events
Weekend Planner: December 17–18, 2011
In this Weekend Planner: food trucks gather for street eats, puppets remake a newer version of "The Princess and the Pea," volunteers give out gifts to strangers, hold up your boombox for a wall-of-sound installation, a comedy variety show brings all the goods, hip-hop leads the way for a Christmas food drive, and a Devo tribute show rocks the Holy Oak.
Will everyone be wearing {a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yvEYKRF5IA&ob=av3e"}fingerless gloves{/a} at this weekend's boombox sound installation? You have to go to find out. Photo courtesy of Melissa Wong.
FOOD: Is there a person in this cold, bitter world who doesn’t have a special place in his or her heart for food trucks? Check out this Mini Food Truck Eats Event, which brings together a variety of street eats. Featuring Caplansky’s Deli, Cupcake Diner, Blue Donkey Streatery, The Toasted Tangerine, and Smoke’s Poutinerie. Corner of Yonge Street and Gould Street, Saturday, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
THEATRE: A delightful new version of The Princess and the Pea takes to the stage in the form of a puppet show. Presented by brother and sister duo Puppetmongers, Bed & Breakfast is a family-friendly production filled with wit, love, and humour (it also includes a miniature mansion from the Edwardian era). Tarragon Theatre Extra Space (30 Bridgman Avenue), Saturday to January 1, 2:30 p.m., adults $25, children $20.
GIFT GIVING: Secret Santa? Psh. These guys are taking that concept to the next level. The second annual “Gifts for Strangers” invites volunteers to gather inexpensive or homemade gifts, which will then be distributed en masse to random passersby throughout the city. Now if only they could convince Oprah to drop by: “You get a car, you get a car, and you get a car!…” Meet in Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen Street West), Saturday, 3 p.m., FREE.
ART: Admit it. You’ve been waiting years, decades even, to bust out your old boombox, strap it over your shoulder, and take an afternoon stroll. “Unsilent Night,” an outdoor sound sculpture, gives you exactly that option. Basically, the event asks you to bring your boombox (or an MP3 player with external speakers) so you can engage in a cloud of sound created by the multitude of speakers (the organizers will provide the listening track). Meet at the Royal Ontario Museum, north side (100 Queen’s Park), Saturday, 7 p.m.–8 p.m., FREE.
COMEDY: The self-described “Little Rascals of Comedy” are putting on a variety show well worth checking out. Touch My Stereotype is a troupe whose act includes sketches, music, videos, improv, and plenty of laughs. Also featuring The Regulars and British Teeth. Comedy Bar (945 Bloor Street West), Saturday, 9 p.m., $12.
FOOD DRIVE/MUSIC: December is the month of giving, and in that spirit, check out “HipHop 4 Hunger,” a Christmas Food Drive that plays beats in order to help raise food for less fortunate families. Led by hip hop group EPMD, the night also features a variety of DJs to make this already worthy event even more worthy of your time. Guvernment/Kool Haus Complex (132 Queens Quay East), Sunday, 8 p.m., $10 and non-perishable food item donation.
MUSIC: Devo tribute anyone? Don’t miss Laura Barrett (a Canadian musician known for playing the kalimba) and company’s homage to the great American new wave band. “I say whip it! Whip it good!” Holy Oak (1241 Bloor Street West), Sunday, 9 p.m., PWYC. CANCELLED
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].