Weekend Radar: September 19 + 20
Photo: Evil Eyes by the camera is a toy., member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.
Events on Toronto's Radar for SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19 and SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2009... lovingly handpicked from blogTO's events calendar.
Saturday, September 19:
MUSIC | Japandroids, w/Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band and Brides
Vancouver duo Japandroids have been on a roll ever since Pitchfork listed them in their Best New Music section. They thrash out another set tonight at the Horseshoe before embarking on an epic tour that will take them to the West Coast and across the pond to England before returning in December. Seattle quintet Mt St. Helens Vietnam Band open along with Brides, who are playing their like 234th Toronto show this year.
Horseshoe Tavern, 368 Queen St. W., $10, 9 pm
ART CRAWL | Queen West Art Crawl
This weekend, three and half kilometers of Queen Street will be turned into an outdoor art gallery with over 250 artists exhibiting their work. Trinity Bellwoods Park will be transformed into an art fair with photography, jewelry, sculpture, painting, and ceramics on display. Saturday the front lawn of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health will be filled with work made by CAMH's clients, and over 56 galleries along Toronto's hippest street will be taking part. Sunday night it wraps up with a party at the Drake Hotel featuring performances by People of Canada and Mamabolo.
Queen St. between Bathurst and Roncesvalles, Free all weekend
TIFF | TIFF Wrap Up
Well it's been a fun two weeks, but it's all over. There's a ton of parties celebrating the end of the film festival tonight, but there are two official events. The first is the screening of this year's people's choice winner Push at the Elgin Winter Garden. Tickets to the free event Are first come first serve. The second is a party in Yonge-Dundas Square with hip hop legend and ex-Public Enemy frontman Chuck D.
Elgin Winter Garden, 189 Yonge St., Free, 9 pm
Yonge-Dundas Square, Free, 9 pm
FESTIVAL | Toronto Ukrainian Festival
Ukrainian-Canadians have formed an integral part of Toronto's cultural fabric for over 100 years. This weekend Bloor West Village will be awash in blue and yellow to celebrate the culture and food of the country known as the Breadbasket of Europe. Headlining the festival on Sunday will be children's performer Maryka Gulka-Chabluk, whose interactive, culturally rich performances have been seen by thousands the world over. The Youth segment of the festival begins at noon Sunday features dancers and singers all under the age of 18 performing traditional song and dance. Runs all weekend.
Bloor West Village, Bloor St. between Jane and Runnymede, Free, 11 am to 7 pm
OUTDOOR THEATRE | The Zoo Story
Red One Theatre has been delighting Toronto audiences for the past two weeks with its outdoor production of Edward Albee's classic play the Zoo Story. The play has been performed all over the world since it was first written in 1958, but few productions have had the onions to do it outside. The entire action of the play takes place on a bench in Central Park, and since Toronto's been filling in for NYC in movies for years, it's only fitting that tonight Glen Stewart Park will be playing the role of its Manhattan counterpart. Tonight's your last chance to take in this unique event, until next summer when hopefully it will return with the warm weather.
South end of Glen Stewart Park, Glen Manor and Queen St. E., Free, 7 pm
FESTIVAL | Roncesvalles Polish Festival
The West End of the city is home to many different communities from separate ethnic backgrounds. This weekend the Polish Torontonians take their turn to celebrate their heritage, with a street festival on Roncesvalles featuring dancing, food, and of course polka. Now in its fifth year, organizers expect the festival to attract close to 175,000 people over the two days. A new feature this year is the Kino Kultura film festival at the Revue Cinema, which includes a screening of the powerful movie Katyn directed by Polish master Andrzej Wajda. Runs Saturday and Sunday.
Roncesvalles Ave. south of Bloor, Free, 11 am to 7 pm
FESTIVAL | Danforth East Arts Fair
Over 40 artists and artisans from the vibrant Danforth community will be exhibiting their wares this weekend in East Lynn Park. Unique crafts and art will be on offer, including belts made from neckties, monster dolls, beautiful photographs and more. There will also be some entertainment on hand and ice cream for the kids, so make the most of the nicest weekend we're gonna have until next year and take a walk in the park. Runs Saturday and Sunday.
