Results tagged “blackout”

Two weeks ago, on the fifth anniversary of the blackout, we reclaimed the streets. At 9 p.m., three parades became one and marched into the intersection of Bloor and Spadina. And took it over. For five minutes. Or maybe it was ten. Chris Bilton says it was fifteen. There were jugglers and fire dancers and trombones and drums and trees and a picnic table on which sat a kiddie pool in which there was standing a "human statue" spraying water with a hose. For one tiny fraction of one day of the year, the intersection did not belong to cars, although they could turn right if they wished. It was ours. Not "ours" as in pedestrians or cyclists or hipsters or activists or whatever. Just ours. Public. Space.

Do you think you can turn your lights off for an hour? The WWF is challenging people around the world to do just that at 8 p.m. local time on March 29. The global event is called Earth Hour, and the goal is to raise awareness of global warming. Last year's inaugural event took place in Sydney, Australia, where more than 2 million people and 2100 businesses turned off their lights. The result was a 10% reduction in the demand for electricity during the hour-long action.

Torontoist wasn't around during the blackout three years ago today - we were founded a year later - but that doesn't mean we don't have fond memories of the day, and we bet you do, too. God knows we talk about ourselves enough, so we want to know from you, loyal Torontoist readers: what did you do during the "Great North American Blackout?" Let us know in the comments.