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Weekend Planner: December 4–5, 2010
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].
Don’t lose your head yet! There’s still plenty of time to find the perfect gift at one of the weekend’s many craft fairs. Photo by Christopher from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
This weekend in Toronto: more holiday shopping opportunities than you can shake a candy cane at, a canvass to save Transit City, an impromptu Stephen Sondheim Film Festival, a time lord tackles improv comedy, and some of Toronto’s most fearsome femmes battle it out with roller skates and pillows (separately).
SHOP: Just hear those sleigh bells jingling (ring-ting-tingling too) this weekend as the holiday shopping season kicks into full swing. Holiday markets and craft fairs are popping up all over the city, offering plenty of opportunities to find one-of-a-kind gifts for everyone on your list. Check out the Handmade Holiday Show from Kid Icarus at St. Stephen-in-the-Fields (Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m., 103 Bellevue Avenue) or the 918 Bathurst Centre’s Holiday Art Market (Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., 918 Bathurst Street). Peruse some crafts in the Fox Theatre at Movies & Makers (Saturday 11 a.m.–5:30 p.m., 2236 Queen Street East) or explore the Distillery District’s best wares at the Case Goods Warehouse’s Holiday Show & Tell (Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., 55 Mill Street). Last but not least, the Queen Street West BIA offers up roasting chestnuts and apple cider to go along with your festive retail experience at their (vaguely named) Holiday Event (Saturday 2–5 p.m.), along Queen Street West from University Avenue to Bathurst Street.
CANVASS: Rob Ford’s first official act as mayor may have been to announce an end to the Transit City plan, but that doesn’t mean the project is officially scrapped yet. With councillors to convince and budgets to negotiate, Ford’s ambitious axing is not quite a sure thing—and you can help stay the executioner’s hand. A collective canvass is being organized in the ward of new TTC chair Karen Stintz in an effort to encourage her constituents to call for follow-through on her support for Transit City. Can’t make it out to do the legwork? At least try a digital alternative. Northwest corner of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue West, Saturday 2 p.m., FREE.
FILM: Proving that great music can make unlikely bedfellows, Mirvish Productions has teamed up with Bloor Cinema to welcome acclaimed composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim to Toronto with a film festival in his honour. Throughout the weekend the Bloor will be screening Sondheim classics West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and the controversial classic A Little Night Music. Each film will be presented by a “Sondheim expert” with several prize giveaways, including tickets to the composer’s talk/interview at the Princess of Wales. Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), Saturday and Sunday 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., $5–$7.
SPORT: Apparently there were too many survivors walking away from the Toronto Roller Derby‘s sold-out championships last month, as the merciless maidens are back for one final bout before hanging up their skates for the season. Local champions will join the best of visiting players from leagues across North America in town for the Blood and Thunder Magazine training camp—where they’ll be competing for the attention of scouts and coaches, all stocking up for the first ever Roller Derby World Cup tentatively scheduled for 2011 in Toronto. The Hangar at Downsview Park (75 Carl Hall Road), Saturday 6:30 p.m., $12 in advance, $18 at the door.
COMEDY: Director Darryl Pring has brought his improv tribute to the longest running science fiction show on television back to Comedy Bar for a limited four-show run. Scott Montgomery leads an all-star cast as Dr. Whom, master of space, time, and laughs. Anything can happen in this unscripted tour of the universe via telephone booth, where the only limits are the width and breadth of the audience’s imagination. Comedy Bar (945 Bloor Street West), Saturday 8 p.m., $15.
SPORT: If the roller derby doesn’t sate your thirst for holiday violence, then you may want to check out the Pillow Fight League‘s seasonal wrap-up event: Christmas Chaos! Watch an intimidating roster of pillow-wielding pugilists—including world champion Dinah Mite—duke it out in the intimate quarters of their training studio. Bring a non-perishable food item and get a raffle ticket for your chance to win a PFL gift pack. PFL Studio (89-B Niagara Street), Saturday 9 p.m., $10 in advance, $12 at the door.