LUMINATO FESTIVAL Toronto Announces Full Line Up

Luminato Festival Toronto returns from June 9th to June 19th across the GTA in unexpected public areas designed to reignite the residents of Toronto. With four world premiere performances, a robust daily line-up of culture and two free weekends of concerts, art, conversation and dance, Toronto's favourite festival returns.

"Luminato Festival Toronto has never given up hope that we can come together and celebrate culture again. Over 11 days we will reignite the city of Toronto by showing up in areas that Torontonians visit most. Luminato will be on the streets, in the squares, on GO Trains, and going beyond Toronto into the GTA," says Celia Smith, CEO of Luminato Festival Toronto. "We encourage everyone to get out and join us. Let's explore Toronto and the GTA with fresh eyes and discover something new!"

Culture enthusiasts will be welcomed back to the Luminato Festival Toronto they know and love with some notable festival changes. This year there is an emphasis on remarkable free public programming in areas that are natural Toronto gathering spots. The opening weekend at Yonge & Dundas Square, titled Luminato Live at Yonge-Dundas Square will host free concerts from household names as well as the free Edward Burtynsky world premiere of In the Wake of Progress, a 22-minute sound and image retrospective 40 years in the making. During the weekend of June 18-19th in Toronto's east end, Luminato will transform Woodbine Park into a concert festival called Woodbine Weekend. Catch free concerts from a lineup featuring Ukrainian rock and hip hop bands and so much more!

Over the past 16 years, Luminato Festival Toronto has consciously delivered progressive programming based on current global issues. This year, Luminato is championing climate change and sustainability, underrepresented voices, LGBTQ2+ artists, and equality. Through a majority of Toronto-based artists, Luminato is listening to the community and spreading their voices internationally.

2022 Luminato Festival Toronto World-Premieres

Edward Burtynsky's In the Wake of Progress

(Outdoor Public Viewing)

June 11-12, Yonge-Dundas Square

Free and Outdoors

The world premiere of renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's In the Wake of Progress is free to the public on the immense digital screens surrounding Yonge-Dundas Square, in a fully choreographed blend of photographs and film, with a staggering musical score from music legend Bob Ezrin. An epic project, 40 years in the making, Edward Burtynsky's In the Wake of Progress is an urgent call to action, and a quest for hope, as we face one of the greatest existential threats of our time: the climate crisis.

David Suzuki in What You Won't Do For Love

(Theatre)

June 9-12 and June 17-19, Canadian Opera Company Theatre

Ticketed

Experience a special evening with renowned award-winning environmentalists David Suzuki and Tara Cullis in What You Won't Do For Love, a unique and intimate theatre experience that asks whether the love we have for each other can inspire us to take action for the planet.

Creation Destruction created by Animals of Distinction

(Dance, Music)

June 15-17, Trillium Park Pavilion, Ontario Place

Ticketed

Created by Animals of Distinction, the Montreal-based multimedia dance company of renowned choreographer and dancer Dana Gingras, and the composers from post-rock band God Speed You! Black Emperor, with video design by London-based United Visual Artists.

Black Ark

(Interactive Art Installation)

June 9 to September 5, Ashbridges Bay Park

Free and Outdoors

Artist Oluseye Ogunlesi explores Canada's role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade through his installation Black Ark. Referencing the slave ships that were built in Canada, this looming cathedral-like structure invites you into the hull of a ship, creating passage and revealing the fractured and erased history of enslavement in Canada. Built of wood, metal, and found materials, Black Ark is an invitation to look back and move forward.

Luminato Festival Toronto Ticketed Events

Beloved: A Celebration of Toni Morrison and Black Women Writers, with Donna Bailey Nurse

(Literature, Music)

June 17-18, The Winter Garden Theatre

Ticketed

Beloved: A Celebration of Toni Morrison and Black Women Writers, with Donna Bailey Nurse, brings together internationally renowned authors including the recipient of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Aminatta Forna (The Memory of Love), Myriam J.A. Chancy (What Storm, What Thunder), Francesca Ekwuyasi (Butter Honey Pig Bread), Rebecca Fisseha (Daughters of Silence), Zalika Reid-Benta (Frying Plantain), and winner of the Nigerian Prize for Literature Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia (The Son of the House), Dawnie Walton (The Final Revival of Opal & Nev), with a special video appearance by two-time Giller Prize winner Esi Edugyan (Washington Black).

Luminato Festival Toronto Free Events

Join us around Toronto for an explosion of free cultural events. Below are a few highlights of a robust lineup.

Luminato Live at Yonge-Dundas Square

(Opening Weekend)

June 9-12, Yonge-Dundas Square

Free and Outdoors

Enjoy free main stage concerts at 7 pm on Thursday and Friday, On Saturday and Sunday witness the immense visual experience of Edward Burtynsky's In the Wake of Progress at 8 pm. Throughout the weekend shop sustainably with the Eco-Fair.:

iskw?" shares the stories of her ancestors in acākosīk (the stars). Performed in Cree and English, this beautiful multi-faceted performance combines the contemporary with the traditional in an emotional post-rock journey towards reconciliation

Pearls of Wisdom Panel Discussiona?? a??Featuring Pam Palmater, David Suzuki, Edward Burtynsky and the Youth Climate Collective from Lakeshore Artsa?? a??June 11, 3 pm a?? a??Yonge-Dundas Square

Sofia Fly in her first live Luminato appearance (following her digital debut in 2021) will make you move to her Latin-inspired fusion of hip-hop and house music.

Woodbine Weekend

(Closing Weekend)

June 18-19, Woodbine Park

Free and Outdoors

Wrap up Luminato 2022 and launch your summer with two days of free music, art, conversation and food when we transform Woodbine Park into a magical urban fairground. Highlights include:

Moskitto Bar is a beautiful mix of Ukrainian, Balkan, Iraqi, Middle-Eastern, and French Celtic music, these are high-energy tunes like nothing you've heard before.

Indigenous Australian rapper and dancer Baker Boy builds a hip-hop vibe in Yolnu Matha and English which will keep you moving.

Ukrainian folktronica band GO_A Ґоу_Ей debuts in Toronto with a high intensity show that smashes together pulsing electro beats with Ukrainian folklore.

The godfather of powwow step, DJ Shub brings The War Club Live on stage with a non-stop body-moving experience enhanced by traditional Indigenous dancers in full regalia, performing against a backdrop of powerful video from his critically acclaimed, chart-topping electronic album War Club.

Luminato in the GTA

Luminato is coming to you. Experience programming outside the downtown core.

Art in Transit: Luminato on the GO

(Theatre, Dance, Music)

June 9, 10, 13-17, GO Lines

Free

Art in Transit: Luminato on the GO brings the delight and whimsy of street theatre to everyday train commuters. Popping up on a different GO Transit line, and in various Union Station lobbies, every weekday of the festival, this is a morning commute you won't want to miss.

For full festival listings, visit luminatofestival.com.

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