news
Weekend Planner: October 10–12, 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].
Photo of Morro and Jasp by Alex Nirta, courtesy of Harbourfront Centre.
FAMILY: If you’re spending some quality time with the kids this long weekend, head down to Harbourfront Centre for HarbourKIDS: Respect. This three-day festival is geared towards children ages five to twelve and will feature activities themed around the idea of respect. The roster for this weekend’s festival includes musical entertainment by ex-Moxy Früvous member Mike Ford and the Canadian indie band Rock Plaza Central who recently collaborated with a Grade 3 class at a Toronto Island school, along with theatrical performances by Morro and Jasp (who will not be addressing issues related to puberty), arts and crafts, and interactive workshops. Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West), Saturday, Sunday, and Monday 11 a.m.–5 p.m., FREE.
MUSIC: Another show is happening after the recent week-long series of sunset performances in Kensington Market by Reena Katz as part of her each hand as they are called project—which you may remember in the wake of last spring’s funding debacle involving the Koffler Centre for the Arts. As part of a project that celebrates Katz’s personal connection to the market with relation to sexuality, gender, and culture, Christine Duncan’s Element Choir will perform in the scaffolding at sunset. The choir, whose performances centre on vocal experimentation and structured improvisation, will be led by Duncan, who will employ a unique visual code of hand signals to address the theme of the complexities of communication amongst diverse communities. Kensington Market (scaffolding on the south side of Nassau Street at Augusta Avenue), Saturday 6:44 p.m., FREE.
FUNDRAISER: On a weekend when most of us will be filling our faces, a local man is going to pull a school bus across Yonge-Dundas Square in an effort to raise awareness for the student hunger problem in Toronto—because we all know that hungry kids don’t make for good learners. As part of Pulling For The Hungry, Conor Kelly, who weights in at 190 pounds, will pull a 28,000 pound school bus across the square—that’s nearly 150 times his weight (we ate breakfast this morning so we can do the math). All proceeds from the event will go towards the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, which is the official charity of the Toronto District School Board. In addition to the bus pull that is happening at 2 p.m., the event will also feature live entertainment, games, and giveaways. Yonge-Dundas Square (2 Dundas Street East), Saturday 10 a.m.–3 p.m., FREE.
FILM: Vancouver-based artist Alex MacKenzie is bringing his homemade hand-cranked 16 mm film projector to town for the first time this weekend to present an array of handmade and hand-processed emulsions. As part of The Wooden Lightbox: a Secret Art of Seeing, MacKenzie explores the history of cinematic apparatus and technique through live performance. With ten chapters over four reels, MacKenzie manipulates the speed and direction of the action by the rate and direction in which he is cranking the projector, while images are distorted and partially obscured using coloured gels. CineCycle (behind 129 Spadina Avenue), Saturday 8 p.m., $8.
FUNDRAISER: Ladyfest Toronto, a non-profit, grassroots, DIY collective that aims to promote urban feminism, is hosting an Arthur Russell tribute night with live entertainment and a screening of Wild Combination. The event will feature Alanna Stuart, Lisa Bozikovic, Brooke Manning, and Anna Linda Siddall, along with members of the Bicycles, the Adorables, Township Expansion, and Ghost Bees to name a few. Plus, in honour of the harvest season, your five bucks will also get you a bowl of seasonal soup and homemade corn bread. All proceeds will go towards making this year’s Ladyfest (November 25–29) completely wheelchair accessible. The Tranzac (292 Brunswick Avenue), Saturday 9:30 p.m., $5.
FOOD: Get your gorge on this weekend and make it a hassle-free holiday with Thanksgiving dinner at Black Creek Pioneer Village. It will be a traditional three-course feast—1860s style—complete with all of the fixin’s made from local ingredients, including Ontario turkeys and seasonal veggies. The new Black Creek Historic Brewery, which opened in June, will also be doling out pints of their new Pumpkin Ale. Before you go home to take a nap, be sure to take a walk around the village to check out the pumpkin patch and fall foliage. Black Creek Pioneer Village (1000 Murray Ross Parkway); Sunday and Monday at 1:00, 3:30, and 6:00 p.m.; adults $45.17, children $22.58 (includes parking and admission to the village). Email [email protected] for reservations.
THEATRE: Over the past decade, The Laramie Project, which portrays the 1998 hate-crime murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay student in Laramie, Wyoming, has been one of the most performed plays in North America. Now the epilogue, The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later is being performed in Toronto for one night only, coinciding with performances in more than 120 theatres worldwide to mark the eleventh anniversary of Shepard’s death. The epilogue, which continues to highlight the violence and prejudice that individuals in the LGBT community face, focuses on the long-term effects of the murder on the town of Laramie. It includes new and follow-up interviews with many of the individuals from the original piece, including the convicted murderer and family members of the victim. All proceeds from the Toronto show will benefit The 519 Church Street Community Centre. Bread & Circus (299 Augusta Avenue), Monday 7 p.m., by donation.