East Lynn Park (Danforth between Coxwell and Woodbine), Free, 10 am to 5 pm
MUSIC | Chad VanGaalen wt /Castlemusic
Chad VanGaalen has been kicking around since 1998, but he's finally getting nation-wide recognition thanks to his 2008 album Soft Airplane being nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. The winner of the prize will be announced on Monday, so his performance tonight will be his last before his Canrock fate is determined. He's probably not sweating it though, no matter what happens he pretty much hit the jackpot when he signed to legendary US label Sub Pop a couple of years ago. Delicate warbler Jennifer Castle, aka Castlemusic, opens.
Church of the Redeemer, 162 Bloor St. W., $20, 7 pm
GREEN CLEAN | Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup
In 1994 a handful of employees of the Vancouver Aquarium took to the beach to clean up some of the urban debris that had gathered along the once-pristine shoreline. Fourteen years later, communities across the country have joined with the VA to clean up their own local shoreline, and this year over 1500 clean-up sites have been registered coast to coast. Lord knows Toronto's beaches could use some tidying up, and members of the East End community are coming out to give it a once over. The day's event is not all work though, there'll also be live entertainment, refreshments and prizes.
Woodbine Beach Park, Free, 10 am
Sunday, September 20:
FESTIVAL | Manifesto: The Main Event
The Manifesto festival wraps up Sunday with a 10 hour extravaganza in Nathan Phillips Square. The free family-friendly event features workshops on breakdancing, DJing, and hand drumming, as well as a 70-foot mural that will be painted throughout the day by some of the city's best street artists. The Freshest Goods market will be selling merchandise and clothing by talented young designers, but the real highlight is the free show by hip-hop legends Talib Kweli and HiTek, who will hit the stage around 9 pm.
Nathan Phillips Square, Free, 12 pm - 10 pm
MUSIC | Growing/Slim Twig/Carl Didur
Ambient Brooklyn rockers Growing come to Kensington tonight to fill the Boat with their gurgles, whirs and zaps. Their 2008 offering All the Way had some mixed reviews, but you've got to love a band that posts itsnegative press on their own myspace. They're joined by Slim Twig, the young rapper/troubadour who sometimes channels a switched on Tom Waits while spitting rhymes over backing tracks played from his Ipod. Definitely an interesting show in the making.
The Boat, 158 Augusta, $10, 9 pm
ROLLERSPORTS | Gore-Gore Rollergirls vs. Smoke City Betties
Buoyed by a celeb-studded roller derby in Yonge-Dundas Square inspired by Drew Barrymore's film Whip It!, Toronto's rollergirls are at it again on Sunday with a match between two undefeated teams. The Gore-Gore Rollergirls and the Smoke City Betties have yet to lose this season, and you can bet they'll both be eager to break their rivals' streak. The Toronto Roller Derby has a new home in the Hangar, and they'll be looking to christen it with a hard-hitting bout Sunday afternoon.
The Hangar @ Downsview Park, 75 Carl Hall Road, $12, 3 pm
LECTURE | Curse of the Labrador Stuffed Duck
If you've got a taxidermied mallard amidst the junk in your basement bring it out to this lecture Sunday afternoon at the ROM. It could earn you $10 000. Until 100 years ago, the Labrador Duck inhabited eastern North America. It was driven to extinction but 55 stuffed specimens remained in museums and private collections. Obsessed scientist Dr. Glen Chilton has tracked down all of the known specimens, and comes to the ROM tonight to explain his fixation and reveal why he's offering ten thousand smackers to anyone who can find another stuffed quacker. The museum's own Labrador Duck, widely regarded as the finest of its kind, will be taken out of the vaults for the first time.
The ROM, 100 Queens Park, $18, 1:30 pm
Continuing events:
FILM | Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation
Spike and Mike came to town on Friday and will be sticking around til next weekend, bringing you the best in raunchy, offensive and sexy cartoons. To give you some idea of what you're in for,Spike and Mike's festival includes a short about a man sawing his own tongue off and an animated battle royale between a cow and a sheep. Spike and Mike have been around for nearly 20 years, and have built a reputation on the back of being the first ones to show big-screen audiences Beavis and Butthead, South Park, and Wallace and Gromit. So there's some art in there amidst the sicko drawings. Runs til next Saturday.
Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor St. W., $10, 9:30
For full listings, head on over to our events calendar.
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