Toronto Arts & Events!

Luminato - Toronto's Festival of Art & Creativity was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from June 11 to 20, 2010. This is the fourth year of this annual ten-day celebration of the arts where Toronto's stages, streets, and public spaces are infused with theatre, dance, classical and contemporary music, film, literature, visual arts, and design. According to Luminato, it embraces three key programming principles: collaboration, accessibility, and diversity. Much of Luminato's events include free widely accessible events, and "accidental encounters with art." Festival-goers are invited to participate, explore, and celebrate their own creative spirit. Luminato 2010 consisted of the theatre section, dance program, contemporary music, film, literature, visual arts and design as well as the VIP parties for the sponsors.

The major events of the festival included:

Opening at the Yonge-Dundas Square as part of the Luminato First Night event - was a free concert featuring Juno Award winners Jully Black and Sass Jordan, as well as Toronto singer-songwriter Melanie Fiona, whose hit singles include “Give it to Me Right” and “It Kills Me,” which won her a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
Invite Only Opening Party
West Side Story Suite - National Ballet of Canada at the Centre for the Performing Arts
Solar Breath (Northern Caryatids) - Light Air: Works by Michael Snow and Mani Mazinani - A Tribute to Luminato Co-Founder David Pecaut
Canadian Songbook: 40 Years of Bruce Cockburn & Friends
Closing weekend

TorontoArtsandEvents profiles the opening night VIP:

Opening Night VIP Party

The Opening Night VIP "Invite Only" Party was held on June 11, 2010 at the new and unexpected venue of Bay-Adelaide Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Many important Canadian business people, directors, actors, media and producers attended this opening. Guests walked an 80-foot blue carpet along the south corridor of the lobby to reach the main party space— a huge tent erected in Arnell Plaza, a half-acre public park on Adelaide Street. The party included a V.I.P. lounge - guests walked a black carpet, posing for photos at a branded step-and-repeat on the way to the black and white lounge. Makeup artists offered touch-ups at two stations. Guests enjoyed an open bar as well as hors d’oeuvres such as Peking duck lettuce wraps, goat cheese ravioli and mini passed plates with dishes like tempura shrimp cocktail with butter lettuce and wasabi ketchup served in a slanted glass bowl and charred Viet lamb sirloin with organic greens, black radish, mango and crisp lotus root served in a Chinese takeout box. The evening's entertainment consisted of John Alcorn, Layla Zoe, Dione Taylor, and Shakura S’Aida.

About Luminato

Co-Founder David Pecaut and Tony Gagliano began Luminato as a dream: each year Toronto would invite the world to join Toronto and celebrate creativity - the best artists of music, theatre, dance, visual arts, literature, film in the world and the best artists in Canada would fill the stage that is Toronto with new and wonderful creation and this festival would become renowned the world over for its excellence, its originality and its accessibility to all people regardless of background or experience. Most of Luminato is free because of the support of provincial, federal and city government, corporate sponsors and private foundations and private donors which are called Luminaries. TorontoArtsandEvents asks: Has that dream has become a reality?

Luminato - Toronto's Festival of Art & Creativity infused Toronto's stages, streets, and public spaces with theatre, dance, classical and contemporary music, film, literature, visual arts, and design. Have Co-Founder David Pecaut and Tony Gagliano fulfilled Luminato's three key programming principles: collaboration, accessibility, and diversity? This festival is now a significant and important festival and mark your calendar for next year! TorontoArtsandEvents! will.