporary culture courses throughout the winter and spring months. Adults can learn to paint; create their own website; explore the world of circus arts; tour the city’s culinary neighbourhoods; go gallery hopping; make delicious candies and chocolates just in time for Valentine’s Day; attend tea socials; join a book club; take a glass blowing course; and much more! Harbourfront Centre’s Courses & Workshops are affordable and provide a perfect environment for adults to learn or improve skills, and expand their social circle with like-minded individuals at Toronto’s leading arts and cultural centre.

Courses & Workshops begin on January 18, 2009 at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West. Register early as class size is limited. To register or for more information, the public can call 416-973-4093, e-mail learning@harbourfrontcentre.com or visit harbourfrontcentre.com/learn.

Winter/Spring 2009 Courses & Workshops

Visual Arts & Design

* Expressive Arts (Sunday, January 18)
* Drawing for Fashion Design (5 Mondays, January 19 to February 16)
* Introduction to Botanical Drawing (5 Mondays, January 19 to February 16)
* Sewing 101 (5 Mondays, January 19 to February 16)
* Fashion 101 (5 Tuesdays, January 20 to February 17)
* Painting (6 Tuesdays, January 20 to February 24)
* Parent Workshop: Engaging Kids with Contemporary Arts (Saturday, May 9)
* Toronto Island Watercolour Sketchbook (4 Sundays, May 24 to June 14)


Media Studies

* Creating your own Website (6 Mondays, January 19 to February 23)
* Demystifying the Digital Camera (Sunday, January 25)
* Digital Photography Manipulation (Saturday & Sunday, February 21 & 22)

Performing Arts

* Djembe Drumming (4 Thursdays, February 5 to 26)
* Circus (6 Mondays, Session 1: May 25 to June 29; Session 2: 6 Wednesdays, May 27 to July 8)

Seasonal

* Candy-Making Workshop (Sunday, February 1)
* From Beer to There (3 Thursdays, April 16 to 30)

Literary Arts

* Authors at Harbourfront Centre Book Club (Ongoing, 3rd Tuesday of every month)

Urban & Cultural Studies

* Film & Food Club (3 Fridays, February 6 to 20)
* Tea 101 (4 Saturdays, February 21 to March 14)
* Gallery Hopping (6 Wednesdays, April 21 to May 25)
* Urban Portraiture (6 Tuesdays, April 21 to May 25)
* Artistic Architecture in the Public Space (6 Wednesdays, April 22 to May 26)
* Explore Toronto’s Culinary Neighbourhoods (Saturday, April 25: Little India; Saturday, May 2: Kensington; Saturday, May 9: Chinatown; Saturday, May 16: Little Italy)

Craft Studio Courses

* Glass Blowing (Runs through May)
* Ceramics (Runs year-round)
* Introduction to Jewellery (Runs year-round)
* Intermediate Jewellery (Runs year-round)
* Textiles (Runs year-round)

Arts & crafts workshops at Harbourfront Centre start Jan. 18

[via LSM Newswire]

Travel to Harbourfront Centre, the most memorable and economical destination ever, to escape the winter cold and uncrate the spring sun with the city's best Courses & Workshops! Harbourfront Centre is pleased to offer a diverse and exciting line-up of contemporary culture courses throughout the winter and spring months. Adults can learn to paint; create their own website; explore the world of circus arts; tour the city's culinary neighbourhoods; go gallery hopping; make delicious candies and chocolates just in time for Valentine's Day; attend tea socials; join a book club; take a glass blowing course; and much more! Harbourfront Centre's Courses & Workshops are affordable and provide a perfect environment for adults to learn or improve skills, and expand their social circle with like-minded individuals at Toronto's leading arts and cultural centre.

Courses & Workshops begin on January 18, 2009 at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West. Register early as class size is limited. To register or for more information, the public can call 416-973-4093, e-mail learning@harbourfrontcentre.com or visit harbourfrontcentre.com/learn.