Top Toronto event picks for January 31 + February 1, 2009:

SATURDAY, JANUARY 31
1. LEFT FEET'S 2nd ANNUAL VEGAN CHILI COOK-OFF
Pay $5 for 18 chili samples, cast your vote for the best chef, all the while raising money so others can warm up, too. All proceeds go towards Out Of The Cold. Be punctual: chili bowls were empty an hour early last year.
Left Feet. 88 Nassau Street, (416) 360-5338.
FOOD / 2-5pm / $5 / website

2. MIKE DISFARMER VINTAGE PORTRAITURE
Go back to a time when portrait-taking wasn't all about screens and pixels or comments like, "Can you delete that one?" After seeing Mike Disfarmer's work, you may want to implement some of those conscious photography skills. Closes today.
Stephen Bulger Gallery. 1026 Queen Street W, (416) 504-0575.
ART / free / 11-6pm / website

3. KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS: FUNDRAISER at DOWNWARD DOG
A screening of Ron Mann's doc Know Your Mushrooms, which explores the subculture of the Telluride Mushroom Festival. A Q+A and cook and taste follows, with funds benefiting organic chocolate smuggler Ron Obadia.
Downward Dog Yoga Centre. 735 Queen Street West, 2nd Floor, (416) 703-8805.
FILM / 8pm / $25 adv, $30 door / website

4. TOM FUN ORCHESTRA + BRUCE PENINSULA at HORSESHOE TAVERN
See what the fuss is about as the million members of Tom Fun Orchestra and buzz band Bruce Peninsula take the stage. The Darcys open. With all these people milling about, it'll be hard to find people in the audience who aren't in a band.
Horseshoe Tavern. 370 Queen Street W, (416) 598-4753.
MUSIC / 9pm / $8 / website

5. THUNDERHEIST + SHAD at NATHAN PHILLIPS SQUARE
Thunderheist and Shad perform a free Wintercity gig at Nathan Phillips Square. Hey, y'all, it's time to raise your mittens en masse.
Nathan Phillips Square. 100 Queen Street W.
PARTY / 8pm / free / website

6. LINWOOD BARCLAY at BENDALE
Former Toronto Star columnist Linwood Barclay reads from his crime novel Too Close to Home.
Toronto Public Library - Bendale. 1515 Danforth Road, (416) 396-8910.
WORDS / 2pm / free / website

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1
1. FREE GUIDED ART BUS TOUR
Meet inside Honest Ed's for Iris Haussler's Honest Threads exhibit at 12pm, and then hop on the Contemporary Art Bus Tour for a tour of Koffler Gallery, Blackwood Gallery, AGYU, and Doris McCarthy Gallery. A pub crawl for art lovers, without the beer and Girls Gone Wild-esque activities. RSVP (905) 828-3789.
Honest Ed's. 581 Bloor Street W, (905) 828-3789.
ART / free / 12-5pm / website

2. 8 FEST at TRASH PALACE
A film festival for small-gauge film lovers. Even if the terms 8mm, Super 8, 9.5mm, and zoetropes don't get you excited, the film selection will.
Trash Palace. Get tickets at Eyesore Cinema, 801 Queen Street W, 2nd Floor, for address.
FILM / 830pm doors, 930pm films / website

3. GREAT ARTIST SERIES: LI WANG, PIANO
Dublin International Piano Competition prize winner Li Wang performs Scarlatti, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, and Mussorgsky, and makes me wish I didn't cry my way out of piano lessons when I was 14.
Royal Conservatory of Music Mazzoleni Hall. 273 Bloor Street, (416) 408-2824.
MUSIC / 4pm / $30, $10 students / website

4. DRAKE SUPPERBOWL
The Drake teams up with Trevor Kitchen, JK at the Gardiner, and Vertical Restaurant, bringing a classier spin to a typical Superbowl XLIII tailgate party. But is it truly a tailgate party without an actual tailgate and obnoxious keg chuggers? Call to reserve your seat.
The Drake Underground. 1150 Queen Street W, (416) 531-5042 x113.
PARTY / $10 / website

5. ALUNA THEATRE's NOHAYQUIENSEPA
Experimental stage performance set in a Colombian town uses new media and dance to explore how we deal with the death of strangers. Part of Harbourfront's HATCH series of emerging works.
Studio Theatre at York Quay Centre. 235 Queens Quay W, (416) 937-4000.
STAGE / 230pm / $12, $10 students, seniors / website

For full listings, head on over to our events calendar.

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Photo: "Chilly Chili Hands" by .mishka., member of the blogTO Flickr pool.