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Urban Planner: October 19, 2009
Urban Planner is Torontoist’s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].
City Hall’s new green roof. Photo courtesy of the City.
ENVIRONMENT: The CitiesAlive! 2009 International Green Roof Infrastructure Congress starts today, shining a big, green spotlight on sustainable and eco-friendly city development. Over the next three days, expert talks and workshops will cover various techniques for converting city areas to green areas (such as green walls and rain gardens), as well as policies developed in other cities that can help create green infrastructure around the world. The big draw for today is the opening reception at City Hall, which will include a preview tour of their new green roof (above), and a “hello” from Mayor Miller. Sheraton Centre Toronto Downtown (123 Queen Street West), 8:30 a.m.–8 p.m., $5–269.
FOOD: Dark, milk, or white: whatever way it’s made, chocolate is delicious. For the next week, Toronto’s elite chocolatiers will delight palettes with special samplings and signature chocolate dishes during the 2009 Toronto Chocolate Festival. One of the festival’s main events, Chocolicious, will see chocolate and pastry shops all over Toronto offering deals and tastings, including favourites like Crepes a GoGo and Dahso Chocolat et Cafe. Indulge your (bitter)sweet tooth and tour some of the city’s finest shops using the festival passport and you could win a trip for you and nine friends to Niagara Falls for a luxury chocolate tour. See the Chocolate Festival website for participating stores and coupons, October 19–25, cost varies.
DANCE: If there’s one criticism to be made about the Toronto dance scene, it’s that there just aren’t enough open mic nights. The Kaeja d’Dance company is looking to correct this oversight with their dance film night, REELm|o|v|e|s. People are encouraged to bring five minutes of their dance- and movement-inspired films (DVD format only) to be screened for other dancers and dance-on-film enthusiasts, followed by a short discussion. Kaeja d’Dance is a Toronto company that focuses on contemporary dance and dance films, and they’re hoping to make REELm|o|v|e|s a regular event, encouraging the growth of dance films within the dance community. Magpie Cafe (831 Dundas Street West), 7 p.m., pay-what-you-can.
FASHION: LG Fashion Week has hit Toronto, and local fashionistas are salivating as if they were at a sale for Jimmy Choo shoes. Today, spring fashions from VAWK (Sunny Fong, who won Project Runway Canada, season two) will show at the AGO, while the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (your guess is as good as mine) will christen the Fashion Design Council of Canada’s new building on King Street. But, if you don’t already have the connect, you may not get into any of the week’s biggest runway shows. Not to worry, though—the F-List, a Toronto-based online fashion community, has you covered with “The Official,” a nightly party featuring designers and industry types schmoozing next to fashion installation art. Tonight, Dress to Kill magazine will have a launch party, designer Faren Tami will be in the designer spotlight, and Aria Boutique will show an installation called CLUB RED. Maro (135 Liberty Street), 8 p.m., $20 (FREE for those with LG Fashion Week industry, media, or designer laminates).